50,000 BP
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This timeline of prehistory covers the time from the appearance of ''
Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
'' approximately 315,000 years ago in Africa to the
invention of writing The history of writing traces the development of writing systems and how their use transformed and was transformed by different societies. The use of writing prefigures various social and psychological consequences associated with literacy a ...
, over 5,000 years ago, with the earliest records going back to 3,200 BC.
Prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins   million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...
covers the time from the
Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
(Old Stone Age) to the beginning of
ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...
. All dates are approximate and subject to revision based on new discoveries or analyses.


Middle Paleolithic

* 320 kya – 305 kya: Populations at
Olorgesailie Olorgesailie is a geological formation in East Africa, on the floor of the Eastern Rift Valley in southern Kenya, southwest of Nairobi along the road to Lake Magadi. It contains a group of Lower Paleolithic archaeological sites. Olorgesailie ...
in Southern
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
undergo technological improvements in tool making and engage in long-distance
trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
. * 315 kya: Approximate date of appearance of ''
Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
'' (
Jebel Irhoud Jebel Irhoud or Adrar n Ighoud (; , Moroccan Arabic: ), is an archaeological site located just north of the town of Ighoud, Tlet Ighoud in Youssoufia Province, approximately south-east of the city of Safi, Morocco, Safi in Morocco. It is noted f ...
, Morocco). * 270 kya: Age of Y-DNA haplogroup A00 ("
Y-chromosomal Adam In human genetics, the Y-chromosomal Adam (more technically known as the Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor, shortened to Y-MRCA), is the patrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living humans are descended. ...
"). * 250 kya: First appearance of ''
Homo neanderthalensis Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. Neanderthal extinctio ...
'' ( Saccopastore skulls). * 230 kya: Latest proposed date for the Terra Amata site, home of the first confirmed purpose-built structure and probably made by
Homo heidelbergensis ''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...
. * 230 kya – 150 kya: Age of mt-DNA haplogroup L ("
Mitochondrial Eve In human genetics, the Mitochondrial Eve (more technically known as the Mitochondrial-Most Recent Common Ancestor, shortened to mt-Eve or mt-MRCA) is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all living humans. In other words, she ...
"). * 210 kya: Modern human presence in southeast Europe (Apidima, Greece). * 200 kya: Oldest known grass
bed A bed is a piece of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...
ding, including insect-repellent plants and ash layers beneath (possibly for a dirt-free, insulated base and to keep away arthropods). * 195 kya:
Omo remains The Omo remains are a collection of homininThis article quotes historic texts that use the terms 'hominid' and 'hominin' with meanings that may be different from their modern usages. This is because several revisions in classifying the great apes h ...
(Ethiopia). * 194 kya – 177 kya: Modern human presence in West Asia (
Misliya Cave Misliya Cave (), also known as the "Brotzen Cave" after Fritz Brotzen, who first described it in 1927, is a collapsed cave at Mount Carmel, Israel, containing archaeological layers from the Lower Paleolithic and Middle Paleolithic periods. The s ...
in Israel). * 170 kya: Humans are wearing
clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...
by this date. * 164 kya:  Humans diet expands to include marine resources * 160 kya: ''
Homo sapiens idaltu Herto Man refers to human remains (''Homo sapiens'') discovered in 1997 from the Upper Herto member (geology), member of the Bouri Formation in the Afar Triangle, Ethiopia. The remains have been dated as between 154,000 and 160,000 years old. The ...
''. * 150 kya:
Peopling of Africa Early human migrations are the earliest Human migration, migrations and expansions of Homo, archaic and modern humans across continents. They are believed to have begun approximately 2 million years ago with the early expansions of hominin ...
:
Khoisanid Khoisan ( ) or () is an umbrella term for the various indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the Sān peoples. Khoisan populations traditionally speak click languages. Th ...
separation, age of mtDNA haplogroup L0. * 139 ± 17 kya: Levallois core reductions, pointed tools and a variety of retouched artefacts at Retlapalle, India. * 130 kya: Oldest evidence of ancient seafaring, from
Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
(an island isolated from land for millions of years prior to human arrival). * 125 kya: The peak of the
Eemian The Last Interglacial, also known as the Eemian, was the interglacial period which began about 130,000 years ago at the end of the Penultimate Glacial Period and ended about 115,000 years ago at the beginning of the Last Glacial Period. It cor ...
interglacial period. * 120 kya: Possibly the earliest evidence of use of
symbols A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise different concep ...
etched onto bone. * 120 kya: Use of marine shells for personal decoration by humans, including
Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
s. * 120 kya – 90 kya:
Abbassia Pluvial The Abbassia Pluvial was an extended wet and rainy period in the climate history of North Africa, lasting from c. 120,000 to 90,000 years ago. As such it spans the transitional period connecting the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. As with the sub ...
in North Africa—the Sahara desert region is wet and fertile. * 120 kya – 75 kya:
Khoisanid Khoisan ( ) or () is an umbrella term for the various indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the Sān peoples. Khoisan populations traditionally speak click languages. Th ...
back-migration from Southern Africa to East Africa.Rito T, Richards MB, Fernandes V, Alshamali F, Cerny V, Pereira L, Soares P. (13 November 2013). "The first modern human dispersals across Africa". ''PLoS One''. 8(11):e80031. . "By ~130 ka two distinct groups of anatomically modern humans co-existed in Africa: broadly, the ancestors of many modern-day Khoe and San populations in the south and a second central/eastern African group that includes the ancestors of most extant worldwide populations. Early modern human dispersals correlate with climate changes, particularly the tropical African "megadroughts" of MIS 5 (marine isotope stage 5, 135–75 ka), which paradoxically may have facilitated expansions in central and eastern Africa, ultimately triggering the dispersal out of Africa of people carrying haplogroup L3 – 60 ka. Two south to east migrations are discernible within haplogroup L0. One, between 120 and 75 ka, represents the first unambiguous long-range modern human dispersal detected by mtDNA and might have allowed the dispersal of several markers of modernity. A second one, within the last 20 ka signalled by L0d, may have been responsible for the spread of southern click-consonant languages to eastern Africa, contrary to the view that these eastern examples constitute relics of an ancient, much wider distribution." * 100 kya: Earliest structures in the world (sandstone blocks set in a semi-circle with an oval foundation) built in Egypt close to
Wadi Halfa (, , ":wikt:esparto, Esparto Valley") is a city in the Northern (state), Northern state of Sudan on the shores of Lake Nasser, Lake Nubia near the Egypt–Sudan border, border with Egypt. It is the terminus of a rail transport in Sudan, rail lin ...
near the modern border with Sudan. * 80 kya – 70 kya:
Recent African origin The recent African origin of modern humans or the "Out of Africa" theory (OOA) is the most widely accepted paleo-anthropological model of the geographic origin and early migration of anatomically modern humans (''Homo sapiens''). It follo ...
: separation of
sub-Saharan Africans Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African countries and territ ...
and non-Africans. * 75 kya: Eruption of the Toba supervolcano. It was originally thought that this event led to a genetic bottleneck in humans and perhaps other species, but more recent evidence makes this doubtful. * 70 kya: Earliest example of abstract art or symbolic art from
Blombos Cave Blombos Cave is an archaeological site located in Blombos Private Nature Reserve, about 300 km east of Cape Town on the Southern Cape coastline, South Africa. The cave contains Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits currently dated at between c. ...
, South Africa—stones engraved with grid or cross-hatch patterns.


Upper Paleolithic

"Epipaleolithic" or "Mesolithic" are terms for a transitional period between the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution in Old World (Eurasian) cultures. * 80 kya – 40 kya: Evidence of Australian Aboriginal Culture. * 67 kya – 40 kya:
Neanderthal admixture Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans occurred during the Middle Paleolithic and early Upper Paleolithic. The interbreeding happened in several independent events that included Neanderthals and Denisovans, as well as several unidentifi ...
to Eurasians. * 65 kya – 50 kya: Oldest site of human habitation in Australia, at Madjedbebe. * 50 kya: Earliest evidence of a
sewing needle A sewing needle, used for hand-sewing, is a long slender tool with a pointed tip at one end and a hole (or ''eye'') to hold the sewing thread. The earliest needles were made of bone or wood; modern needles are manufactured from high carbon steel ...
, made and used by
Denisovan The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ( ) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic, and lived, based on current evidence, from 285 thousand to 25 thousand years ago. D ...
s. * 50 kya – 30 kya:
Mousterian Pluvial The Mousterian Pluvial is a mostly obsolete term for a prehistoric wet and rainy (pluvial) period in North Africa. It was described as beginning around 50,000 years before the present ( BP), lasting roughly 20,000 years, and ending ca. 30,000 BP ...
in North Africa. The
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
region is wet and fertile.
Late Stone Age The Later Stone Age (LSA) is a period in African prehistory that follows the Middle Stone Age. The Later Stone Age is associated with the advent of modern human behavior in Africa, although definitions of this concept and means of studyi ...
begins in Africa. * c. 50 kya:
Denisova hominin The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ( ) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic, and lived, based on current evidence, from 285 thousand to 25 thousand years ago. Den ...
lives in the
Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The ...
, with oldest estimated to be c. 76 kya. * 45 kya: The earliest known
representational art Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else.Mitchell, W. 1995, "Representation", in F Lentricchia & T McLaughlin (eds), ''Critical Terms for Literary Study'', 2nd edn, University of Chicago Press, Chica ...
: a painting of three
Celebes warty pig The Celebes warty pig (''Sus celebensis''), also called Sulawesi warty pig or Sulawesi pig, is a species in the pig genus ('' Sus'') that lives on Sulawesi in Indonesia. It survives in most habitats and can live in altitudes of up to . It has bee ...
s in Leang Tedongnge cave,
Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
. * 45 kya – 43 kya: The first waves of ''Homo sapiens'' arrive in Europe, comprising the
Early European modern humans Cro-Magnons or European early modern humans (EEMH) were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They in ...
.Fu, Qiaomei, Cosimo Posth, Mateja Hajdinjak, Martin Petr, Swapan Mallick, Daniel Fernandes, Anja Furtwängler et al. "The genetic history of ice age Europe". ''Nature'' 534, no. 7606 (2016): 200–205. * 45 kya – 40 kya:
Châtelperronian The Châtelperronian is a proposed industry of the Upper Palaeolithic, the existence of which is debated. It represents both the only Upper Palaeolithic industry made by Neanderthals and the earliest Upper Palaeolithic industry in central an ...
cultures in France. * 42 kya: Time frame of the
Laschamp event The Laschamp or Laschamps event, also termed the Adams event, was a geomagnetic excursion (a short reversal of the Earth's magnetic field). It occurred between 42,200 and 41,500 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period. It was discovered from g ...
, the first
geomagnetic excursion A geomagnetic excursion, like a ''geomagnetic reversal'', is a significant change in the Earth's magnetic field. Unlike ''reversals'', an excursion is not a long-term re-orientation of the large-scale field, but rather represents a dramatic, typica ...
studied and one of the few full global magnetic field reversals known. Although many effects upon life on Earth and human evolution from the increase in
cosmic rays Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar ...
have been tentatively proposed, the effects are not considered to have been strong enough (further refuted by paleoecological evidence) to have significantly affected natural or human history. * 42 kya:
Paleolithic flutes During regular archaeological excavations, several flutes that date to the European Upper Paleolithic were discovered in caves in the Swabian Alb region of Germany. Dated and tested independently by two laboratories, in England and Germany, the ...
in Germany. * 42 kya: Earliest evidence of advanced deep sea fishing technology at the
Jerimalai Jerimalai is a limestone cave southeast of Tutuala, on the eastern tip of East Timor. Fish remains and fish hooks excavated in Jerimalai provide evidence for advanced fishing technique by inhabitants of Timor 42,000 years ago. Jerimalai has the ...
cave site in
East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...
—demonstrates high-level maritime skills and by implication the technology needed to make ocean crossings to reach Australia and other islands, as they were catching and consuming large numbers of big deep sea fish such as tuna. * 40 kya: Extinction of ''Homo neanderthalensis''. * 40 kya:
Aurignacian The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with Cro-Magnon, Early European modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the L ...
culture begins in Europe. * 40 kya: Oldest known
figurative art Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract a ...
the
zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from and . In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It can also be defined as art that portrays one species of animal like another species of animal or art ...
Löwenmensch figurine The figurine, also called the Lion-man of , is a prehistoric ivory sculpture discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave, part of the Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 1939. The German name, , meanin ...
. * 40 kya: Oldest known
figurative art Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract a ...
of a human figure as opposed to a zoomorphic figure (
Venus of Hohle Fels The Venus of Hohle Fels (also known as the Venus of Schelklingen; in German variously ') is an Upper Paleolithic Venus figurine made of mammoth ivory that was unearthed in 2008 in Hohle Fels, a cave near Schelklingen, Germany, part of the Ca ...
). * 40 kya – 30 kya: First human settlements formed by
Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...
in several areas that are today the cities of
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
and
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. * 40 kya – 20 kya: Oldest known ritual
cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...
, the Mungo Lady, in
Lake Mungo Lake Mungo is a dry lake located in New South Wales, Australia. It is about 760 km (472 miles) due west of Sydney and 90 km (56 miles) north-east of Mildura. The lake is the central feature of Mungo National Park, and is one of seve ...
, Australia. * 37 kya: A population of
Basal Eurasian Basal Eurasian is a proposed lineage of anatomically modern humans with reduced, or zero, Neanderthal admixture (ancestry) compared to other ancient non-Africans. Basal Eurasians represent a sister lineage to other Eurasians and may have originat ...
s migrate to Europe. Unlike the
Early European modern humans Cro-Magnons or European early modern humans (EEMH) were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They in ...
that inhabited Europe earlier, these populations form part of the ancestry of modern Europe. * 36 kya: Evidence of humans using
fibers Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often inco ...
in a cave in present-day
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. * 33 kya: Earliest evidence of humanoids in Ireland. * 33 kya – 22 kya:
Gravettian The Gravettian is an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years BP. It is archaeologically the last European culture many consider unified, and had mostly disappeared by   ...
period in Europe. * 31 kya:
Earth oven An earth oven, ground oven or cooking pit is one of the simplest and most ancient cooking structures. The earliest known earth oven was discovered in Central Europe and dated to 29,000 BC. At its most basic, an earth oven is a pit in the ground ...
s in Central Europe. * 31 kya – 16 kya:
Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...
(peak at 26,500 years ago). * 30 kya: Rock paintings tradition begins in
Bhimbetka rock shelters The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period. It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of the Stone Age star ...
in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, which presently as a collection is the densest known concentration of rock art. In an area about 10 km2, there are about 800 rock shelters of which 500 contain paintings. * 28.5 kya:
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
is populated by colonists from Asia or Australia. * 28 kya: Oldest known twisted
rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...
. * 28 kya – 24 kya: Oldest known pottery—used to make figurines rather than cooking or storage vessels (
Venus of Dolní Věstonice The Venus of Dolní Věstonice () is a Venus figurine, a ceramic statuette of a nude female figure dated to 31,000–27,000 years ago (Gravettian industry). It was found at the Paleolithic site Dolní Věstonice in the Moravian basin south of ...
). * 25 kya: A hamlet consisting of huts built of rocks and of
mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...
bones is founded in what is now Dolní Věstonice in
Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...
in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
.
Dolní Věstonice (archaeological site) Dolní Věstonice (often without diacritics as Dolni Vestonice) is an Upper Paleolithic archaeological site near the village of Dolní Věstonice in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, at the base of Mount Děvín, . It dates to app ...
is the oldest human permanent settlement that has yet been found by archaeologists. * 25 kya:
Ancient North Eurasians In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) refers to an ancestral component that represents the lineage of the people of the Mal'ta–Buret' culture () and populations closely related to them, such as the Upper Paleolithic individ ...
migrate into eastern Siberia, intermixing with the local
Ancient East Asian This article summarizes the genetic makeup and population history of East Asian peoples and their connection to genetically related populations such as Southeast Asians and North Asians, as well as Oceanians, and partly, Central Asians, South Asi ...
populations. Their descendants migrated into
Beringia Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 70th parallel north, 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south ...
, where they became (or helped form) the Ancestral Native Americans. * 24 kya – 15 kya: General time frame for the
Mal'ta–Buret' culture The Mal'ta–Buret' culture (also Maltinsko-buretskaya culture) is an archaeological culture of the Upper Paleolithic (generally dated to 24,000-23,000 BP but also sometimes to 15,000 BP). It is located roughly northwest of Lake Baikal, about ...
near
Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
, the archaeological culture whose human remains serve as the type for the
Ancient North Eurasian In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) refers to an ancestral component that represents the lineage of the people of the Mal'ta–Buret' culture () and populations closely related to them, such as the Upper Paleolithic individ ...
(ANE) population which appeared some time prior. Mal'ta-Buret' sites consisted of temporary mammoth-bone huts for reindeer hunters, yet their art is among the most sophisticated of their time, having many parallels with carvings elsewhere in Eurasia (for example, their Venus figurines), indicative of long-distance exchange of ideas. Both
Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...
and American Indians share significant ANE ancestry. * 24 kya: The
cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word ''cave'' and the scientific name '' ...
is thought to have become extinct. * 24 kya: Evidence suggests humans living in Alaska and Yukon North America. * 23 kya: A population of
wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...
are hypothesized to have begun cohabiting with
Ancient North Eurasians In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) refers to an ancestral component that represents the lineage of the people of the Mal'ta–Buret' culture () and populations closely related to them, such as the Upper Paleolithic individ ...
for shared food, protection, and (possibly later) hunting success. This commensal relationship is thought to have led to the
domestication of the dog The domestication of the dog was the process which led to the domestic dog. This included the dog's genetic divergence from the wolf, its domestication, and the emergence of the first dogs. Genetic studies suggest that all ancient and modern dogs ...
, which genetic studies show their ancestry diverging from wolves at this time along with an increase in population. At the
Yana Rhinoceros Horn Site The Yana Rhinoceros Horn Site (Yana RHS) is an Upper Palaeolithic archaeological site situated near the lower Yana (river), Yana River in northeastern Siberia, Russia, north of the Arctic Circle in the far west of Beringia. Discovered in 2001 aft ...
, smaller wolf-like canids with
neotenous Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT. is the delaying or slowing of the physiological, or somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny in modern humans is more signi ...
features and signs of being cared for have been observed. * 23 kya – 21 kya: The earliest known human footprints in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
are left at what is now
White Sands National Park White Sands National Park is a national park of the United States located in New Mexico and completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range. The park covers in the Tularosa Basin, including the southern 41% of a field of white sand ...
, New Mexico. * 21 kya: Artifacts suggest early human activity occurred in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. * 20 kya: Kebaran culture in the Levant: beginning of the Epipalaeolithic in the Levant. * 20 kya: Theorized earliest date of development of traditional Arctic clothing like those used by Arctic Eurasians and Inuit clothing, Inuit. * 20 kya – 19 kya: Earliest pottery use, in Xianren Cave, China. * 20 kya – 18 kya: Minatogawa Man (Proto-Mongoloid phenotype) in Okinawa, Japan. * 20 kya – 10 kya:
Khoisanid Khoisan ( ) or () is an umbrella term for the various indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non-Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen and the Sān peoples. Khoisan populations traditionally speak click languages. Th ...
expansion to Central Africa. * 18 kya – 12 kya: Though estimations vary widely, it is believed by scholars that Afro-Asiatic was spoken as a Proto-Afroasiatic language, single language around this time period. * 18 kya: The Magdalenian culture appears in Europe. They are responsible for some of the most complex and famous artistic traditions of Ice Age Europe, creating the cave paintings of Lascaux and Altamira (cave), Altamira, as well as numerous carvings in ivory and stone. * 17 kya: The earliest gene for blond hair is found among
Ancient North Eurasians In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) refers to an ancestral component that represents the lineage of the people of the Mal'ta–Buret' culture () and populations closely related to them, such as the Upper Paleolithic individ ...
at the Afontova Gora site in Siberia. * 16 kya – 11 kya: Caucasus hunter-gatherer expansion to Europe. * 16 kya: Wisent (European bison) sculpted in clay deep inside the cave now known as Le Tuc d'Audoubert in the French Pyrenees near what is now the France–Spain border, border of Spain. * 14.2 kya: The oldest agreed domestic dog remains belongs to the Bonn–Oberkassel dog that was buried with two humans. * 14 kya: Haplogroup R1b, Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b, normally associated with the Near East at this time, appears in Italy. * 14 kya: Western Hunter Gatherers (descended from
Ancient North Eurasians In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) refers to an ancestral component that represents the lineage of the people of the Mal'ta–Buret' culture () and populations closely related to them, such as the Upper Paleolithic individ ...
) of the Epigravettian culture expand into Europe and replace the Magdalenian culture. * 14 kya – 12 kya: Oldest evidence for prehistoric warfare (Jebel Sahaba, Natufian culture). * 13 kya – 10 kya: End of the Last Glacial Period, climate warms, glaciers recede. * 13 kya: A major water outbreak occurs on Lake Agassiz in central North America, which at the time could have been the size of the current Black Sea and the largest lake on Earth. Much of the lake is drained in the Arctic Ocean through the Mackenzie River. * 13 kya – 10 kya: Earliest dates suggested for the domestication of the sheep, in Mesopotamia. * 12.9 kya – 11.7 kya: The Younger Dryas, a period of sudden cooling and return to glacial conditions. * 12 kya: Volcanic eruptions in the Virunga Mountains blocked Lake Kivu outflow into Lake Edward and the Nile system, diverting the water to Lake Tanganyika. Nile's total length is shortened and Lake Tanganyika's surface is increased.


Holocene

The terms "Neolithic" and "Bronze Age" are culture-specific and are mostly limited to cultures of select parts of the Old World, namely Europe, West Asia, Western and South Asia. Chronological periodizations typically base their periods on one or more identifiable and unique markers associated with a culturally distinct era (within a given interaction sphere), but these markers are not necessarily intrinsic to the cultural evolution of the era's people. As such, the terms become less applicable when their markers correlate less with cultural evolution. Therefore, the Neolithic and the Neolithic Revolution have little to do with the Americas, where several different chronologies are used instead depending on the area (e.g. the Andean Cotton Pre-Ceramic, Preceramic, the North American Archaic Period (Americas), Archaic and Formative stage, Formative periods). Similarly, since there is no appreciable cultural shift between the use of stone, bronze, and iron in East Asia, East and Southeast Asia, the term "Bronze Age" is not considered to apply to this region the same as western Eurasia, and "Iron Age" is essentially never used. In sub-Saharan Africa, Iron metallurgy in Africa, iron metallurgy was developed prior to any knowledge of bronze and possibly before iron's adoption in EurasiaAugustin F. C. Holl, "The Origins of African Metallurgies", in ''Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology'', 2020, . and despite Mesoamerican chronology#Postclassic Period, Postclassic Mesoamerica developing and using bronze, it did not have a significant bearing on its continued cultural evolution in the same way as western Eurasia. *9700 BC: An abrupt period of global warming begins. This is taken as the beginning of the Holocene geological epoch. * 9600 BC: Jericho has evidence of settlement dating back to 9,600 BC. Jericho was a popular camping ground for Natufian culture, Natufian hunter-gatherer groups, who left a scattering of crescent microlith tools behind them. * 9400 BC: Earliest supposed date for the Domestic pig, domestication of the pig. * 9200 BC – 9000 BC: Meltwater pulse 1B, a sudden rise of past sea level, sea level by within about 160 years. * 9000 BC: Earliest date recorded for construction of ''temenoi'' ceremonial structures at Göbekli Tepe in southern Turkey, as possibly the oldest surviving Evolutionary origin of religions#Origins of organized religion, proto-religious site on Earth. * 9000 BC: Arctodus, Giant short-faced bears and giant ground sloths go extinct. Equidae goes extinct in North America. * 8900 BC – 8300 BC: The Indigenous peoples of the southwestern Amazon basin domesticate cassava, the first domestic crop in the New World, followed by squash and dozens of tree species. They also begin intensively modifying the Amazonian landscape, foresting open savannahs and permanently increasing the biomass and biodiversity of the modern Amazon rainforest. * 8800 BC – 7000 BC: Byblos appears to have been settled during the PPNB period. Neolithic remains of some buildings can be observed at the site. * 8500 BC: Earliest supposed date for the Cattle herding, domestication of cattle. * 8000 BC: Earliest dates suggested for the goat, domestication of the goat. * 8000 BC: The Quaternary extinction event, which has been ongoing since the mid-Pleistocene, concludes. Many of the ice age megafauna go extinct, including the megatherium, woolly rhinoceros, Irish elk,
cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word ''cave'' and the scientific name '' ...
, Panthera leo spelaea, cave lion, and the last of the sabre-toothed cats. The
mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...
goes extinct in Eurasia and North America, but is preserved in small island populations until ~1650 BC. * 8000 BC – 7000 BC: In northern Mesopotamia, now northern Iraq, cultivation of barley and wheat begins. At first they are used for beer, gruel, and soup, eventually for bread. In early agriculture at this time, the planting stick is used, but it is replaced by a primitive plow in subsequent centuries. Around this time, a round stone tower, now preserved to about high and in diameter is built in Jericho. * 8000 BC – 6000 BC: The post-glacial sea level rise decelerates, slowing the submersion of landmasses that had taken place over the previous 10,000 years. * 8000 BC – 3000 BC: Identical ancestors point: sometime in this period lived the latest subgroup of human population consisting of those that were all common ancestors of all present day humans, the rest having no present day descendants.https://tedlab.mit.edu/~dr/Papers/Rohde-MRCA-two.pdf On the Common Ancestors of All Living Humans * 7500 BC – 3500 BC: Neolithic Subpluvial in North Africa. The Sahara desert region supports a savanna-like environment. Lake Chad is larger than the current Caspian Sea. An African culture develops across the current Sahel region. * 7500 BC: Çatalhöyük urban settlement founded in Anatolia. * 7500 BC: Earliest supposed date for the domestication of the cat. * 7200 BC: First human settlement in Amman, Jordan; Ayn Ghazal (archaeological site), ʿAin Ghazal Neolithic settlement was built spanning over an area of . * 7176 BC: Earliest confirmed Miyake event, an extreme peak of solar activity which showers the Solar System with cosmic rays and radiation. * 7000 BC – 6000 BC: Early European Farmers arrive in Europe through Anatolia. They replace Western Hunter Gatherer populations in many areas, intermix in others, and introduce agriculture into Europe. * 7000 BC: Maize is domesticated in southern Mexico from the wild (and significantly different) teosinte and quickly becomes the dominant staple of Mesoamerica, heralding the beginning of agriculture and further domestications in the region. * 7000 BC: The Kuk Swamp in the highlands of Papua New Guinea becomes a Vavilov center, cradle of agriculture. Early farmers dig canals that transform the swamp into arable land. They domesticate bananas, sugarcane, taro, lesser yam, and raise Cassowary, cassowaries from captured eggs (which had been done as early as 18,000 years ago). * 7000 BC: Jiahu culture begins in China. * 7000 BC: First large-scale fish fermentation in southern Sweden. * 7000 BC: Human settlement of Mehrgarh, Pakistan is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia. In April 2006, ''Nature'' note that the oldest (and first early Neolithic) evidence for the drilling of human teeth in vivo (i.e. in a living person) was found in Mehrgarh. * 6200 BC – 6000 BC: The 8.2-kiloyear event, a sudden decrease of global temperatures, probably caused by the final collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, which leads to drier conditions in East Africa and Mesopotamia. * 6200 BC – 5600 BC: Sudden rise in sea level (Meltwater pulse 1C) by in less than 140 years; this concludes the early Holocene sea level rise and sea level remains largely stable throughout the Neolithic.Blanchon, P. (2011b) "Backstepping". In: Hopley, D. (Ed), ''Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs: Structure, form and process''. Springer-Verlag Earth Science Series, pp. 77–84. . Blanchon, P., and Shaw, J. (1995) "Reef drowning during the last deglaciation: evidence for catastrophic sea-level rise and icesheet collapse". ''Geology'', 23:4–8. * 6000 BC – 3000 BC: Development of proto-writing in Neolithic signs in China, China, Southeast Europe (Vinca symbols), and West Asia (Cuneiform script#Sumerian pictographs (circa 3300 BC), proto-literate cuneiform). * 6000 BC: Evidence of habitation at the current site of Aleppo dates to about c. 8,000 years ago, although excavations at Tell Qaramel, north of the city show the area was inhabited about 13,000 years ago, Carbon-14 dating at Tell Ramad, on the outskirts of Damascus, suggests that the site may have been occupied since the second half of the seventh millennium BC, possibly around 6300 BC. However, evidence of settlement in the wider Barada basin dating back to 9000 BC exists. * 6000 BC – 5000 BC: The earliest New World ceramics are created in the Amazon basin. * 5700 BC – 4500 BC: Vinča culture. * 5500 BC: Copper Age, Copper smelting in evidence in Pločnik and Belovode. * 5259 BC: Confirmed Miyake event, with high amount of cosmic radiation from the Sun hitting the Earth. * 4500 BC: The oldest known gold hoard deposited at Varna Necropolis, Bulgaria. * 4300 BC: Akahoya eruption creates the Kikai Caldera and ends the earliest homogeneous Jomon culture in Japan. When the Jomon culture recovers, it shows regional differences. * 4050 BC – 4000 BC: Trypillian build in Nebelivka (archaeological site), Nebelivka (Ukraine) settlement which reached 15,000–18,000 inhabitants. * 4130 BC: Toggling harpoons are invented somewhere in eastern Siberia, spreading south into Japan and east into North America, where they are ancestral to the sophisticated designs of the Inuit and later European whaling, whalers. * 4000 BC: Civilizations develop in the Mesopotamia/Fertile Crescent region (around the location of modern-day Iraq). * 4000 BC: Earliest supposed dates for the domestication of the horse, the chicken, domestication of the chicken, and the invention of the potter's wheel.


4th millennium BC

* 4000 BC – 2000 BC: The Dene-Yeniseian languages split into Na-Dene in North America and Yeniseian language, Yeniseian languages in Siberia. The connection is commonly thought to have been the result of a back-migration of early American Indians in
Beringia Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 70th parallel north, 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south ...
back into Siberia, forming the Yeniseian peoples that were once widespread throughout Eurasia. However, recent studies indicating the existence of a linguistic and technological continuum extending into the Common Era make the directionality of migration and the homeland of Dene-Yeniseian more difficult to determine. * 3840 BC – 3800 BC: The Post Track and Sweet Track causeways are constructed in the Somerset Levels. * 3800 BC: Trypillian build in Talianki (Ukraine) settlement which reached 15,600–21,000 inhabitants. * 3700 BC: Mass graves at Tell Brak in Syria. * 3700 BC: Trypillian build in Maidanets (Ukraine) settlement which reached 12,000–46,000 inhabitants, and built three-story building. * 3600 BC: The first monumental buildings are constructed in Sechin Bajo, an urban center in what is now coastal Peru. It belonged to the Casma–Sechin culture, possibly the oldest civilization in the Americas. * 3500 BC: Uruk period in Sumer. * 3500 BC: First evidence of mummification in Egypt. * 3500 BC: Earliest conjectured date for the still-undeciphered Indus script. * 3500 BC: End of the African humid period possibly linked to the Piora Oscillation: a rapid and intense aridification event, which probably started the current Sahara Desert dry phase and a population increase in the Nile Valley due to migrations from nearby regions. It is also believed this event contributed to the end of the Ubaid period in Mesopotamia. * 3400 BC: Oldest known depiction of a wheeled vehicle (Bronocice pot, Funnelbeaker culture). * 3400 BC: Waun Mawn is built in West Wales. * 3300 BC: Bronze Age begins in the Near East. Hakra Phase of the Indus Valley Civilisation begins in the Indian subcontinent. * 3300 BC: Newgrange is built in Ireland. Ness of Brodgar is built in Orkney * 3200 BC – 2500 BC: The Norte Chico or Caral–Supe civilization begins on the coast of Peru with a wave of monumental construction and founding of the first cities in the Americas. It is generally considered the oldest civilization in the Americas. * 3200 BC: The Yamnaya culture appears on the Pontic–Caspian steppe. They most likely spoke the Proto-Indo-European language and may have been responsible for domesticating the horse, initiating the Indo-European migrations after a period of European population decline opened up areas for settlement, and both evolving and spreading the European alleles for lactase persistence. * 3200 BC: Sumerian cuneiform writing system is first used, triggering the beginning of recorded history.


Research

Researchers deduced in a scientific review that "no specific point in time can currently be identified at which modern human ancestry was confined to a limited birthplace" and that current knowledge about long, continuous and complex – e.g. often non-singular, parallel, nonsimultaneous and/or gradual – emergences of characteristics is consistent with a range of Timeline of human evolution, evolutionary histories. A timeline dating first occurrences and earliest evidence may therefore be an often inadequate approach for describing humanity's (pre-)history.


Post-historical prehistories

* 3,800 years ago (1800 BC): Currently undeciphered Minoan script (Linear A) and Cypro-Minoan script developed on Crete and Cyprus. * 3,450 years ago (1450 BC): Mycenaean Greece, first deciphered writing in Europe * 3,200 years ago (1200 BC): Oracle bone script, first written records in Old Chinese * 3,050–2,800 years ago (1050 BC to 800 BC): Alphabetic writing; the Phoenician alphabet spreads around the Mediterranean * 2,300 years ago (300 BC): Maya script, the only known full writing system developed in the Americas, emerges. * 2,260 years ago (260 BC): Earliest deciphered written records in South Asia (Middle Indo-Aryan) * 1800s AD: Undeciphered Rongorongo script on Easter Island may mark the latest independent development of writing.


See also

* Human timeline * List of languages by first written accounts * Timeline of ancient history * Timeline of the early universe * Timeline of historic inventions * Timeline of human evolution * Timeline of the evolutionary history of life * List of periods and events in climate history * Articles in :Millennia ;Prehistory by world region * Ancient Near East#Prehistory, Near East ** Prehistoric Mesopotamia (before 3000 BC) ** Prehistoric Egypt (before 3000 BC) ** Prehistory of Anatolia (before 2000 BC) ** Prehistory of Iran (before 1000 BC) ** Prehistoric Caucasus (before 1000 BC) * Prehistoric China (before 1000 BC) * Prehistoric Europe (before 800 BC) * Prehistory of Central Asia (before 600 BC) * Prehistoric Siberia (before AD 500) * Pre-Columbian era, Pre-Columbian Americas (before 1492) * Prehistory of Australia (before 1788)


References


Bibliography

* * *


External links


Human Timeline (Interactive)
– Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016). {{Portal bar, History, Evolutionary biology, Paleontology Prehistory, * Ancient timelines, Prehistory Archaeology timelines, Prehistory Timelines of world history, human prehistory