Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures

The synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures gives a rough picture of the relationships between the various principal cultures of prehistory outside the Americas, Antarctica, Australia and Oceania. It also serves as an index of the broad features of that prehistory to be followed through links to articles.

Table

The Principal prehistoric cultures of the Old World
	Prehistoric Europe		Prehistoric Africa		Prehistoric Asia
Period & Climate	Western Europe	Central Europe and Eastern Europe	North Africa, West Africa and Sahara	Central Africa, South and East Africa	Middle East	South Asia, and Central Asia	East Asia and South-East Asia
1000 Before Present (BP)	(Middle Ages)	(Middle Ages)	(Caliphate)	(Sahelian kingdoms) Mapungubwe	(Caliphate)	(Middle Kingdoms)	(Song Dynasty)
2000 BP	Iron Age	Iron Age	(Ancient North Africa)	Bantu expansion	(Classical Antiquity)	(Iron Age India)	(Han Dynasty)
3000 BP	Bronze Age	Bronze Age	Copper Age in Niger	Bantu expansion	Late Bronze Age Early Iron Age	development of Indian Iron Age	Chinese Bronze Age
4000 BP	Bell beaker Chalcolithic	corded ceramic domestication of the horse	Neolithic of Tichit Tenerean		Middle Bronze Age (Sumer)	Indus Valley civilisation writing	Chinese Neolithic of Longshan
5000 BP	enclosed villages first megaliths	Chalcolithic of Central Europe		Beginning of the Hunter-gatherer art of South Africa	Early Bronze Age	Regionalization Era
6000 BP	Lower Neolithic	Danubian Neolithic	Mediterranean and Egyptian Neolithic	Beginning of Neolithic in East Africa	Uruk period Chalcolithic (copper metallurgy)	Mehrgarh	Neolithic of Yang-Shao rice-growing (?)
7000 BP	Cardial and Linear Pottery (agriculture, stock-rearing, Pottery) Tardenoisian cultures	Starčevo and Vinča culture agriculture, stock-rearing (pigs, bovine, sheep)	Neolithic of the Sahara/Sahel		Ubaid period ceramic Cyprus	Mehrgarh
8000 BP	Sauveterrian cultures (gathering of legumes)	Neolithic in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean Sesklo and Choirokoitia			Neolithic with ceramic Ubaid period	Mehrgarh	Neolithic of northern China
9000 BP		Backed point culture		Wiltonian	Pre-ceramic B Pre-ceramic A Neolithic in Turkey (wheat, barley)		hunter gatherers of Jōmon (ancient Japan)
10,000 BP	Azilian and Asiloid cultures		Capsian		Goats domestication Zagros in Iran First towns Near East at Aşıklı Höyük and Jericho		Hoabinhian of Southeast Asia
11,000 BP		Mezine Kostienki		Magosian	Natufian	Kandivili
12,000 BP Holocene began glacial ended (12,000 BP) glacial at its coldest (20,000 BP)	Magdalenian Solutrean Epigravettian	Epigravettian	Ibero-Maurisian Mushabian Sebilian	Lupemban culture	Kebarian Athlitian		pre-Jōmon ceramic (Japan)
20,000 BP	Gravettian Aurignacian (art)	Pavlovian Aurignacian (art)			Antelian Aurignacian (art)		Sơn Vi culture (northern Vietnam)
30,000 BP	Châtelperronian Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens	Gravettian Szeletian	Aterian	Stillbay		Balangoda Angara culture	Sen-Doki
40,000 BP	Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens				Emirian Jabroudian
50,000 BP	Mousterian (earliest graves) Homo neanderthalensis	Mousterian Homo neanderthalensis	Mousterian Homo neanderthalensis	Fauresmithian Homo sapiens	Mousterian Homo neanderthalensis	Soanian	Ngandong culture
80,000 BP latest glacial began (95,000 BP)	Homo neanderthalensis Micoquien	Homo neanderthalensis	Homo neanderthalensis Micoquien	Mousteroid Homo sapiens	Homo neanderthalensis		Ordos culture
100,000 BP glacial ended (130,000 BP)	Upper Acheulean Homo neanderthalensis	Upper Acheulean Homo neanderthalensis	Homo neanderthalensis	Sangoan Homo sapiens	Homo neanderthalensis	Acheulean Soanian	Fen Culture
200,000 BP glacial began (350,000 BP)	Homo neanderthalensis Tayacian	Homo neanderthalensis	Homo neanderthalensis Acheulean	Homo sapiens Acheulean	Homo neanderthalensis Acheulean
300,000 BP	middle Acheulean Homo neanderthalensis Clactonian	middle Acheulean Homo neanderthalensis				Pre-Soanian
500,000 BP	Lower Acheulean Homo heidelbergensis Homo neanderthalensis worked pebbles	Lower Acheulean Homo heidelbergensis Homo neanderthalensis worked pebbles	Lower Acheulean		Homo neanderthalensis		Padjitanian Homo erectus pekinensis
1,000,000 BP	worked pebbles Homo antecessor	worked pebbles	Homo erectus worked pebbles	lower Acheulean Oldowan			worked pebbles
2,000,000 BP				Homo habilis, Homo ergaster

See also

• Detailed logarithmic timeline
• Evolution of human intelligence
• List of timelines
• List of years in archaeology
• Timeline of glaciation
• Timeline of historic inventions
• Timeline of human evolution