Settlements existed in this part of Croatia since prehistoric times, which is due to the favorable geographical location, pleasant continental climate, fertile soil and proximity to the river. The city was named Brod, which at first symbolized the place where the river was forded, and later the means to achieve it. In the north-eastern part of the city, in the Galovo locality, a rich site of Starčevo culture from the early Stone Age was discovered relatively recently. Apart from the fact that this is the largest site from the Stone Age in Northern Croatia, it is extremely important to emphasize that the material remains found confirm the 8,000-year-old settlement of Brod. Scientists estimate that this is not only the oldest evidence of settlement in the city, but, in general, traces of the oldest settlement in the whole of Croatia. The site is characterized by several peculiarities, due to which it attracts the attention of experts. One of them is a specially built burial dugout found for the first time in Europe. It is surrounded by a wooden fence with an altar and over 20 stone axes. The remains of the skeletons found here are also interesting, where one was buried without a head, while the face of the other is missing from the skull, which suggests to scientists the existence of a skull cult and sacrificial rites. According to findings from some other localities, experts believe that there was probably a fairly large prehistoric settlement in the city area. Throughout history, the location of the city of Slavonski Brod has been well inhabited, and the first historical settlement in that place dates back to Roman times, as evidenced by archaeological finds from that era, named Marsonia. To this day, it has not been determined whether Marsonia was only a post office and a lodging place, or an entire settlement. On the famous Peutinger tablet, Marsonia is marked as Marsonie, and in the work Notitia dignitatum it is written as Auxilia Ascaria Tauruno sive Marsonia. Publishers of Ptolemy's Geography in the 16th century were already dealing with the issue of the location of Marsonia. There were different opinions in this regard. The first geographer from the 16th century who determined the position of Marsonia on the site of Brod was Abraham Ortelius, who in his atlas Theatrum orbis terrarum (Antwerp 1590) published a map on which he tried to reconstruct and kill all the ancient names of Pannonian and Illyrian settlements. He placed Marsonia on the Sava exactly where Brod is today. On the already mentioned Peutinger's tablet, it is best seen that Marsonia lay directly next to the river Sava, at the place where the Roman road crossed the mentioned river. Among our experts, the first to establish that Marsonia (originally MARSVNNIA) was at the location of Brod was Matija Petar Katančić. After that, this fact was generally accepted in science. After Marsonia, Slavs settled in the location of the city in the 6th century AD. The name of the city itself was mentioned for the first time in the charter of the Hungarian-Croatian king Bela IV. in 1224. Throughout the late Middle Ages and most of the New Century, Slavonski Brod was an important fortress in Vojna Krajina, a series of fortifications on the Austrian border with the Turkish Empire. The influence of the Turks in this area was dominant until the end of the 17th century, when the situation changed with the conquest of the territory by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In addition to the defensive role, small trades and trade also developed in the city at that time, and from the earliest times, spiritual service was performed by the Franciscans, under whose influence education and culture developed. In the 20th century, Slavonski Brod experienced several periods of rapid growth as a traffic and industrial center. Due to the rapid economic development, the twenties of the last century are called the golden age of Brod. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the town changed its name from Brod na Sava to Slavonski Brod.