5th

Badari culture on Nile (c. 4400–4000 BC)

Comb Ceramic culture (also endured 6th, 4th)

Maykop culture

Yangshao culture

Merimde culture on Nile (c. 4570–4250 BC)

Predynastic Egypt

Proto-Austronesian culture is based on south coast of China. They combine extensive maritime technology, fishing with hooks & nets & gardening. (c. 5000 BC)

Samara culture

Sredny Stog culture

Lengyel culture in eastern Eurpe

Ubaid culture

Cycladic culture—a distinctive Neolithic culture amalgamating Anatolian & mainland Greek elements arose in western Aegean before 4000 BC

Vinča culture (also endured 6th, 4th, & 3rd millennia)

Events

c. 5000 BC: Pelasgians migrate to Balkans

5000–4500 BC: Għar Dalam phase of Neolithic farmers on Malta, possibly immigrant farmers from Agrigento region of Sicily.

5000–4000 BC: Bowl, from Banpo, near Xi'an, Shaanxi, is made. Neolithic period. Yangshao culture. It is now kept at Banpo Museum.

5000–2000 BC: Neolithic period in China.

4900–4600 BC: Arrangements of circular ditches are built in Central Europe.

4800 BC: Dimini culture replaces Sesklo culture in Thessaly (4800–4000 BC)

c. 4500 BC: Settlement of Chirokitia dates from this period.

c. 4500 BC: Ending of Neolithic IA (the Aceramic) in Cyprus

c. 4350 BC: Kikai Caldera forms in a massive VEI7 eruption.

4300 BC: Theta Boötis became nearest visible star to celestial north pole. It remained closest until 3942 BC when it was replaced by Thuban.

c. 4250–3750 BC: Menhir alignments at Menec, Carnac, France are made.

4200 BC: Date of Mesolithic examples of Naalebinding found in Denmark, marking spread of technology to Northern Europe. (Bender 1990)

4100–3500 BC: New wave of immigration to Malta from Sicily leads to Żebbuġ & Mġarr phases, & to Ġgantija phase of temple builders.

[edit] Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Rice is domesticated in China. Later it is introduced in Ganges Valley & rest of Asia (c. 5000 BC).

Farming reaches Atlantic coast of Europe from Ancient Near East (c. 5000 BC).

Maize is cultivated in Mexico (c. 5000 BC).[1]

Writing systems, such as ideographic Vinca script, Tartaria tablets (c. 5000 BC)

c. 5000 BC, Metallurgy appears.

c. 5000 BC, Agriculture starts in Ancient Japan. Beans & gourds are cultivated.

Plough is introduced in Europe (c. 4500 BC)

Copper pins dating to 4000 BC found in Egypt.[1]

Water buffalo are domesticated in China

Beer brewing is developed.

Wheel is developed in Mesopotamia & India

[edit] Environmental changes

5000–4900 BC: Older Peron transgression, a warm period that would dominate 5th millennium, begins in this period.

[edit] Calendars & chronology

4713 BC: epoch (origin) of Julian Period described by Joseph Justus Scaliger occurred on January 1, astronomical Julian day number zero.

4121 BC: Eduard Meyer's date for creation of Egyptian calendar, based on his calculations of Sothic cycle.

4004 BC: According to Ussher chronology, created by James Ussher based on Old Testament of Bible, this is when universe is created at nightfall preceding October 23.

6th

c. 6000 BC: Mehrgarh culture reaches its height c. 6000 BC. Mehrgarh site is one of most important Neolithic sites in world. It is located in present-day Pakistan (Baluchistan Province).

c. 6000 BC: entire 6th Millennium was a part of Holocene climatic optimum (so were 4th, 5th, & 7th Millennia). This was a warm period also known as Atlantic period. This period was characterized by minimal glaciation & high sea levels. (McEvedy)

c. 6000 BC: Records of Mosyllonian civilization in Somalia

c. 6000 BC: Copper Age comes to Fertile Crescent. (Roux 1980) First use of copper in Middle East. (Bailey 1973)

c. 6000 BC: Fully Neolithic agriculture has spread through Anatolia to Balkans. (1967 McEvedy)

c. 6000 BC: Equids disappear from Americas.

c. 6000 BC: Junglefowl kept in India.

c. 6000 BC: Female figurines holding serpents are fashioned on Crete & may have been associated with water, regenerative power & protection of home.

c. 5900 BC: Prehistoric Vinca culture emerges on shores of lower Danube.

c. 5800 BC: Beginning of Dadiwan culture in China.

c. 5800 BC: Hosanna Period in Mesopotamia <t. 5500 BC>, with earliest version of stamp seals. (Roux 1980)

c. 5760 BC: volcano Puy-de-Dôme in France erupts.

c. 5677 BC: Cataclysmic volcanic explosion of 12,000-foot (3,700 m) high Mount Mazama creates Oregon's Crater Lake[1] when resulting caldera fills with water. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 7, it remains largest single Holocene eruption in history of Cascade Range.

c. 5600 BC: Beginning of desertification of North Africa, which ultimately lead to creation of Sahara desert. It's possible this process pushed some natives into migrating to region of Nile in east, thereby laying groundwork for rise of Egyptian civilization.

c. 5600 BC: Red Paint People become established in region from present-day Labrador to New York state.

5509 BC: Byzantine calendar dates creation to 1 September of this year.

c. 5500 BC: Beginning of Xinle culture in China.

c. 5500 BC: Agriculture started in Ancient Egypt.

c. 5500 BC: Predynastic period (Neolithic) starts in Ancient Egypt (other date is 4350 BC).

c. 5450 BC: Volcano Hekla eruption.

c. 5400 BC: Beginning of Zhaobaogou culture in China.

c. 5400 BC: Irrigation & beginning of Sumerian civilization in Southern Iraq.

c. 5400 BC: Watson Brake mound complex constructed in present-day Louisiana. (Correction: 5400 BP, or 3400 BC)

c. 5300 BC: Beginning of Beixin culture in China.

c. 5200 BC: Beginning of human inhabitation & settlements in Malta.

c. 5000 BC: Beginning of Hemudu culture in China.

c. 5000 BC: Beginning of Daxi culture in China.

c. 5000 BC: Beginning of Majiabang culture in China.

c. 5000 BC: Beginning of Yangshao culture in China.

c. 5000 BC: Farming reached central & north Europe.

[edit] Environmental changes

c. 7000 BC: Beginning Holocene climatic optimum.

c. 6000 BC: land bridge connecting England with rest of Europe disappears beneath waters of North Sea & English Channel.

c. 5600 BC: According to Black Sea deluge theory, Black Sea floods with salt water. Some 3000 cubic miles (12,500 km³) of salt water is added, significantly expanding it & transforming it from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water sea.

[edit] Inventions, discoveries, introductions

c. 6000 BC: Cycladic people started to use a coarse, poor-quality local clay to make a variety of objects.

c. 6000 BC: Brick building was taking place at Çatalhöyük, Turkey.[2]

Agriculture appears in valley of Nile.

Rice cultivated in Asia.

Plough invented.

c. 6000–5000 BC: Wine is created for first time in Persia.

c. 5000 BC: Agriculture began in Americas perhaps this early, in complete isolation from Old World.[2]

Artifacts of stone were supplemented by those of metal, & crafts of basketry, pottery, weaving (Africa).

Dead were buried in a fetal position, surrounded by burial offerings & artifacts, facing west (Africa).

Decorated, black-topped clay pots & vases; bone & ivory combs, figurines, & tableware, are found in great numbers (Africa).

Jewelry of all types & materials (Africa).

Objects began to be made not only with a function, but also with an aesthetic value. (Africa)

Organized, permanent settlements focused around agriculture. (Africa)

Cultural landmarks

c. 5700 BC: Samarran Culture at Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) begins (c. 5700–4900 BC C-14, 6640–5816 BC calBC).

c. 5500 BC: pottery at Mehrgarh in current-day Baluchistan, Pakistan.

c. 5100 BC: Temples founded in South Mesopotamia.

Mediterranean Old European cultures.

 

7th

c. 7000 BC: First neolithic settlements with ceramics, in St. Croix, Caribbean Sea.

c. 7000 BC: Beginning of Peiligang culture in China.

c. 7000 BC: Agriculture & neolithic settlement at Mehrgarh, in current-day Baluchistan, Pakistan.

c. 7000 BC: Agriculture among Papuan peoples of New Guinea[1]

c. 7000 BC–600 BC: Elam.

c. 7000 BC: Elam becomes farming region.

c. 7000 BC–6000 BC: Figure from Ain Ghazal, Jordan, was made. It is now in National Museum, Amman, Jordan.

c. 6850–4800 BC: Advanced agriculture & a very early use of pottery by Sesclo culture in Thessaly, Greece.

c. 6500 BC: Paleolithic period ended. Neolithic period started in China.

c. 6500 BC: Beginning of Houli culture in China.

c. 6500 BC–5500 BC: Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Inhabitants traded obsidian. c. 5000 inhabitants.

c. 6200 BC: Beginning of Xinglongwa culture in China.

c. 6000 BC: Beginning of Cishan culture in China.

c. 6000 BC: First traces of habitation of Svarthola cave in Norway.

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

c. 7000 BC: Mesolithic site Lepenski Vir emerges in today's Serbia.

c. 7000 BC: Earliest pottery in Ancient Near East.

c. 7000 BC: Elam became farming region.

c. 7000 BC: Chinese domestication of rice, millet, soy beans, & yams. (1990 Rand McNally Atlas)

c. 7000 BC: Red pepper, bottle gourd, avocados, & squash cultivated on Pacific coast of Guatemala. (Bailey 1973)

c. 7000 BC-6000 BC: transition to farming begins in Mesoamerica.

c. 6500 BC: Naalebinding, a form of knitting, used in Judean Desert (modern day Israel).

c. 6500 BC: Two breeds of non-wolf dogs in Scandinavia; domestic hogs in Jarmo & cattle in Turkey.

c. 6200 BC: Mural painting or map from Çatalhöyük, an early civilized city that prospered by trading obsidian, Anatolia—modern Turkey.

6000 BC: Ban Po settlement in China.

Agriculture appears around in Balkans, see Old European Culture.

Beekeeping is first recorded. Rock paintings on cave walls in Africa & eastern Spain show people gathering honey from trees or rock crevices while bees fly around them—cave drawings in Spain, near Valencia.

Pastoralism & cultivation of cereals (East Sahara).[citation needed]

Gold & native copper begin to be used.[citation needed]

Middle East: Domestication of cow.[citation needed])

Archaic pottery making, burial mound construction, & garden technology (NorthAmerica).

North America: Indigenous Peoples of Americas begin using stone to grind food & to hunt American Bison & smaller animals.

North America: Deciduous plants make their appearance on Long Island.

North America: Northern Atlantic Ocean is cooled by 3–6°C due to enormous floods.[citation needed]

Mexico—Incipient agriculture begins (North America).

Peru, Guitarrero Cave, plant fibers are twisted, knotted, & looped into baskets, mats (South America).

Eastern Mediterranean, forms of pottery become decoration.

Animal figures of Estuarine-period rock painting in Australia include saltwater fish & crocodiles.

Environmental changes

c. 7000 BC: Wild horse populations drop in Europe proper; horse disappears from island of Great Britain, but was never found in Ireland. (Horse & Man, Clutton-Brock) Extinction probably caused by climatic shift, leading to excessively rich spring feed & mass lameness from founder, making them easy prey (Bolich & Ingraham)

c. 7000 BC: English Channel formed[2]

c. 7000 BC: Neolithic Subpluvial begins in northern Africa

6440±25 BC: Kurile volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula has VEI 7 eruption. It is one of largest of Holocene epoch

6250 BC: Eruptions occur in Indian Heaven Volcanic field located in central Washington State.

c. 6100 BC: Storegga Slide, causing a megatsunami in Norwegian Sea

c. 6000 BC: Rising sea levels form Torres Strait, separating Australia from New Guinea

c. 6000 BC: Between 12,000 BC & 5000 BC it appears that massive inland flooding was taking place in several regions of world, making for subsequent sea level rises which could be relatively abrupt for many worldwide.

 

8th

c. 8000 BC—The last glacial period ends.

c. 8000 BC—Upper Paleolithic period ends.

c. 8000 BC—7000 BC—Paleolithic–Neolithic overlap (Mesolithic).

c. 8000 BC—2300 BC—Neolithic period.

c. 8000 BC—Settlement in Franchthi Cave in Pelopponese, Greece, continues. First evidence of seed & animal stocking (lentils, almonds) & obsidian trade with Melos. settlement was continuously occupied since 20,000 BC & abandoned in 3000 BC.

c. 8000 BC—Settlements at Nevali Cori in present-day Turkey are established.

c. 8000 BC—Settlements at Sagalassos in present-day southwest Turkey are established.

c. 8000 BC—Settlements at Akure in present-day southwest Nigeria are established.

c. 8000 BC—Settlements at Øvre Eiker & Nedre Eiker in present-day Buskerud, Norway are established.

c. 8000 BC—Settlements at Ærø, Denmark are established.

c. 8000 BC—Settlements at Deepcar near present-day Sheffield, England are established.

c. 8000 BC—North American Arctic is inhabited by hunter-gatherers of Paleo-Arctic Tradition.

c. 8000 BC—Pre-Anasazi Paleo-Indians move into present-day Southwest United States.

c. 8000 BC—Plano cultures inhabit Great Plains area of North America (from 9th millennium)

c. 8000 BC—World population: 5,000,000[1]

c. 7500 BC—Settlements at Sand, Applecross on coast of Wester Ross, Scotland are constructed.

c. 7500 BC—Çatalhöyük, a very large Neolithic & Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, is founded.

c. 7500 BC—Cattle Period begins in Sahara.

c. 7500 BC—Mesolithic hunter-gatherers are first humans to reach Ireland.

c. 7370 BC—End of large settlement at Jericho.

c. 7200–5000 BC—Ain Ghazal, Jordan is inhabited. 30 acres (120,000 m2).

Environmental changes

c. 8000 BC—Glaciers form rock formation in present-day New Hampshire, USA formerly known as "Old Man of Mountain".

c. 7911 BC—Series of seven massive volcanic eruptions give volcanic skies & lowered temperatures for several centuries (ending 7090 BC). Locations not known, but show in polar ice. (NatGeo1986–9)

c. 7640 BC—Date theorized for impact of Tollmann's hypothetical bolide with Earth & associated global cataclysm.

c. 7220 BC—Eruption of Mount Edgecumbe, Alaska.

Large outflow of fresh water from Black Sea Agian Sea

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Rise of agriculture.

Bladed tools found in southwest Iran date from around 8000 BC. They were made from Obsidian that had been transported from Anatolia.[2]

Potatoes & beans are cultivated in South America

Beginning of millet[3] & rice cultivation in East Asia

Domestication of cat & Bos aegyptiacus ox in Ancient Egypt

Domestication of sheep in Southwest Asia

Huts, hearths, granaries, & nonportable stone tools for grinding grains Africa

Catal Huyuk, men wear animals skins, plus hats of same material Asia

Houses, kilns, pottery, turquoise carvings, tools made from stone & bone, & bone flutes China

Clay & plaster are molded to form statues at Jericho & cAin Ghazal Mediterranean

First evidence of incised "counting tokens" about 9,000 years ago in Neolithic fertile crescent. Asia

Japanese potters begin to decorate pottery cooking vessels Japan

Simple pottery traditions sometimes with cord impressions or other decorative markings Korea

Agriculture in New Guinea

Evidence of wheat, barley, sheep, goats, & pigs suggests that a food-producing economy is adopted in Aegean Greece

Franchthi Cave in Argolid, Greece, attests to earliest deliberate burials in Greece

North Sea: North Sea bottoms are largely dry land before this period. England

Pottery making, burial mound construction, & garden technology Mexico

In valley of Mexico, chili peppers & "grain" (amaranth & maize) are grown.

World—Between 12,000 BC & 5000 BC it appears that massive inland flooding was taking place in several regions of world, making for subsequent sea level rises, which could be relatively abrupt for many worldwide

Cultural landmarks

c. 7600 BC—Howick house in Northumberland, England is constructed.

c. 7193 BC—According to Korean legend, an alliance of northern Altaic tribes under a "Huan" (Hun) ruler predates establishment of China.

 

9th

c. 9000 BC—Mediterranean—Settling on Mediterranean isles started[citation needed]

c. 9000 BC—Laacher See, northwest of Frankfurt, formed when a volcano blows out to form a caldera

c. 9000 BC—Neolithic culture begins in Ancient Near East

c. 8700–8400 BC—Britain—Star Carr site in Yorkshire, Britain inhabited by Maglemosian peoples

c. 8500 BC—Great Britain—Mesolithic hunters camp at Cramond, Prehistoric Scotland

c. 8500 BC–7370 BC; Jericho established with 2,000 inhabitants living in mud-brick houses covering 6 acres (24,000 m2) & protected by Wall of Jericho

c. 8300 BC—Great Britain—Nomadic hunters arrive in England[citation needed]

c. 8000 BC—Norway—Øvre Eiker of Norway inhabited

c. 8000 BC—Estonia—Pulli settlement inhabited

 

 

[edit] Inventions & discoveries

c. 9000 BC—The first evidence of keeping of sheep, in northern Iraq.[1]

c. 9000 BC—Discovery of Copper in Middle East

c. 8500 BC—Natufian culture of Western Mesopotamia is harvesting wild wheat with flint-edged sickles. (1967 McEvedy) About this time, boats are invented, & dogs domesticated in Europe. (1967 McEvedy)

c. 8500 BC—Andean peoples domesticate chili peppers & two kinds of bean.

c. 8000 BC—Mesopotamia—Agriculture in Mesopotamia

c. 8000 BC—Asia—Domestication of pig in China & Turkey

c. 8000 BC—Middle East—Domestication of goats

c. 8000 BC—Asia—Evidence of domestication of dogs from wolves

c. 8000 BC—Middle East—Ancient flint tools from north & central Arabia belong to hunter-gatherer societies

c. 8000 BC—Middle East—Clay vessels & modeled human & animal terracotta figurines are produced at Ganj Dareh in western Iran.

c. 8000 BC—Exchange of goods, a three-dimensional combination of an accounting/inventory system & medium of exchange.

c. 8000 BC—Exchange of goods may represent earliest pseudo-writing technology.

c. 8000 BC—People of Jericho were making bricks out of clay, then hardened them in sun. settlement had grown to 8–10 acres of houses & had substantial walls.[1]

[edit] Environmental changes

c. 9000 BC: Temporary global chilling, as Gulf Stream pulls southward, & Europe ices over (1990 Rand McNally Atlas)

c. 8000 BC—World—Rising Sea[citation needed]

c. 8000 BC—Antarctica—long-term melting of Antarctic ice sheets is commencing[citation needed]

c. 8000 BC—Asia—rising sea levels caused by postglacial warming[citation needed]

c. 8000 BC—World—Obliteration of more than 40 million animals about this time[citation needed]

c. 8000 BC—North America—The glaciers were receding & by 8,000 BC Wisconsin had withdrawn completely.[citation needed]

c. 8000 BC—World—Inland flooding due to catastrophic glacier melt takes place in several regions[citation needed]

10th

c. 10,000 BC; First cave drawings of Mesolithic period are made, with war scenes & religious scenes, beginnings of what became story telling, & metamorphosed into acting.

c. 10,000 BC; Bottle Gourd is domesticated & used as a carrying vessel.

c. 10,000 BC; end of most recent glaciation.

c. 9500 BC; There is evidence of harvesting, though not necessarily cultivation, of wild grasses in Asia Minor about this time.

c. 9500 BC; First building phase of temple complex at Göbekli Tepe.

c. 9300 BC; figs were apparently cultivated in Jordan River valley.[3]

c. 9000 BC; Neolithic culture began in Ancient Near East.

c. 9000 BC: Near East: First stone structures at Jericho are built.

[edit] Old World

Asia: Cave sites near Caspian Sea are used for human habitation.

Europe: Azilian (Painted Pebble Culture) people occupy Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, & Scotland.

Europe: Magdalenian culture flourishes & creates cave paintings in France.

Europe: Horse hunting begins at Solutré.

Egypt: Early sickle blades & grinding disappear & are replaced by hunting, fishing & gathering peoples who use stone tools.

Japan: Jōmon people use pottery, fish, hunt & gather acorns, nuts & edible seeds. There are 10,000 known sites.

Mesopotamia: Three or more linguistic groups, including Sumerian & Semitic peoples share a common political & cultural way of life[citation needed].

Mesopotamia: People begin to collect wild wheat & barley probably to make malt then beer.

Norway: First traces of population in Randaberg.

Persia: goat is domesticated.

Sahara: Bubalus Period.

[edit] Americas

North America: Paleo-Indian hunter-gatherer societies live nomadically in countryside.

North America: Blackwater Draw forms in eastern New Mexico, evincing human activity.

North America: Folsom people flourish throughout Southwestern United States.

North America: Settlement at Nanu site in Queen Charlotte Islands of modern day British Columbia begins, starting longest continual occupation in territory now belonging to Canada.[citation needed]

[edit] Environmental changes

c. 10,000 BC:

North America: Dire Wolf, Smilodon, Giant Beaver, Ground Sloth, Giant Imperial Mammoth (Mammuthus imperator), Jeffersonian Mammoth (Mammuthus jeffersonii), Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi), Woolly Mammoth, Mastodons, Giant Short-Faced Bear, American Cheetah, Scimitar Cats (Homotherium), American Camels, American Horses, & American Lions all become extinct.

Bering Sea: Bering land bridge from Siberia to North America covered in water.

North America: Long Island becomes an island when waters break through on western end to interior lake.

Europe: Permanent ecological change. savannah-dwelling reindeer, bison, & Paleolithic hunters withdraw to sub-Arctic, leaving rest to forest animals like deer, aurochs, & Mesolithic foragers. (1967 McEvedy)

World: Allerod oscillation brings transient improvement in climate. Sea levels rise abruptly & massive inland flooding occurs due to glacier melt.

c. 9700 BC: Lake Agassiz forms.

c. 9600 BC: Younger Dryas cold period ends. Pleistocene ends & Holocene begins. Paleolithic ends & Mesolithic begins. Large amounts of previously glaciated land become habitable again.

In popular culture

c. 10,000 BC: This is time setting for film 10,000 BC.

c. 10,000 BC: Is also setting for Opar novels by Philip José Farmer – Hadon of Ancient Opar & Flight to Opar

9564 BC: Destruction of Atlantis, according to theosophic tradition.

C. 9500-9000 BC; In Bryan Sykes' The Seven Daughters of Eve, 'clan mother' of Haplogroup J lives in Asia Minor or Fertile Crescent.

[edit] Chronological studies

The Holocene calendar, devised by Cesare Emiliani in 1993, places its epoch at 10,000 BC (with year 2010 being rendered as 12010 HE).

11th

50,000—40,000 BC

c. 50,000 BC: start of Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa

43,000—41,000 At Ksar Akil in Lebanon, ornaments & skeletal remains of modern humans are dated to this period.

[edit] 40,000—30,000 BC

40,000—35,000 BC: Cro Magnon appear in Europe, early cultural center in Swabian Alb, earliest figurative art (Venus of Schelklingen), beginning Aurignacian

35,000 BC: Zar, Yataghyeri, Damjili & Taghlar caves in Azerbaijan.

c. 32,000 BC: Europeans understand how to harden clay figures by firing them in an oven at high temperatures.

30,000 BC: Reinvention of bow & arrow.[8]

c. 30,000 BC: end of Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa

c. 30,000 BC—26,000 BC: Lion-Human, from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany created. It is now in Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany.

30,000—20,000 BC

29,000—25,000 BC: Venus of Dolní Věstonice. It is oldest known ceramic in world. Red Lady of Paviland lived around 29-26,000 years ago. Recent evidence has come to light that he was a tribal chief.[citation needed]

c. 28,000 BC: People start to live in Japan.

25,000 BC—17,000 BC: Wall painting with horses, rhinoceroses & aurochs, Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, Ardéche gorge, France, is made. Discovered in December 1994.

c. 24,000 BC: start of second Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa.

c. 23,000 BC: Venus of Petřkovice (Petřkovická venuše in Czech) from Petřkovice in Ostrava, Czech Republic, was made. It is now in Archeological Institute, Brno.

c. 22,000 BC: Neanderthals believed to have become extinct in Europe.

c. 22,000 BC: Last Glacial Maximum: Venus of Brassempouy, Grotte du Pape, Brassempouy, Landes, France, was made. It is now at Musee des Antiquites Nationales, St.-Germain-en-Laye.

c. 22,000 BC—21,000 BC: Venus of Willendorf, Austria, was made. It is now at Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna.

c. 20,000 BC: end of second Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa.

[edit] 20,000—15,000 BC

c. 18,000 BC—15,000 BC: Last Glacial Maximum. Mean Sea Levels are believed to be 110 to 120 meters (361 to 394 ft) lower than present,[9] with direct implication that many coastal & lower riverine valley archaeological sites of interest are today under water.

c. 18,000 BC: Spotted Horses, Pech Merle cave, Dordogne, France are painted. Discovered in December 1994.

c. 18,000 BC—11,000 BC: Ibex-headed spear thrower, from Le Mas d'Azil, Ariege, France, is made. It is now at Musee de la Prehistoire, Le Mas d'Azil.

c. 18,000 BC—12,000 BC: Mammoth-bone village in Mezhirich, Ukraine is inhabited.

c. 17,000 BC: Spotted human hands, Pech Merle cave, Dordogne, France are painted. Discovered in December 1994.

c. 17,000 BC—15,000 BC: Hall of Bulls, Lascaux caves, is painted. Discovered in 1940. Closed to public in 1963.

c. 17,000 BC—15,000 BC: Bird-Headed man with bison & Rhinoceros, Lascaux caves, is painted.

c. 17,000 BC—15,000 BC: Lamp with ibex design, from La Mouthe cave, Dordogne, France, is made. It is now at Musee des Antiquites Nationales, St.-Germain-en-Laye.

c. 16,500 BC: Paintings in Cosquer cave, where cave mouth is now under water at Cap Margiou, France were made.

c. 15,000 BC: Bison, Le Tuc d'Audoubert, Ariege, France.

16,000—12,000 BC

c. 15,000 BC-13,000 BC: Paleo-Indians move across North America, then southward through Central America.

c. 15,000 BC-12,000 BC: Pregnant woman & deer (?), from Laugerie-Basse, France was made. It is now at Musee des Antiquites Nationales, St.-Germain-en-Laye.

c. 14,000 BC: Paleo-Indians searched for big game near what is now Hovenweep National Monument.

c. 14,000 BC: Bison, on ceiling of a cave at Altamira, Spain, is painted. Discovered in 1879. Accepted as authentic in 1902.

c. 14,000 BC: Domestication of Reindeer.[10]

13,000 BC: Beginning of Holocene extinction event.

13,000 BC: earliest evidence of warfare

12,000—11,000 BC

11,500 BC—10,000 BC: Wooden buildings in South America (Chile), first pottery vessels (Japan).

11,000 BC: First evidence of human settlement in Argentina.

11,000 BC: Arlington Springs Man dies on island of Santa Rosa, off coast of California.

11,000 BC: Human remains deposited in caves which are now located off coast of Yucatán.[11]

Cultures

The Upper Paleolithic in Franco-Cantabrian region:

The Châtelperronian culture was located around central & south western France, & northern Spain. It appears to be derived from earlier Mousterian culture, & represents period of overlap between Neanderthals & Homo sapiens. This culture lasted from approximately 33,000 BC to 27,000 BC.

The Aurignacian culture was located in Europe & south west Asia, & flourished between 32000 BC & 21,000 BC. It may have been contemporary with Périgordian (a contested grouping of earlier Châtelperronian & later Gravettian cultures).

The Gravettian culture was located around France, though evidence of Gravettian products have been found across central Europe & Russia. Gravettian sites date between 26,000 BC to 20,000 BC.

The Solutrean culture was located in eastern France, Spain, & England. Solutrean artifacts have been dated to around 19000 BC before mysteriously disappearing around 15,000 BC.

The Magdalenian culture left evidence from Portugal to Poland during period from 16,000 BC to 8000 BC.

From Synoptic table of principal old world prehistoric cultures:

central & east Europe:

north & west Africa, & Sahara:

central, south, & east Africa:

West Asia (including Middle East):

south, central & northern Asia:

east & southeast Asia:

  Minoan chronology
3650-3000 BC EMI Prepalatial
2900-2300 BC EMII
2300-2160 BC EMIII
2160-1900 BC MMIA
1900-1800 BC MMIB Protopalatial
(Old Palace Period)
1800-1700 BC MMII
1700-1640 BC MMIIIA Neopalatial
(New Palace Period)
1640-1600 BC MMIIIB
1600-1480 BC LMIA
1480-1425 BC LMIB
1425-1390 BC LMII Postpalatial
(At Knossos, Final Palace Period)
1390-1370 BC LMIIIA1
1370-1340 BC LMIIIA2
1340-1190 BC LMIIIB
1190-1170 BC LMIIIC
1100 BC Subminoan