Twelve thousand years, on one line
The whole Human Era, from the first farmers to today. Tap a millennium to zoom in, tap a bar to read it.
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Read it as a list
1. The First Farmers
1–1000 HE
- Natufian culture, 1 HE
- First crops and herds, 1 HE
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic, 1 HE
- Jōmon period, 1 HE
2. Settling Down
1001–2000 HE
- Farmers sail to Cyprus, 1201 HE
- Rice on the Yangtze, 1501 HE
- The Tower of Jericho, 1701 HE
3. Planting the World
2001–3000 HE
- Squash in Mexico, 2001 HE
- Fishers of the green Sahara, 2301 HE
- A cat in the grave, 2501 HE
- Çatalhöyük rises, 2601 HE
4. Pots and Plenty
3001–4000 HE
- Farming at Mehrgarh, 3001 HE
- Maize is born, 3301 HE
- Storing the harvest, 3501 HE
- A meltwater lake bursts, 3801 HE
5. Taming Water
4001–5000 HE
- A canoe on the Yangtze, 4001 HE
- Canals in Mesopotamia, 4501 HE
- The first mummies, 4951 HE
6. Fire and Metal
5001–6000 HE
- The Talheim death pit, 5001 HE
- The gold of Varna, 5501 HE
- The stones of Carnac, 5501 HE
- Copper Age, 5501 HE
7. The Written Word
6001–7000 HE
- Uruk period, 6001 HE
- The wheel rolls, 6501 HE
- Norte Chico (Caral-Supe), 6501 HE
- Liangzhu's dams, 6701 HE
8. Age of Monuments
7001–8000 HE
- Stonehenge begins, 7001 HE
- Old Kingdom of Egypt, 7315 HE
- Caral in Peru, 7401 HE
- Indus Valley civilisation, 7401 HE
9. The Bronze Network
8001–9000 HE
- Chariots on the steppe, 8001 HE
- Hammurabi's laws, 8247 HE
- Shang dynasty, 8401 HE
- New Kingdom of Egypt, 8451 HE
10. Iron and Ideas
9001–10000 HE
- Lapita sailors reach Tonga, 9151 HE
- Axial Age, 9201 HE
- Confucius is born, 9450 HE
- Achaemenid Empire, 9451 HE
11. Connected Worlds
10001–11000 HE
- Paper for the Han court, 10105 HE
- Maya Classic period, 10250 HE
- Gupta Empire, 10320 HE
- Teotihuacan at its height, 10500 HE
12. The Great Acceleration
11001–12027 HE
- Mongol Empire, 11206 HE
- Mali Empire, 11235 HE
- Ottoman Empire, 11299 HE
- Black Death, 11346 HE