 The oldest known remnants of settlement in the Maribor area date back to the 5th millennium BC, at the time of the Chalcolithic.With the construction of Maribor's western bypass, larger settlements were discovered dating from the 44th to 42nd century BC.Another settlement from around the same period was also discovered in Spodnje Hoče, a town right next to Maribor and another below Melje Hill near Malečnik.