Architecture was extinct in Greece from the end of the Mycenaean period 1200 BC to the 7th century BC, when plebian life and prosperity recovered to a point where public building could be undertaken.

Greek buildings in the colonization period (8th – 6th century BC), were made of wood or mud-brick or clay, nothing remains of them except for a few ground-plans, and almost no written sources or descriptions on early architecture of these embryonic buildings exist.

Common materials of Greek architecture were wood, used for supports and roof beams; plaster, used for sinks and bathtubs; unbaked brick, used for walls,  limestone and marbles , used for columns, walls, and upper portions of temples and public buildings; terracotta, used for roof tiles and ornaments; and metals, especially bronze, used for decorative details.etc…

The Architects of the Archaic and Classical periods used these building materials to construct five simple types of buildings: religious, civic, domestic, funerary, or recreational.