Prehistories of the World
Chronology — From Prehistory to the Late Stone Ages
Early Hominins
- Approximate dating: ~7 to 3 million years ago
- Major event: emergence of bipedalism, first rudimentary tools
- Location: East Africa
Lower Paleolithic
- Approximate dating: ~2.6 million – 300,000 BC
- Major event: stone tools (choppers, hand axes)
- Location: Africa, then Eurasia
Mastery of Fire
- Approximate dating: ~400,000 BC
- Major event: control and use of fire
- Location: Africa, Europe, Asia
Middle Paleolithic
- Approximate dating: ~300,000 – 45,000 BC
- Major event: Neanderthal cultures, earliest known burial rites
- Location: Europe, Middle East
Upper Paleolithic
- Approximate dating: ~45,000 – 12,000 BC
- Major event: major development of symbolic art (cave paintings, figurines)
- Location: Europe, Asia
Mesolithic
- Approximate dating: ~12,000 – 8,000 BC
- Major event: climatic transition, early stages of sedentary life
- Location: Worldwide
Neolithic
- Approximate dating: ~10,000 – 3,000 BC
- Major event: agriculture, animal domestication, permanent villages, megaliths
- Location: Near East, Europe, Asia
Iconic Sites
Maros-Pangkep Caves
- Dating: ~45,000 BC
- Location: South Sulawesi, island of Sulawesi, Indonesia
- Distinctive feature: among the oldest known figurative paintings
Hohle Fels Cave
- Dating: ~40,000 BC
- Location: Swabian Jura, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Distinctive feature: some of the oldest known figurines and flutes
Chauvet Cave
- Dating: ~36,000 BC
- Location: Ardèche, southeastern France (Pont-d’Arc Valley)
- Distinctive feature: very early and dynamic depictions (lions, rhinoceroses)
Altamira Cave
- Dating: ~36,000 – 14,000 BC
- Location: Spain
- Distinctive feature: remarkably well-preserved polychrome paintings
Bhimbetka Rock Shelters
- Dating: ~30,000 BC (some paintings are more recent)
- Location: Madhya Pradesh, central India (south of Bhopal)
- Distinctive feature: artistic continuity over millennia
Serra da Capivara National Park
- Dating: up to ~25,000 years (according to some studies)
- Location: State of Piauí, northeastern Brazil
- Distinctive feature: complex narrative scenes
Kakadu National Park
- Dating: up to ~20,000 years
- Location: Northern Territory, Arnhem Land, Australia
- Distinctive feature: “X-ray” style showing the internal anatomy of animals
Lascaux Cave
- Dating: ~17,000 BC
- Location: Dordogne, France
- Distinctive feature: masterpieces of Paleolithic cave painting
Tassili n’Ajjer
- Dating: ~10,000 – 2,000 BC
- Location: Central Sahara, southeastern Algeria (near Libya)
- Distinctive feature: scenes of Saharan life before desertification
Cueva de las Manos
- Dating: ~9,000 BC
- Location: Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina
- Distinctive feature: famous negative handprints
Drakensberg Rock Art
- Dating: several thousand years
- Location: Drakensberg mountain range, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Distinctive feature: San rock art with strong shamanic dimension
Stonehenge
- Dating: ~3,000 – 2,000 BC
- Location: England
- Distinctive feature: monumental megalithic architecture