Thistimeline of prehistory covers the time from the appearance ofHomo sapiens approximately 315,000 years ago in Africa to theinvention of writing, over 5,000 years ago, with the earliest records going back to 3,200 BC.Prehistory covers the time from thePaleolithic (Old Stone Age) to the beginning ofancient history.

All dates are approximate and subject to revision based on new discoveries or analyses.

• 320kya – 305 kya: Populations atOlorgesailie in SouthernKenya undergo technological improvements in tool making and engage in long-distancetrade.^[2]
• 315 kya: Approximate date of appearance ofHomo sapiens (Jebel Irhoud, Morocco).^[3]
• 270 kya: Age ofY-DNA haplogroup A00 ("Y-chromosomal Adam").^[4]
• 250 kya: First appearance ofHomo neanderthalensis (Saccopastore skulls).^[5]
• 230 kya: Latest proposed date for theTerra Amata site, home of the first confirmed purpose-built structure and probably made byHomo heidelbergensis.^[6]
• 230 kya – 150 kya: Age ofmt-DNA haplogroup L ("Mitochondrial Eve").
• 210 kya: Modern human presence in southeast Europe (Apidima, Greece).^[7]
• 200 kya: Oldest known grassbedding, includinginsect-repellent plants and ash layers beneath (possibly for a dirt-free, insulated base and to keep away arthropods).^[8][9][10]
• 195 kya:Omo remains (Ethiopia).^[11]
• 194 kya – 177 kya: Modern human presence in West Asia (Misliya Cave in Israel).^[12][13]
• 170 kya: Humans are wearingclothing by this date.^[14]
• 164 kya:  Humans diet expands to include marine resources^[15]
• 160 kya:Homo sapiens idaltu.^[16]
• 150 kya:Peopling of Africa:Khoisanid separation, age ofmtDNA haplogroup L0.
• 139 ± 17 kya: Levallois core reductions, pointed tools and a variety of retouched artefacts at Retlapalle, India.^[17]
• 130 kya: Oldest evidence of ancient seafaring, fromCrete (an island isolated from land for millions of years prior to human arrival).^[18]
• 125 kya: The peak of theEemian interglacial period.
• 120 kya: Possibly the earliest evidence ofuse ofsymbols etched onto bone.^[19][20]
• 120 kya: Use of marine shells for personal decoration by humans, includingNeanderthals.^[21][22][23]
• 120 kya – 90 kya:Abbassia Pluvial in North Africa—the Sahara desert region is wet and fertile.
• 120 kya – 75 kya:Khoisanid back-migration from Southern Africa to East Africa.^[24]
• 100 kya: Earliest structures in the world (sandstone blocks set in a semi-circle with an oval foundation) built in Egypt close toWadi Halfa near the modernborder with Sudan.^[25]
• 80 kya – 70 kya:Recent African origin:separation ofsub-Saharan Africans 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.^[26]
• 70 kya: Earliest example of abstract art or symbolic art fromBlombos Cave, South Africa—stones engraved with grid or cross-hatch patterns.^[27]

"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.^[28][29]
• 67 kya – 40 kya:Neanderthal admixture to Eurasians.
• 65 kya – 50 kya: Oldest site of human habitation in Australia, atMadjedbebe.
• 50 kya: Earliest evidence of asewing needle, made and used byDenisovans.^[30]
• 50 kya – 30 kya:Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa. TheSahara region is wet and fertile.Late Stone Age begins in Africa.
• c. 50 kya:Denisova hominin lives in theAltai Mountains,^[31] with oldest estimated to be c. 76 kya.^[32]
• 45 kya: The earliest knownrepresentational art: a painting of threeCelebes warty pigs in Leang Tedongnge cave,Sulawesi.^[33]
• 45 kya – 43 kya: The first waves ofHomo sapiens arrive in Europe, comprising theEarly European modern humans.^[34][35]
• 45 kya – 40 kya:Châtelperronian cultures in France.^[36]
• 42 kya: Time frame of theLaschamp event, the firstgeomagnetic excursion studied and one of the few fullglobal magnetic field reversals known. Although many effects upon life on Earth and human evolution from the increase incosmic rays have been tentatively proposed, the effects are not considered to have been strong enough (further refuted bypaleoecological evidence) to have significantly affected natural or human history.^[37]
• 42 kya:Paleolithic flutes in Germany.^[38]
• 42 kya: Earliest evidence of advanced deep sea fishing technology at theJerimalai cave site inEast Timor—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.^[39][40]
• 40 kya:Extinction ofHomo neanderthalensis.^[36]

• 40 kya:Aurignacian culture begins in Europe.^[41]
• 40 kya: Oldest knownfigurative art thezoomorphicLöwenmensch figurine.^[42]
• 40 kya: Oldest knownfigurative art of a human figure as opposed to a zoomorphic figure (Venus of Hohle Fels).^[43]

• 40 kya – 30 kya: First human settlements formed byAboriginal Australians in several areas that are today the cities ofSydney,^[44][45]Perth^[46] andMelbourne.^[47]
• 40 kya – 20 kya: Oldest known ritualcremation, theMungo Lady, inLake Mungo, Australia.^[48][49]
• 37 kya: A population ofBasal Eurasians migrate to Europe. Unlike theEarly European modern humans that inhabited Europe earlier, these populations form part of the ancestry of modern Europe.^[35]
• 36 kya: Evidence of humans usingfibers in a cave in present-dayGeorgia.^[50][51]
• 33 kya: Earliest evidence of humanoids in Ireland.^[52]
• 33 kya – 22 kya:Gravettian period in Europe.^[53][54]
• 31 kya:Earth ovens in Central Europe.^[55]
• 31 kya – 16 kya:Last Glacial Maximum (peak at 26,500 years ago).^[56]
• 30 kya: Rock paintings tradition begins inBhimbetka rock shelters inIndia, 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.^[57]
• 28.5 kya:New Guinea is populated by colonists from Asia or Australia.^[58]
• 28 kya: Oldest known twistedrope.^[59]
• 28 kya – 24 kya: Oldest known pottery—used to make figurines rather than cooking or storage vessels (Venus of Dolní Věstonice).^[60]
• 25 kya: A hamlet consisting of huts built of rocks and ofmammoth bones is founded in what is nowDolní Věstonice inMoravia in theCzech Republic.Dolní Věstonice (archaeological site) is the oldest human permanent settlement that has yet been found by archaeologists.^[61]
• 25 kya:Ancient North Eurasians migrate into eastern Siberia, intermixing with the localAncient East Asian populations. Their descendants migrated intoBeringia, where they became (or helped form) theAncestral Native Americans.^[62]
• 24 kya – 15 kya: General time frame for theMal'ta–Buret' culture nearLake Baikal,^[63] the archaeological culture whose human remains serve as the type for theAncient North Eurasian (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. BothEuropeans andAmerican Indians share significant ANE ancestry.
• 24 kya: Thecave bear is thought to have become extinct.^[64]
• 24 kya: Evidence suggests humans living in Alaska and Yukon North America.^[65]
• 23 kya: A population ofwolves are hypothesized to have begun cohabiting withAncient North Eurasians for shared food, protection, and (possibly later) hunting success. This commensal relationship is thought to have led to thedomestication of the dog, which genetic studies show their ancestry diverging from wolves at this time along with an increase in population.^[66][67] At theYana Rhinoceros Horn Site, smaller wolf-like canids withneotenous features and signs of being cared for have been observed.^[68]
• 23 kya – 21 kya: The earliest known human footprints inNorth America are left at what is nowWhite Sands National Park,New Mexico.^[69]
• 21 kya: Artifacts suggest early human activity occurred inCanberra, the capital city of Australia.^[70]
• 20 kya:Kebaran culture in theLevant: beginning of theEpipalaeolithic in the Levant.^[71]
• 20 kya: Theorized earliest date of development of traditional Arctic clothing like those used by Arctic Eurasians andInuit.^[72]
• 20 kya – 19 kya: Earliest pottery use, inXianren Cave, China.^[73]
• 20 kya – 18 kya:Minatogawa Man (Proto-Mongoloid phenotype) in Okinawa, Japan.^[74][75]
• 20 kya – 10 kya:Khoisanid expansion to Central Africa.^[24]
• 18 kya – 12 kya: Though estimations vary widely, it is believed by scholars thatAfro-Asiatic was spoken as asingle language around this time period.^[76]
• 18 kya: TheMagdalenian 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 ofLascaux andAltamira, as well as numerous carvings in ivory and stone.^[77]
• 17 kya: The earliest gene forblond hair is found amongAncient North Eurasians at theAfontova Gora site in Siberia.^[78]
• 16 kya – 11 kya:Caucasus hunter-gatherer expansion to Europe.^{[chronology citation needed]}
• 16 kya:Wisent (European bison) sculpted in clay deep inside the cave now known asLe Tuc d'Audoubert in theFrench Pyrenees near what is now theborder of Spain.^[79][80]
• 14.2 kya: The oldest agreed domestic dog remains belongs to theBonn–Oberkassel dog that was buried with two humans.^[81]
• 14 kya:Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b, normally associated with theNear East at this time, appears in Italy.^[35]
• 14 kya:Western Hunter Gatherers (descended fromAncient North Eurasians) of theEpigravettian culture expand into Europe and replace theMagdalenian culture.^[82]
• 14 kya – 12 kya: Oldest evidence forprehistoric warfare (Jebel Sahaba,Natufian culture).^[83]
• 13 kya – 10 kya: End of theLast Glacial Period, climate warms, glaciers recede.
• 13 kya: A major water outbreak occurs onLake Agassiz in central North America, which at the time could have been the size of the currentBlack Sea and the largest lake on Earth. Much of the lake is drained in the Arctic Ocean through theMackenzie River.^[84][85][86]
• 13 kya – 10 kya: Earliest dates suggested for thedomestication of the sheep, inMesopotamia.^[87][88]
• 12.9 kya – 11.7 kya: TheYounger Dryas, a period of sudden cooling and return to glacial conditions.
• 12 kya: Volcanic eruptions in theVirunga Mountains blockedLake Kivu outflow intoLake Edward and theNile system, diverting the water toLake Tanganyika. Nile's total length is shortened and Lake Tanganyika's surface is increased.

The terms "Neolithic" and "Bronze Age" are culture-specific and are mostly limited to cultures of select parts of theOld World, namelyEurope,Western andSouth Asia. Chronologicalperiodizations 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 theNeolithic Revolution have little to do with theAmericas, where several different chronologies are used instead depending on the area (e.g. the AndeanPreceramic, the North AmericanArchaic andFormative periods). Similarly, since there is no appreciable cultural shift between the use of stone, bronze, and iron inEast andSoutheast 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.^[89][90] In sub-Saharan Africa,iron metallurgy was developed prior to any knowledge of bronze and possibly before iron's adoption in Eurasia^[91] and despitePostclassic Mesoamerica developing and using bronze,^[92][93][94] it did not have a significant bearing on its continued cultural evolution in the same way as western Eurasia.

• 9700 BC: An abrupt period ofglobal warming begins. This is taken as the beginning of theHolocene geological epoch.
• 9600 BC:Jericho has evidence of settlement dating back to 9,600 BC. Jericho was a popular camping ground forNatufian hunter-gatherer groups, who left a scattering of crescentmicrolith tools behind them.^[96]
• 9400 BC: Earliest supposed date for thedomestication of the pig.^[97]
• 9200 BC – 9000 BC:Meltwater pulse 1B, a sudden rise ofsea level by 7.5 m (25 ft) within about 160 years.
• 9000 BC: Earliest date recorded for construction oftemenoi ceremonial structures atGöbekli Tepe in southern Turkey, as possibly the oldest survivingproto-religious site on Earth.^[98]
• 9000 BC:Giant short-faced bears andgiant ground sloths go extinct.Equidae goes extinct in North America.
• 8900 BC – 8300 BC: The Indigenous peoples of the southwesternAmazon basin domesticatecassava, 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.^{[99][100][101]}
• 8800 BC – 7000 BC:Byblos appears to have been settled during thePPNB period.Neolithic remains of some buildings can be observed at the site.^[102][103]
• 8500 BC: Earliest supposed date for thedomestication of cattle.^[104]
• 8000 BC: Earliest dates suggested for thedomestication of the goat.^[105]
• 8000 BC: TheQuaternary extinction event, which has been ongoing since the mid-Pleistocene, concludes. Many of the ice agemegafauna go extinct, including themegatherium,woolly rhinoceros,Irish elk,cave bear,cave lion, and the last of thesabre-toothed cats. Themammoth goes extinct in Eurasia and North America, but is preserved in small island populations until ~1650 BC.
• 8000 BC – 7000 BC: In northernMesopotamia, now northernIraq, cultivation ofbarley andwheat begins. At first they are used forbeer,gruel, andsoup, eventually forbread.^[106] In early agriculture at this time, theplanting stick is used, but it is replaced by a primitiveplow in subsequent centuries.^[107] Around this time, a round stone tower, now preserved to about 8.5 metres (28 ft) high and 8.5 metres (28 ft) in diameter is built inJericho.^[108]
• 8000 BC – 6000 BC: Thepost-glacial sea level rise decelerates, slowing the submersion of landmasses that had taken place over the previous 10,000 years.
• 8000 BC – 5000 BC: Large animals such asdeer andelk are drawn onRock Drawings in Valcamonica (Lombardy).
• 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.^[109]
• 7500 BC – 3500 BC:Neolithic Subpluvial in North Africa. TheSahara desert region supports a savanna-like environment.Lake Chad is larger than the currentCaspian Sea. An African culture develops across the currentSahel region.
• 7500 BC:Çatalhöyük urban settlement founded inAnatolia.^[110]
• 7500 BC: Earliest supposed date for thedomestication of the cat.^[111]
• 7200 BC: First human settlement inAmman, Jordan;ʿAin GhazalNeolithic settlement was built spanning over an area of 15 hectares (37 acres).^[112]
• 7176 BC: Earliest confirmedMiyake event, an extreme peak of solar activity which showers theSolar System with cosmic rays and radiation.
• 7000 BC – 6000 BC:Early European Farmers arrive in Europe throughAnatolia. They replaceWestern Hunter Gatherer populations in many areas, intermix in others, and introduce agriculture into Europe.^{[113][114][115]}
• 7000 BC:Maize is domesticated in southernMexico 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.^[116]
• 7000 BC: TheKuk Swamp in the highlands ofPapua New Guinea becomes acradle of agriculture. Early farmers dig canals that transform the swamp into arable land. They domesticatebananas,sugarcane,taro,lesser yam, and raisecassowaries from captured eggs (which had been done as early as 18,000 years ago).^[117][118]
• 7000 BC:Jiahu culture begins in China.
• 7000 BC: First large-scale fish fermentation in southern Sweden.^[119]
• 7000 BC: Human settlement ofMehrgarh,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.^[120]
• 6200 BC – 6000 BC: The8.2-kiloyear event, a sudden decrease of global temperatures, probably caused by the final collapse of theLaurentide Ice Sheet, which leads to drier conditions in East Africa andMesopotamia.
• 6200 BC – 5600 BC: Sudden rise in sea level (Meltwater pulse 1C) by 6.5 m (21 ft) in less than 140 years; this concludes theearly Holocene sea level rise and sea level remains largely stable throughout the Neolithic.^[121][122]
• 6000 BC – 3000 BC: Development ofproto-writing inChina,^[123] Southeast Europe (Vinca symbols),^[124] and West Asia (proto-literate cuneiform).
• 6000 BC: Evidence of habitation at the current site ofAleppo dates to about c. 8,000 years ago, although excavations atTell Qaramel, 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of the city show the area was inhabited about 13,000 years ago,^[125]Carbon-14 dating atTell Ramad, on the outskirts ofDamascus, suggests that the site may have been occupied since the second half of the seventh millennium BC, possibly around 6300 BC.^[126] However, evidence of settlement in the wider Barada basin dating back to 9000 BC exists.^[127]
• 6000 BC – 5000 BC: The earliest New World ceramics are created in theAmazon basin.^[128]
• 5700 BC – 4500 BC:Vinča culture.
• 5500 BC:Copper smelting in evidence inPločnik andBelovode.^[129][130]
• 5259 BC: ConfirmedMiyake event, with high amount of cosmic radiation from the Sun hitting the Earth.
• 4500 BC: The oldest known gold hoard deposited atVarna Necropolis, Bulgaria.
• 4300 BC:Akahoya eruption creates theKikai Caldera and ends the earliest homogeneous Jomon culture in Japan. When the Jomon culture recovers, it shows regional differences.^{[131][verification needed]}
• 4050 BC – 4000 BC:Trypillian build inNebelivka (Ukraine) settlement which reached 15,000–18,000 inhabitants.^[132][133]
• 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 theInuit and later Europeanwhalers.^[134]

• 4000 BC:Civilizations develop in theMesopotamia/Fertile Crescent region (around the location of modern-day Iraq).
• 4000 BC: Earliest supposed dates for thedomestication of the horse, thedomestication of the chicken, and the invention of thepotter's wheel.
• 4000 BC – 2000 BC: TheDene-Yeniseian languages split intoNa-Dene in North America andYeniseian languages in Siberia. The connection is commonly thought to have been the result of a back-migration of earlyAmerican Indians inBeringia back into Siberia, forming theYeniseian peoples that were once widespread throughout Eurasia.^[135] However, recent studies indicating the existence of a linguistic and technological continuum extending into theCommon Era make the directionality of migration and the homeland of Dene-Yeniseian more difficult to determine.^[136]
• 3840 BC – 3800 BC: ThePost Track andSweet Trackcauseways are constructed in theSomerset Levels.
• 3800 BC:Trypillian build inTalianki (Ukraine) settlement which reached 15,600–21,000 inhabitants.^[137]
• 3700 BC: Mass graves atTell Brak in Syria.
• 3700 BC:Trypillian build inMaidanets (Ukraine) settlement which reached 12,000–46,000 inhabitants,^[138] and built three-story building.^[139]
• 3600 BC: The first monumental buildings are constructed inSechin Bajo, an urban center in what is now coastalPeru. It belonged to theCasma–Sechin culture, possibly the oldest civilization in the Americas.^[140]
• 3500 BC:Uruk period inSumer.
• 3500 BC: First evidence ofmummification in Egypt.^[141][142]
• 3500 BC: Earliest conjectured date for the still-undecipheredIndus script.
• 3500 BC: End of theAfrican humid period possibly linked to thePiora Oscillation: a rapid and intensearidification event, which probably started the current Sahara Desert dry phase and a population increase in theNile Valley due to migrations from nearby regions. It is also believed this event contributed to the end of theUbaid period in Mesopotamia.
• 3400 BC: Oldest known depiction of awheeled vehicle (Bronocice pot,Funnelbeaker culture).^{[143][144][145]}
• 3400 BC:Waun Mawn is built in WestWales.^[146]
• 3300 BC:Bronze Age begins in the Near East.^[147] Hakra Phase of theIndus Valley Civilisation begins in theIndian subcontinent.^{[citation needed]}
• 3300 BC:Newgrange is built in Ireland.^[148]Ness of Brodgar is built in Orkney^[149]
• 3200 BC – 2500 BC: The Norte Chico orCaral–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.^[150]
• 3200 BC: TheYamnaya culture appears on thePontic–Caspian steppe.^[151] They most likely spoke theProto-Indo-European language and may have been responsible for domesticating thehorse, initiating theIndo-European migrations after a period of European population decline opened up areas for settlement,^[152] and both evolving and spreading the European alleles forlactase persistence.^[153]
• 3200 BC: Sumerian cuneiform writing system is first used, triggering the beginning ofrecorded history.^[154]

Researchers deduced in ascientific 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 ofevolutionary histories.^[155][156] A timeline dating first occurrences and earliest evidence may therefore be an often inadequate approach for describing humanity's (pre-)history.

• 3,800 years ago (1800 BC): Currently undeciphered Minoan script (Linear A) andCypro-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 inOld Chinese
• 3,050–2,800 years ago (1050 BC to 800 BC):Alphabetic writing; thePhoenician 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: UndecipheredRongorongo script onEaster Island may mark the latest independent development of writing.

• Burns, Ross (2005).Damascus: A History. Routledge.ISBN 978-1-134-48850-6.
• Kristiansen, Kristian; Larsson, Thomas B. (2005).The Rise of Bronze Age Society: Travels, Transmissions and Transformations. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-84363-8.
• Turner II, Christy G.; Ovodov, Nicolai D.; Pavlova, Olga V. (2013).Animal Teeth and Human Tools: A Taphonomic Odyssey in Ice Age Siberia.Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-1-107-03029-9.

• Human Timeline (Interactive) –Smithsonian,National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).

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