The Neolithic period in Sweden began around 4000 BCE with the arrival of the Funnel Beaker Culture, which introduced farming, animal husbandry, polished flint tools, and monumental burial practices. This new culture replaced the Ertebølle people, who had maintained a Mesolithic hunter-gatherer lifestyle for centuries after farming had already spread across Central Europe. Within a few centuries, southern Sweden became fully "neolithised," with communities practicing agriculture and constructing megalithic tombs.
However, not all regions embraced this shift uniformly. Northern Sweden retained its Mesolithic traditions for another millennium, and in the southeast, the coastal Pitted Ware Culture emerged as a distinct archaeological group, reverting to a focus on hunting and fishing after a brief period of neolithisation.
Around 2800 BCE, the Funnel Beaker Culture transitioned into the Battle Axe Culture, a local expression of the broader Corded Ware cultural complex that spread across Europe. This shift is believed to have resulted from migrations from the Pontic-Caspian steppe. The Battle Axe and Pitted Ware cultures coexisted until they eventually merged around 2400 BCE, forming a homogeneous Late Neolithic culture known for producing high-quality flint tools and building the final megalithic tombs in the region.