Detailed logarithmic timeline: Difference between revisions
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beginning of [[Archean|Archaean]] eon |
beginning of [[Archean|Archaean]] eon |
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[[Late Heavy Bombardment]] (possibly). [[Abiogenesis|Origin of life]]. [[Earliest known life forms]]: unusually high amounts of light isotopes of carbon, a common sign of life, found in mineral deposits aged 4.25 Ga located in the [[Jack Hills]] of [[Western Australia]];<ref name="NS-20080702">{{cite web |last=Courtland |first=Rachel |title=Did newborn Earth harbour life? |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14245-did-newborn-earth-harbour-life.html |date=July 2, 2008 |work=[[New Scientist]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Colin Stuart|title=Life, the solar system and everything|journal=New Scientist|date=Apr 23, 2016|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23030700-400}}</ref> evidence for [[hydrothermal vent]] [[microbe]]s;<ref name="NAT-20170301">{{cite journal |authors=Matthew Dodd et al.|title=Evidence for early life in Earth’s oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates |url=http:// |
[[Late Heavy Bombardment]] (possibly). [[Abiogenesis|Origin of life]]. [[Earliest known life forms]]: unusually high amounts of light isotopes of carbon, a common sign of life, found in mineral deposits aged 4.25 Ga located in the [[Jack Hills]] of [[Western Australia]];<ref name="NS-20080702">{{cite web |last=Courtland |first=Rachel |title=Did newborn Earth harbour life? |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14245-did-newborn-earth-harbour-life.html |date=July 2, 2008 |work=[[New Scientist]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Colin Stuart|title=Life, the solar system and everything|journal=New Scientist|date=Apr 23, 2016|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23030700-400}}</ref> evidence for [[hydrothermal vent]] [[microbe]]s;<ref name="NAT-20170301">{{cite journal |authors=Matthew Dodd et al.|title=Evidence for early life in Earth’s oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/112179/ |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |date=1 March 2017 |volume=543 |pages=60–64 |doi=10.1038/nature21377}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Colin Barras|title=Little tubes could be oldest traces of life yet|journal=New Scientist|date=Mar 4, 2017|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23331155-000-traces-in-rock-may-be-the-oldest-evidence-of-life-on-earth-ever}}</ref> [[graphite]] found to be [[Biogenic substance|biogenic]] in [[Metasediment|metasedimentary rocks]] aged 3.7 Ga discovered in [[Western Greenland]].<ref name="NG-20131208">{{cite journal |url =http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2025.html|authors= Yoko Ohtomo, Takeshi Kakegawa, Akizumi Ishida, Toshiro Nagase, Minik T. Rosing| title =Evidence for biogenic graphite in early Archaean Isua metasedimentary rocks |journal =[[Nature Geoscience]]|doi=10.1038/ngeo2025|date=8 December 2013| accessdate =9 Dec 2013|volume=7 |pages=25–28 |bibcode=2014NatGe...7...25O}}</ref> |
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Apparent [[stromatolite]]s in Greenland.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=[[Allen Nutman]] ''et al.''|title=Rapid emergence of life shown by discovery of 3,700-million-year-old microbial structures|journal=Nature|date=Aug 2016|doi=10.1038/nature1935}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Ancient rock formations could be oldest fossils on the planet|journal=New Scientist|date=Sep 7, 2016|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23130902-200-ancient-rock-formations-could-be-oldest-fossils-on-the-planet/}}</ref> |
Apparent [[stromatolite]]s in Greenland.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=[[Allen Nutman]] ''et al.''|title=Rapid emergence of life shown by discovery of 3,700-million-year-old microbial structures|journal=Nature|date=Aug 2016|doi=10.1038/nature1935}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Ancient rock formations could be oldest fossils on the planet|journal=New Scientist|date=Sep 7, 2016|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23130902-200-ancient-rock-formations-could-be-oldest-fossils-on-the-planet/}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 13:24, 8 September 2017
This timeline shows the whole history of the universe, the Earth, and mankind in one table. Each row is defined in years ago, that is, years before the present date, with the earliest times at the top of the chart. In each table cell on the right, references to events or notable people are given, more or less in chronological order within the cell.
Each row corresponds to a change in log(time before present) of about 0.1 (using log base 10). The dividing points are taken from the R′′20 Renard numbers.
Past
14 000 million years ago to 5 500 million years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
14 Ga – 11 Ga |
Big Bang, Stars and galaxies, earliest quasars, habitable epoch[1][2] NGC 6522 star cluster forms. Omega Centauri star cluster forms. | |
11 Ga – 9 Ga |
Formation of the Gliese 581 planetary system, BX442 (oldest grand design spiral galaxy observed), NGC 2808 globular cluster, giant red star Mu Cephei, and the Andromeda galaxy. Barnard's Star (nearby red dwarf star) may have formed. | |
9 Ga – 7 Ga |
Gliese 876 and its planets form[3] | |
7 Ga – 5.5 Ga |
Birth of Alpha Centauri |
5 500 million years ago to 1 800 million years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
5.5 Ga – 4.5 Ga |
Formation of Sun, Solar System, Earth | |
4.5 Ga – 3.5 Ga |
Hadean eon, beginning of Archaean eon |
Late Heavy Bombardment (possibly). Origin of life. Earliest known life forms: unusually high amounts of light isotopes of carbon, a common sign of life, found in mineral deposits aged 4.25 Ga located in the Jack Hills of Western Australia;[4][5] evidence for hydrothermal vent microbes;[6][7] graphite found to be biogenic in metasedimentary rocks aged 3.7 Ga discovered in Western Greenland.[8] Apparent stromatolites in Greenland.[9][10] |
3.5 Ga – 2.8 Ga | Archaean eon |
Microbial mat fossils[11][12] and signs of life on land[13] in Western Australia. Stromatolites, possible Cyanobacteria (photosynthesis).[14] Stabilization of cratons. Sterane biomarkers possibly indicate first eukaryotes. Possible largest crater on earth near Maniitsoq, Greenland.[15] |
2.8 Ga – 2.2 Ga | End of Archaean, beginning of Paleoproterozoic era |
Oxygen revolution. Beginning of Huronian glaciation. |
2.2 Ga – 1.8 Ga | Paleoproterozoic era |
End of Huronian glaciation. Grypania fossils. First unambiguous Cyanobacteria fossils, in Belcher Islands.[14] Bolide over 10 km in size creates Vredefort crater. Milky Way perturbed by collision.[16] Oxygen levels briefly plummet (possibly).[14] 10-km diameter bolide creates Sudbury Basin. Columbia supercontinent. Traces of 24-isopropylcholestane, possibly from sponges. |
1 800 million years ago to 550 million years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
1.8 Ga – 1.4 Ga | End of Paleoproterozoic, beginning of Mesoproterozoic era |
Fossils of red algae.[17] Erosion of granite introduces copper, zinc, and molybdenum into surface waters.[18] |
1.4 Ga – 1.1 Ga | Mesoproterozoic era |
Eukaryotes found in lakes.[19] |
1.1 Ga – 900 Ma | End of Mesoproterozoic, beginning of Neoproterozoic era. Tonian period |
Coming together of Rodinia supercontinent. Appearance of sex (possibly). Traces of sponge-like animals.[20][21] |
900 Ma – 700 Ma | Cryogenian period |
Breakup of Rodinia, Sturtian glaciation begins, possible Snowball Earth, volcanism on Venus practically stops |
700 Ma – 550 Ma | End of Cryogenian, beginning of Ediacaran period |
Pannotia supercontinent forms, then breaks up into Laurentia, Gondwana, Angaraland and Baltica. Marinoan glaciation. First non-microscopic life (Ediacaran biota). Rangeomorphs. First fossils of animals. |
550 million years ago to 180 million years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
550 Ma – 450 Ma |
End of Ediacaran. Cambrian period (541–485 Ma) - Ordovician (485–443 Ma) |
Cambrian explosion. Fish-like Myllokunmingia, Haikouichthys, & Pikaia. First conodonts. All modern mineralized phyla present.[22] Bivalves. Arthropods dominant until arrival of chambered nautili.[23] Stifling hot "Dead Interval".[24] End-Botomian mass extinction. First fossils of plants and fungi on land.[25] Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. First eurypterids or "sea scorpions". Collision of asteroids gives rise to L chondrite group of meteoroids and several craters ca. 470 Ma ago (Ordovician meteor event).[26] Andean-Saharan glaciation. First starfish, sea urchins, placoderms, cartilaginous fish (such as sharks) and bony fish. First clear evidence of land arthropods (scorpions).[25] |
450 Ma – 350 Ma |
Ordovician-Silurian extinction events. Prototaxites, tree-like organism, probably a fungus or lichen. Jaekelopterus, giant "sea scorpion". First Labyrinthodontia, the group that now includes reptiles and mammals. Tiktaalik (lungfish) walks on land. Ichthyostega. First amphibians, archaeopteris (tree ferns), seeds, coelacanths. Late Devonian extinctions, culminating in the Hangenberg event and atmospheric oxygen falling to 13%. Few arthropods left on land.[25] Beginning of Karoo Ice Age. Romer's gap in the tetrapod record. | |
350 Ma – 280 Ma |
Carboniferous (359-299 Ma), beginning of Permian (299-252 Ma) |
Karoo Ice Age. Formation of Pangaea supercontinent. Oxygen levels rise and animals colonize the land a second time.[25] First winged insects and reptiliomorphs such as Solenodonsaurus, synapsids (forerunners of mammals), and reptiles. Oxygen in atmosphere peaks, around 30%.[25] Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse. |
280 Ma – 220 Ma | Permian, Triassic (252–201 Ma) |
Cycads, seed ferns. Therapsids (forerunners of mammals) such as pelycosaurs and cynodonts. End-Capitanian extinction event.[27] Siberian Traps eruption and Permian-Triassic extinction event. Dinosaur tracks.[28][29] 40 °C sea temperatures during Smithian-Spathian extinction. Turtles. Dominance of archosaurs: crocodile-like Crurotarsi. First pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs. Dinosaurs. Gymnosperms dominant. Dicroidium flora common on land. Manicouagan Crater formed. First lizards. |
220 Ma – 180 Ma |
Triassic, Jurassic (201–145 Ma) |
Central Atlantic eruption and Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. Oxygen in atmosphere hits low of about 12%.[25] Breakup of Pangaea into Gondwana and Laurasia. Mammals. Gymnosperms (especially conifers, Bennettitales, and cycads) and ferns common. Sauropods, carnosaurs, stegosaurs. Toarcian turnover (extinction). Gondwana breaks up. Juramaia sinensis, first known placental mammal. |
180 million years ago to 55 million years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
180 Ma – 140 Ma | Jurassic |
India breaks from East Gondwana. First birds (Archaeopteryx). |
140 Ma – 110 Ma | Early Cretaceous (145 – 100 Ma), |Aptian & Albian |
Flowering plants. First Enantiornithes or "backward birds". Ontong Java eruption. First known snakes. Early-Aptian anoxic event. Seas cool by 5 °C during 2 million years.[30] Earliest known monotreme fossils. Sinodelphys, earliest known marsupial. Eomaia, earliest known eutherian. |
110 Ma – 90 Ma | Late Cretaceous: Cenomanian, Turonian, Coniacian, Santonian |
Supervolcano in eastern Australia sends particles to west coast.[31][32] Bees. Mammals diversify into many forms.[33] Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event (oceans anoxic for half a million years).[34] |
90 Ma – 70 Ma | Campanian & Maastrichtian stages of the Cretaceous |
Dominance of angiosperm rosids. Mosasaurs are dominant marine predator. |
70 Ma – 55 Ma |
Paleocene (66–56 Ma) |
Evidence for grasses in dinosaur dung (coprolites). Crocodiles. Madagascar breaks away from India. Bolide creates Chicxulub Crater. Deccan Traps. Possible Shiva crater. Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Event. Mammals dominate. Titanoboa, largest known snake. Eritherium, first known proboscid. Lemurs. Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. |
55 million years ago to 18 million years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
55 Ma – 45 Ma | Early Eocene |
First creodonts. First equid, the Eohippus or Hyracotherium. Andes mountains begin to rise. Azolla event. India collides with Asia, giving rise to the Himalayas. First cetaceans (whales) and simians. |
45 Ma – 35 Ma | Eocene |
Primates cross Atlantic to South America and become New World monkeys. First elephant-like animal, the Moeritherium. Grasses common. 100-km Popigai crater in Siberia. 2-mile (3.2 km) diameter bolide creates 90-km Chesapeake Bay impact crater in America. |
35 Ma – 28 Ma | Beginning of Oligocene (34 – 23 Ma) |
Tasmanian Seaway and Drake Passage open, allowing creation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Baleen whales appear. Gould Belt of stars created.[35] Alps begin to rise. First indricotheria, "hornless rhinoceros" about 6 metres high. Explosive eruption of La Garita Caldera in Colorado. |
28 Ma – 22 Ma | Oligocene, Chattian |
Pelagornis sandersi, largest known flying bird with a wingspan of 6 or 7 metres. Puijila darwini, early pinniped. Daeodon shoshonensis (a "terminator pig"). |
22 Ma – 18 Ma | Miocene (23 to 5 Ma), Aquitanian age |
18 million years ago to 5.5 million years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
18 Ma – 14 Ma | Miocene, Burdigalian age, Langhian age |
Antarctica becomes mostly ice-covered. Africa/Arabia collides with Eurasia, end of Tethys Sea. Columbia River basalts. First deinotheres, similar to an elephant but with tusks on lower jaw. Nördlinger Ries impact crater. Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum, Middle Miocene disruption. Hominidae split from gibbons. |
14 Ma – 11 Ma | Miocene, Serravallian age |
Last of the adapiforms. Anoiapithecus, one of the first hominids, in Spain. |
11 Ma – 9 Ma | Miocene, Tortonian age | |
9 Ma – 7 Ma | Miocene, Tortonian age |
First Gigantopithecus, an ape almost 10 feet (3.0 m) tall. C4 grasses become common. Crocodiles cross the Atlantic to America.[36] |
7 Ma – 5.5 Ma | Miocene, Messinian age |
Graecopithecus ("Greek ape"), possibly ancestor of hominins. "Toumaï", of species Sahelanthropus tchadensis, shows some human traits. First Thylacosmilus, sabre-toothed marsupial of South America. Orrorin tugenensis, possible hominin. Mediterranean Sea dries up (Messinian Event). |
5.5 million years ago to 1.8 million years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
5.5 Ma – 4.5 Ma | Pliocene, Zanclean |
Zanclean Deluge. Ardipithecus ramidus, Australopithecus anamensis. Divergence of polar bears and brown bears. Possible date of 52-km Karakul crater in Tajikistan. |
4.5 Ma – 3.5 Ma | Pliocene, Zanclean |
Human bipedalism. First Australopithecus afarensis. Hominid fossil footprints in Laetoli, Tanzania. |
3.5 Ma – 2.8 Ma | Pliocene, Piacenzian |
Evidence of use of stone tools by A. afarensis.[37][38] Human line loses fur (possibly).[39] Possible time of Isthmus of Panama connecting South and Central America. Great American Interchange. Lucy, member of the species Australopithecus afarensis. First Megatherium americanum, a giant sloth. |
2.8 Ma – 2.2 Ma | Beginning of Pleistocene, Gelasian, Lower Paleolithic |
Beginning of the current ice age, known as the Quaternary glaciation. Homo habilis appears. Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary extinction of marine megafauna, including the Megalodon shark,[40] possibly caused by a nearby supernova or supernovas of the Scorpius-Centaurus Association, which deposited 60Fe on Earth.[41][42] Oldowan tools used near Gona, Ethiopia. Possible tool use in Sivalik Hills, India.[43][44] Impact of Eltanin asteroid (1 to 4 km in diameter) in Pacific. Stone artefacts at Longgupo (Dragon Bone Slope) in China.[45] (see also Wushan Man) |
2.2 Ma – 1.8 Ma | Gelasian |
Island Park Caldera in Wyoming and Idaho. Homo erectus appears. Dmanisi Man (Homo erectus georgicus) in Dmanisi, Georgia and in Xiaochangliang, China. Human-like Australopithecus sediba. Homo ergaster in Africa. First signs of Acheulian culture, in Kenya. Last known terror birds. |
1.8 million years ago to 550,000 years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
1.8 Ma – 1.4 Ma |
First true hand-axes. Homo erectus found in Europe. | |
1.4 Ma – 1.1 Ma |
Henry's Fork Caldera in Idaho erupts. | |
1.1 Ma – 900 ka |
Stone artefacts on Flores, made by hominins.[46] This required crossing seas at least 19 km wide.[47] 14-km Zhamanshin Crater formed in Kazakhstan. Hominin footprints and tools in England. | |
900 ka – 700 ka |
Evidence of use of fire (Daughters of Jacob Bridge, Palestine).[48] Brunhes–Matuyama geomagnetic reversal. Homo floresiensis-like creatures on Flores.[49][50] | |
700 ka – 550 ka | Günz glaciation |
Yellowstone Caldera supervolcano spreads ash over North America. Homo antecessor in Spain. Cut marks on human bones indicate cannibalism.[51] |
550,000 years ago to 180,000 years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
550 ka – 450 ka | Günz-Mindel interglacial Mindel glaciation |
Stone points (possibly for spears) used by Homo heidelbergensis in South Africa. Etching on shell at Trinil in East Java, done by Homo erectus.[52] Homo heidelbergensis in Germany, France, and Greece. Oldest known spear, Clacton-on-Sea.[53] |
450 ka – 350 ka | Mindel glaciation, Mindel-Riss interglacial |
Homo heidelbergensis footprints in Italy (Ciampate del Diavolo). Venus of Tan-Tan (300 to 500 ka ago) and Venus of B'rekhat Ram (231 to 800 ka BC). First appearance of proto-Neanderthal traits. |
350 ka – 280 ka |
Estimated time of Y-chromosomal Adam.[54] Schöningen wooden spears.[55] Earliest known Homo sapiens remains at Adrar Ighud in Morocco. Geminga supernova. | |
280 ka – 220 ka |
Homo naledi skeletons in the Rising Star cave system, South Africa. Strait of Dover formed. Apparent date of stone tools at the Hueyatlaco site in Mexico. | |
220 ka – 180 ka | Illinoian Stage (Riß glaciation) |
Homo sapiens Omo remains. |
180,000 years ago to 55,000 years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
180 ka – 140 ka | Illinoian Stage (Riß glaciation) |
Underground circular piles of stalagmites built by Neanderthals.[56] Use of ochre, fine stone blades, and seafood at Pinnacle Point, SA.[57][58] Evidence for use of fire to pre-treat stone for making blades.[59] Appearance of full-blown Neanderthal traits. Stone tools in Crete (40 km from nearest neighboring land). |
140 ka – 110 ka | Eemian interglacial |
Estimated time of Mitochondrial Eve. Signs of Homo in California.[60][61] Neanderthals make ornaments from eagle claws.[62][63] Temperatures generally higher than today during the Eemian interglacial. Late Eemian Aridity Pulse.[64] Tools used at Talepu site in Sulawesi.[65][66] |
110 ka – 90 ka |
Shells with holes, probably used as beads, at the Es Skhul cave on Mount Carmel. Abbassia Pluvial. Humans with modern teeth in China (Fuyan Cave, between 80 and 120 ka ago).[67] Paint made at Blombos Cave.[68] Metre-high Flores Man on the island of Flores (Indonesia). Human burial at Jebel al-Qafzeh in Israel. Remains of string in France.[69] | |
90 ka – 70 ka | Beginning of Würm glaciation |
Shell beads in Taforalt Caves, Morocco. Tools made in Kota Tampan, Malaysia, probably by Homo sapiens. Abstract designs engraved on ochre, and pressure flaking, at Blombos Cave in South Africa. Use of glue, arrowhead-like projectile points, and insecticidal Cape laurel for bedding at Sibudu Cave in South Africa. |
70 ka – 55 ka | Ca. 68,000 – ca. 53,000 BCE |
Supervolcano Toba in Indonesia erupts, covering India and Pakistan with ash and starting a 1,000-year ice age. Humans begin to use clothing. Humans on Luzon, Philippines.[70] Sewing needle-like implement used at Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Engraved ostrich eggs at Diepkloof Rock Shelter. Humans enter Tibetan plateau. Mousterian culture. |
55,000 years ago to 18,000 years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
55 ka – 45 ka | Ca. 53,000 – ca. 43,000 BCE |
Last evidence of Homo erectus[71] |
45 ka – 35 ka | Ca. 43,000 – ca. 33,000 BCE Upper Paleolithic |
First Cro Magnon people. Neanderthal Divje Babe flute - prehistoric music. Mining of hematite at the Lion Cave in Swaziland. Mungo Man in Australia. Deep-sea fishing of tuna.[72][73] Brief geomagnetic Laschamp Excursion. 50-metre diameter asteroid creates 1.2-km Meteor Crater in Arizona. Homo sapiens in Peștera cu Oase, Romania and in Tianyuan Cave, China. Oldest dated cave decoration (red ochre dot, in Caves of Monte Castillo, Spain). Neanderthals disappear. Needles and sewing. Shoes. Beginnings of Aurignacian culture. Paleolithic flutes and Venus of Hohler Fels, Dyed flax fibres in Georgia. |
35 ka – 28 ka | Ca. 33,000 – ca. 26,000 BCE |
Oldest known skull of a dog (Siberia), with wolf-like teeth.[74] Oats made into flour.[75][76] Human presence in Japan. Lion man ivory sculpture. Chauvet Cave paintings. Stone mortar and pestle used to grind fern and cattail tubers.[77][78] Boomerang made from mammoth tusk in Poland.[79] Impression of rope on fired clay.[80] Avian figurine in ivory and stone phallus of Hohler Fels.[81] Venus of Dolní Věstonice (first known ceramic). End of Aurignacian culture, beginning of Gravettian. |
28 ka – 22 ka | Ca. 26,000 – ca. 20,000 BCE |
Imprint of woven cloth in clay (Czech Republic). Venus of Lespugue (ivory sculpture). First known spear thrower or atlatl. Oruanui eruption in New Zealand. Venus of Brassempouy (carving of face). Lapedo child with mixture of Neanderthal and sapiens features at Lagar Velho Portugal. |
22 ka – 18 ka | Ca. 20,000 – ca. 16,000 BCE |
End of Gravettian culture, beginning of Solutrean. Ishango Bone, thought by some to be a tally stick which may show a prime number sequence. 1.9-km Tenoumer crater in Mauritania. Claimed presence of Australian aborigine-type people in Brazil.[82][83] First clear evidence of building (homes),[84] remains of mud huts at Ohalo, by Sea of Galilee. Pottery sherds at Xianren Cave. Reported date of artefacts found on Cactus Hill in Virginia.[85] |
18,000 years ago to 5,500 years ago
Time interval, before the present time. a=annus (year) | Period | Event, invention or historical development |
---|---|---|
18 ka – 14 ka | Ca. 16,000 – ca. 12,000 BCE |
Disappearance of Solutrean. Beginning of Magdalenian culture. Clay figurines of animals.[86] Lascaux cave paintings and 7mm-diameter rope. Red Deer Cave people, a possible separate species of Homo in China. Stone tools at the Buttermilk Creek Complex in Texas. Evidence of massacre at Cemetery 117. Older Dryas cold spell. Most recent glaciation gradually ends. Sea level rises 30 metres in a few hundred years (Meltwater pulse 1A). |
14 ka – 11 ka | Ca. 12,000 – ca. 9,000 BCE. End of Pleistocene, beginning of Holocene. |
Clovis culture in Americas. Beginning of Natufian culture in Levant. Tooth drilling and filling in Italy.[87][88] Outburst of water from Lake Agassiz or Younger Dryas impact event bring about the Younger Dryas cold spell. Extinction of many species of large animals. Natufian Shaman burial[89] and earliest known banquet.[90] Vela Supernova only 800 ly away. Island of Spartel flooded (possible site of Atlantis). Arrow-shaft straighteners used by Natufian culture in the Levant. Neolithic revolution (agriculture begins, domestication of animals). Göbekli Tepe (temple-like monuments and art). Lime. Earliest layers of Jericho – first known monumental building (stone tower 8 m high). |
11 ka – 9 ka | Transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic. Pre-Pottery Neolithic B in Mideast, 9th millennium BCE, 8th millennium BCE |
Copper pendant in Iraq. Toothpicks and birch-bark chewing gum. Sea rises about 20 m in 9th millennium BCE. Cannabis achenes at archeological site in the Oki Islands, probably indicating use by humans.[91] Possible lunar time reckoner at Warren Field in Aberdeenshire.[92] Kennewick Man in Washington, whose skull was different from modern Native Americans. Oldest cloth yet found (Çayönü). Oldest evidence of alcoholic beverage, in China. Dentistry. |
9 ka – 7 ka | Ubaid period. 7th millennium BCE, 6th millennium BCE |
Trepanation. Lake Agassiz largely empties into the Hudson Bay. Finse event, a 300-year cold spell. Storegga tsunami. Mount Etna causes tsunami, possibly ending Atlit Yam settlement (Israel). Smelted lead, pottery & finger rings at Çatal Höyük. Opium. Wine and beer. Cheesemaking (Poland). Sea rises 15–20 m in 6th millennium BCE, flooding Doggerland and cutting off Britain. Holocene thermal maximum brings temperatures warmer than today. Older Peron "transgression" (high sea level). Sahara region not a desert (Neolithic Subpluvial). Megaliths. Domestication of the horse. Pottery revolutionized by the potter's wheel. Earliest known smelting of copper (Serbia). |
7 ka – 5.5 ka | Chalcolithic. 5th millennium BCE, beginning of 4th millennium BCE |
Oldest wrought gold known, in Varna necropolis. Last mastodons. Arsenical bronze. Copper Age. Continuation of Holocene thermal maximum. 5.9 kiloyear event – redesertification of Sahara begins. Sweet Track roadway. Silver mining. Invention of wheel. Large city of Hamoukar, destroyed in war, probably by Uruk in Sumer. |
5,500 years ago to 1,800 years ago
1,800 years ago to 550 years ago
550 years ago to 180 years ago
180 years ago to 55 years ago
55 years ago to 18 years ago
18 years ago to present
Future
A logarithmic timeline can also be devised for events which should occur in the future, barring unforeseen circumstances and assuming that we can extrapolate into the future based on our science.
Time interval | Event |
---|---|
1 – 10 years (2017–2027) | Tokyo 2020 Olympics |
10 – 100 years (2027–2117) | Global warming |
100 – 1000 years (2117-3017) | Consumption of fossil fuels much lower than at present |
1000 – 10 ka (3017-12 017 CE) | Summer and winter constellations switch, north celestial pole moves far from present North Star |
10 ka – 100 ka (12 017 - 102 017 CE) | Presently used Computus will give Paschal Full Moon at new moon.
Present constellations become unrecognizable. Hebrew Calendar out of sync with seasons. |
100 ka – 1 Ma | Gregorian Calendar out of sync with seasons.
Several supervolcanoes erupt. Strait of Gibraltar closes, Mediterranean Sea dries up. |
1 Ma – 10 Ma | Technetium-99 produced today ceases to be dangerous
Gliese 710 passes through the Oort Cloud. Several kilometre-size asteroids or comets on collision course with Earth. The Afar Depression and the East African Rift become a new sea, splitting Africa. |
10 Ma – 100 Ma | Mediterranean basin closes.
Iodine-129 and Neptunium-237 in nuclear waste decay. |
100 Ma – 1 Ga | Different continents from today due to splitting and coalescence. |
1 Ga – 10 Ga | Hotter sun makes land too hot for life.
Oceans evaporate. |
10 Ga – 100 Ga |
Sun becomes a white dwarf Uranium decays away. Rhenium-187 decays away. |
100 Ga – 1 Ta | White dwarf Sun fades away.
Local Group coalesces. Thorium decays away. |
1 Ta – 10 Ta |
Galaxies outside Local Supercluster no longer visible (if dark energy prevails). Proxima Centauri ceases to be a main-sequence star. |
10 Ta – 100 Ta | Star formation ends. Degenerate Era starts. |
100 Ta – 1 Pa | Nuclear fusion ceases (if not sooner).
Sun becomes a black dwarf. |
1 Pa – 10 Pa | Planets fall or are flung away from their stars. |
10 Pa – 100 Pa | |
100 Pa – 1 exaannus | |
1 Ea – 10 Ea | |
10 Ea – 100 Ea | Bismuth decays into lead and mercury. |
100 Ea – 1 zettaannus |
See also
References
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