Chronology
Five thousand years, end to end
20 records shown
- c. 1.8 million BCEArchaeology
The First Stone Tools at Olduvai
Olduvai Gorge
Early humans shape cutting flakes from lava cobbles.
↓ next - c. 40,000 BCEArchaeology
Mungo Man Burial
Lake Mungo
One of the oldest known human burials outside Africa, evidence of Aboriginal ritual life tens of thousands of years ago.
↓ next - c. 30,000 BCEArchaeology
Murujuga Petroglyphs
Murujuga
The Burrup Peninsula holds perhaps a million engravings, among the largest rock art collections on Earth.
↓ next - c. 17,000 BCECultural
The Painting of Lascaux
Lascaux
Ice Age artists cover a cave with some 600 painted animals.
↓ next - c. 6000 BCEArchaeology
Rock Art of Tassili n'Ajjer
Tassili n'Ajjer
Thousands of paintings record a green Sahara of cattle herders, hunters and swimmers before the desert came.
↓ next - c. 4600 BCEArchaeology
Budj Bim Eel Traps
Budj Bim
The Gunditjmara built stone channels to farm eels, one of the oldest aquaculture systems in the world.
↓ next - 3100 BCECivilization
Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
Giza
Tradition credits King Menes with joining the two lands and founding the first dynasty at Memphis.
↓ next - c. 3000 BCECultural
The Rock Art of Uluru
Uluru
Anangu artists paint the caves of Uluru, part of a living tradition of songlines and law.
↓ next - c. 2600 BCEArchaeology
The Royal Tombs of Ur
Ur
Sumerian rulers are buried with gold, lyres and attendants.
↓ next - 2560 BCEMonument
Construction of the Great Pyramid
Giza
Khufu's tomb at Giza rose to 146 metres and stayed the tallest structure on earth for 3,800 years.
↓ next - c. 2500 BCEMonument
Stonehenge Raised
Stonehenge
Sarsen stones weighing 25 tonnes are set in a ring.
↓ next - c. 2500 BCECivilization
The Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo-daro
A planned city with drains, granaries and a public bath.
↓ next - c. 2400 BCECivilization
The Deffufa of Kerma
Kerma
The kingdom of Kush raised vast mud-brick temples at Kerma, one of Africa's earliest urban centres.
↓ next - c. 2000 BCEArchaeology
The Fortified Circles of Arkaim
Arkaim
A Bronze Age people of the southern Urals build a ring-shaped fortified settlement, part of the Sintashta culture.
↓ next - c. 1900 BCECultural
The Palaces of Knossos
Knossos
Knossos became a major center of Minoan civilization, with a palace linking ceremonial life, storage and administration on Crete.
↓ next - 1754 BCEPolitical
The Code of Hammurabi
Babylon
282 laws cut into a two-metre basalt stele, published where any literate subject could read them.
↓ next - c. 1600 BCECultural
Akrotiri Buried by the Theran Eruption
Akrotiri
Volcanic ash preserved a Bronze Age town on Santorini, including multistory houses and vivid wall paintings.
↓ next - c. 1264 BCEMonument
Abu Simbel Temples Carved
Abu Simbel
Ramesses II cut two colossal temples into a Nubian cliff, aligned so sunlight reaches the inner sanctuary twice a year.
↓ next - c. 1250 BCECultural
The Lion Gate of Mycenae
Mycenae
A monumental gateway guarded one of the most powerful citadels of Bronze Age Greece.
↓ next - c. 1250 BCEArchaeology
Shang Oracle Bones at Anyang
Anyang
Shang kings carved questions to their ancestors on bones and shells — the earliest Chinese writing.
Range shown: 1800000 BCE — 1250 BCE