3870 entries. Last updated May 18, 2013.

Archaeology Timeline Outline

  • Eras
  • Themes

2,500,000 BCE – 8,000 BCE

<p>Olduvai Gorge</p>
The First Industrial Complex
(Circa 2,500,000 BCE – 500,000 BCE)

A flint biface, discovered in Saint-Acheul, France. (View Larger)
Acheulean or Mode 2 Industries
(Circa 1,650,000 BCE – 100,000 BCE)

Ancient footprints at Koobi Fora. Photograph by Brian Richmond. (View Larger)
The Earliest Preserved Footprints of Our Ancestors
(Circa 1,530,000 BCE – 1,510,000 BCE)

Five bone tools excavated in Swartkrans, South Africa, once used by Parantrhopus robustus for foraging purposes. Photography by Jim Di Loreto and Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian Institution. (View Larger)
Early Humans Make Bone Tools
(Circa 1,500,000 BCE)

Scorched stone tools excavated in 2004 at Gesher Benot-Ya-aqov, in Israel, provide evidence for the existence of early hearths. Photograph by Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution. (View Larger)
The Earliest Hearths
(Circa 1,500,000 BCE – 790,000 BCE)

<p>Example of nearly 500,000 year-old hafted spear tips from Kathu Pan 1. Photo by Jayne Wilkins.</p>
Man Began Hunting with Stone-Tipped Spears 500,000 Years Ago
(Circa 500,000 BCE)

A sample of geothite, or brown ochre. (View Larger)
The Earliest Use of Pigments
(Circa 400,000 BCE – 350,000 BCE)

Photocredit: James Di Loreto, & Donald H. Hurlbert, Smithsonian Institution. (View Larger)
The Earliest Known Forms of Human Adornment
(Circa 132,000 BCE – 98,000 BCE)

Stone tools found on Crete dating back over 130,000 years suggest that prehistoric civilizations took to the sea much earlier than previously thought. (view larger)
The Earliest Evidence of Sea Voyages
(Circa 130,000 BCE)

<p>Ablone shell containing red ochre rich mixture.  Image by Grethe Moell Pedersen.</p>
The Earliest Paint Workshop
(Circa 100,000 BCE)

Early Attempt to Record Information or Early Art?
(Circa 75,000 BCE – 73,000 BCE)

<p>Sediments containing ancient mattresses at Sibudu Caves.  Photo by Lyn Wadley.</p>
At Sibudu Cave, the Oldest Known Early Bedding and Use of Medicinal Plants
(Circa 75,000 BCE)

<p>Stone tools (segments) with adhesive from Sibudu Cave.  Segment with red ochre visible to the naked eye as well as microscopic views of red ochre and plant gum on the tool.</p>
From Sibudu Cave: the Earliest Known Creation and Use of Compound Adhesives, Suggesting Complex Cognition
(Circa 68,000 BCE)

The Venus of Schelklingen.
The Earliest Known Examples of Figurative Art
(Circa 38,000 BCE – 33,000 BCE)

The introduction of sturdy shoes led weaker toes.
The First Sturdy Shoes are Invented
(38,000 BCE)

<p>Detail of the " />
The Oldest Cave Painting
(Circa 37,000 BCE)

<p>Lembobo bone or tally stick.</p>
The Oldest Known Mathematical Artifact
(35,000 BCE)

A flute, found in the hills west of Ulm Germany, that is believed to be 35,000 years old.
The Earliest Musical Instruments
(Circa 33,000 BCE)

<p>37mm long, 7.5 gram figurine, made from mammoth ivory is some 35,000 years old. It is one of the oldest pieces of art ever found.  Photo: ©Universität Tübingen.</p>
The Earliest Known Carving of a Mammoth
(Circa 33,000 BCE)

<p>Fighting rhinos and horses. Detail from one of the most important panels of Chauvet.  It contains twenty animals including rhinoceroses and horses.</p>
Probably the Earliest Extensive Collection of Paintings
(Circa 32,000 BCE – 30,000 BCE)

Wild flax fibers discovered in Dzudzuana Cave. (View Larger)
Making Materials from Flax Fibers
(Circa 32,000 BCE – 28,000 BCE)

The 'Lion Man,' preserved in the Ulmer Museum in Ulm, Germany. (View a full-scale image.)
The Earliest Zoomorphic / Anthropomorphic Sculpture
(Circa 30,000 BCE)

<p>The " />
The Earliest Sculpture of a Horse
(Circa 30,000 BCE – 29,000 BCE)

The Venus of Dolní Věstonice. (View Larger)
The Oldest Known Ceramic Figurine
(29,000 BCE – 25,000 BCE)

Photocredit: Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution. (View Larger)
Some of the Earliest Tools for Sewing Garments
(Circa 28,000 BCE – 21,000 BCE)

The Ishango Bone, Possibly One of the Oldest Calendars
(25,000 BCE – 20,000 BCE)

A modern replica of the Venus of Lespugue. (View Larger)
The Earliest Representation of Spun Thread
(25,000 BCE)

The Venus of Willendorf. (View Larger)
The Venus of Willendorf
(Circa 24,000 BCE – 22,000 BCE)

The Venus of Brassempouy. (View Larger)
One of the Earliest Known Realistic Representations of a Human Face
(Circa 23,000 BCE)

<p>Artist rendition of dwelling in Mezhirich, Poland, made of mammoth bones.  Source: Dolní Věstonice Museum.</p>
Perhaps the Oldest Surviving Architecture
(Circa 23,000 BCE – 12,000 BCE)

<p>Fish hooks made of shell found in the Jerimalai Cave in East Timor.</p>
The Oldest Fish Hooks and Evidence of Paleolithic Offshore Fishing
(Circa 21,000 BCE – 16,000 BCE)

<p>Two of the 20,000 year-old pottery fragments found in the Xianrendong Cave in China.  Photo by AFP/Science/AAAS.</p>
The Oldest Known Pottery
(Circa 18,000 BCE)

Photocredit: Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution. (View Larger)
The Earliest Surviving Pottery From Japan
(Circa 16,000 BCE)

'The Sorcerer' is one name for this cryptic painting found in the Trois Frères in France by Henri Breuil. Photocredit: Encyclopaedia Britannica(View Larger)
"The Sorcerer"
(Circa 12,000 BCE)

<p>Flutings at Rouffignac.  Both children and adults created cave art known as finger flutings in the French caverns of Rouffignac roughly 13,000 years ago.  Credit: Jessica Cooney / Leslie van Gelder).</p>
Pre-Historic Art Created by Children at the Cave of a Hundred Mammoths, Rouffignac
(Circa 11,000 BCE)

<p>Ice age carving of two reindeer swimming.  It is carved from the tip of a mammoth tusk and shows a female reindeer swimming ahead of a male reindeer.</p>
The Swimming Reindeer
(Circa 11,000 BCE)

<p>Spear thrower carved as a mammoth.  Source: The British Museum.</p>
The Mammoth Spear Thrower
(Circa 10,500 BCE)

Perhaps the Oldest Map in the World
(10,000 BCE)

The Göbekli Tepe, Turkist for 'Potbelly Hill,' is the oldest discovered structure for religious worship. (View Larger)
The Earliest Surviving Human-Made Place of Worship
(Circa 9,500 BCE)

In Mesopotamia Neolithic Tokens are Developed for "Concrete" Counting
(Circa 8,000 BCE)

8,000 BCE – 1,000 BCE

The Earliest Known Fermented Beverage
(Circa 7,000 BCE)

In China, Possibly the Earliest Attempt at Writing
(Circa 6,600 BCE)

A wallpainting, located in Catal Hoyuk, that might be the earliest landscape painting yet discovered, or a map. (View Larger)
A Wallpainting that Could be a Landscape or a Map
(Circa 6,200 BCE)

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Domestication of the Aurochs, Ancestors of Domestic Cattle
(Circa 6,000 BCE)

<p>The remains of the settlement made of two-story houses near the town of Provadia.</p>
The Earliest Prehistoric Town in Europe
(Circa 4,700 BCE – 4,200 BCE)

The First Settlements in the Paris Basin
(Circa 4,200 BCE)

From National Geographic. (View Larger)
The Earliest Known Winery
(Circa 4,000 BCE)

The Earliest Precursors to Writing in Egypt are Rock Drawings
(Circa 3,750 BCE)

One Theory of the Origins of Egyptian Hieroglyphs
(Circa 3,600 BCE – 3,200 BCE)

The Botai culture originated from the Akmola province of Kazakhstan, highlighted in green. (View Larger)
Horse Domestication Revolutionizes Transportation, Communication, and Warfare
(Circa 3,500 BCE)

The Areni-1 shoe. (View Larger)
The Oldest Known Well-Preserved Leather Shoe
(Circa 3,500 BCE)

<p>Bronocice clay pot showing wheeled cart.</p>
The Earliest Images of a Wheeled Vehicle
(Circa 3,500 BCE – 3,350 BCE)

<p>Ivory tags from tomb U-j.</p>
The Earliest Known Egyptian Writing
(Circa 3,320 BCE – 3,150 BCE)

<p>Model of Ötzi the Iceman in exhibit at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology.</p>
The First Prehistoric Human Ever Found with his Everyday Clothing and Equipment
(Circa 3,300 BCE)

Cuneiform Writing in Mesopotomia Begins at Uruk in Association with the…
(Circa 3,200 BCE – 2,900 BCE)

One of the Earliest Surviving Examples of Narrative Relief Sculpture and…
(Circa 3,200 BCE)

A side-view of the Warka Vase, before the invasion of Iraq. (View Larger)
One of the Earliest Surviving Works of Narrative Relief Sculpture, Looted…
(Circa 3,200 BCE – 3,000 BCE)

<p>Seal impression with the name of Narmer from Tarkhan.</p>
The Earliest Inscription Written in Hieratic
(3,200 BCE)

Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE), the most famous of the early Babylonian kings. (View Larger)
Education in the Bronze Age in the Middle East
(Circa 3,000 BCE – 1,200 BCE)

Pavlopetri: the Oldest Submerged Town Site
(2,800 BCE)

The First Securely Datable Mathematical Table in World History
(Circa 2,600 BCE)

The Abu Salbikh Tablet Lost in the Iraq War
(Circa 2,500 BCE)

The Origins of Glassmaking
(Circa 2,500 BCE – 1,250 BCE)

The Sitting Posture of Egyptian Scribes and How They Stored Papyrus Rolls.
(Circa 2,500 BCE)

<p>Ebla Tablet</p>
The Palace Archive of Ebla, Syria
(2,500 BCE – 2250)

One of the Oldest, Largest & Best Preserved Vessels from Antiquity
(Circa 2,500 BCE)

<p>Photo of wharf at low tide, Wadi al-Jarf</p>
The World's Oldest Harbor
(Circa 2,500 BCE)

The Earliest Known Egyptian Papyri
(2,500 BCE)

The Urra=hubullu, currently preserved at the Louvre Museum in Paris. (View Larger)
The Earliest Known Dictionaries
(Circa 2,300 BCE)

MS 5106 of the Schoyen Collection, a brick printing block with a large loop handle from the period of Naram-Sîn. (View larger)
The Earliest Printing was Stamped into Soft Clay in Mesopotamia
(Circa 2,291 BCE – 2,254 BCE)

A reproduction of one of the oldest known Mesopotamian medical texts, dating from the Ur III period. (View Larger)
One of the Oldest Known Ancient Mesopotamian Medical Texts
(2,112 BCE – 2,004 BCE)

The Code of Ur-Nammu.
The Oldest Known Tablet Containing a Legal Code
(2,100 BCE – 2,050 BCE)

Sides A (left) and B (right) of the Phaistos Disc. (View Larger)
"The World's First Typewritten Document" - James Chadwick
(Circa 2,000 BCE – 1,700 BCE)

Plimpton 322 (View Larger)
The Most Famous Document of Babylonian Mathematics
(Circa 1,900 BCE – 1,700 BCE)

Probably the Most Ancient Surviving Fermented Beverages
(Circa 1,900 BCE – 700 BCE)

The upper part of the stele containing the Code of Hammurabi. (View Larger)
The Code of Hammurabi
(Circa 1,760 BCE)

The Largest Surviving Medical Treatise from Ancient Mesopotamia
(Circa 1,600 BCE)

Two Egyptian scribal palettes preserved in the British Museum. (View Larger)
Egyptian Scribal Palettes with Ink Wells and Brushes
(Circa 1,550 BCE – 1450)

EA 5645 of the British Museum: the Words of Khakheperresoneb written on a wooden writing board. (View Larger)
Wooden Writing Board Containing Text of the Words of Khakheperresoneb
(Circa 1,500 BCE)

The Proto-Sinaitic Inscriptions, the Earliest Evidence for Alphabetic Writing
(Circa 1,500 BCE)

Survey of Ancient Libraries and Archives in the Near East
(1,500 BCE – 300 BCE)

One of the Earliest Known Examples of Writing in Europe
(Circa 1,490 BCE – 1,390 BCE)

An ancient Egyptian wooden drawing board inscribed with a picture of Thutmose III. It is preserved in the British Library as EA 5645. (View Larger)
Wooden Drawing Board with a figure of Thutmose III
(Circa 1,450 BCE)

The Oldest Surviving Water Clock or Clepsydra
(1,417 BCE – 1,379 BCE)

The Earliest Bookplates, or Ex-Libris
(1,391 BCE – 1,353 BCE)

The Uluburun Shipwreck
(1,375 BCE)

ME E29785 of the British Museum: A letter from Burnaburiash, a king of the Kassite dynasty of Babylonia, to Amenhotep IV. The tablet is one of the Amarna Letters. (View Larger)
Archive of Egyptian Diplomatic Correspondence Written in the Diplomatic…
(Circa 1,360 BCE – 1,330 BCE)

One of the twelve tablets--of the 1200 discovered by Austen Henry Layard in Ninveh--upon which the Epic of Gilgamesh was recorded. (View larger)
The Epic of Gilgamesh
(Circa 1,300 BCE – 1,000 BCE)

A self-portrait of the scribe Sesh, arms raised in the presentation of a papyrus scroll and possibly a writing palette. Preserved in the Schoyen Collection as MS 1695. (View Larger)
Self-Portrait of an Egyptian Scribe with his Autograph Signature
(Circa 1,292 BCE – 1,069 BCE)

The Merneptah Stele (View Larger)
The Only Ancient Egyptian Document that Mentions Israel
(1,209 BCE – 1,208 BCE)

The Earliest Chinese Inscriptions that are Indisputably Writing
(Circa 1,200 BCE – 1,050 BCE)

A bronze guang, or ritualistic wine vessel, of the Shang dynasty. (View Larger)
The Earliest Chinese Inscriptions in Bronze
(Circa 1,200 BCE – 1,045 BCE)

1,000 BCE – 300 BCE

The Oldest Known Evidence of the Phoenician Alphabet
(Circa 1,000 BCE)

A shard of ancient pottery found in the Elah Fortress, bearing Proto-Canaanite script which might compose the earliest known Hebrew inscription. (View Larger)
Possibly the Earliest Hebrew Inscription
(Circa 1,000 BCE)

The Gezer Calendar
(Circa 950 BCE)

The Cascajal Block, the Earliest Precolumbian or Mesoamerican Writing Yet Discovered
(Circa 950 BCE – 600 BCE)

A Pulley Depicted in a Bas-Relief from Nimrud, Assyria
(Circa 800 BCE)

The First Olympic Games
(776 BCE)

The ancient Greek wine jug bearing the Dipylon inscription.
One of the Oldest Records of the Greek Alphabet
(Circa 740 BCE)

The Cup of Nestor. (View Larger)
One of the Oldest Known Examples of Writing in Greek
(Circa 740 BCE – 720 BCE)

Knowledge as Power: The Earliest Systematically Collected Library as Distinct…
(668 BCE – 627 BCE)

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The tower of Babel, ca. 1556
Construction of the Etemenanki Ziggurat, Later Known as The Tower of Babel
(604 BCE – 562 BCE)

(View larger)
The Tower of Babel Stele
(604 BCE – 562 BCE)

The larger of the two silver scrolls, discovered in 1979 at Ketef Hinnom, which have been deemed the oldest suriving texts from the Hebrew bible. (View Larger)
The Oldest Surviving Texts from the Hebrew Bible
(Circa 600 BCE)

Destruction of Solomon's Temple
(586 BCE)

The Yinqueshan bamboo strips, the earliest manuscript of Sun Tzu's 'Art of War,' on exhibition in a Chinese museum. (View Larger)
The Oldest Known Work on Military Strategy
(Circa 550 BCE)

The Greek Origin of Monumental Roman Stone Inscriptions
(Circa 550 BCE)

A Block Printed Gold Magic Amulet from Ancient Greece or Asia Minor
(Circa 550 BCE)

Disappearance of the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments
(535 BCE)

The Behistun Inscription. (View Larger)
The Rosetta Stone of Cuneiform Script
(522 BCE – 486 BCE)

King Darius I
The Royal Road
(Circa 450 BCE – 420 BCE)

The Pronomos Vase from Naples shows the performers of a Greek satyr play. (View Larger)
The Pronomos Vase
(Circa 400 BCE)

The Archives of the Athenian Cavalry
(Circa 350 BCE – 250 BCE)

Writing on Lead Tablets in Antiquity
(Circa 350 BCE – 250 BCE)

Probably the Earliest Surviving Papyrus of a Greek Text
(Circa 350 BCE)

The Earliest Datable Appearance of the Serif in Stone Inscriptions
(334 BCE – 330 BCE)

300 BCE – 30 CE

A column of the Copper Scroll found in Cave Three.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
(300 BCE – 68 CE)

Several of the Guodian Chu Slips. (View Larger)
The Guodian Chu Slips: "Like the Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls"
(Circa 300 BCE)

A vertical, columnar stone inscription roughly six inches long. Image: Boris Beltrán/Science. (View Larger)
The Earliest Known Examples of Maya Script
(Circa 300 BCE)

A "Wild" or "Eccentric" Papyrus of the Iliad
(Circa 275 BCE)

The Foundation of Paris
(Circa 250 BCE)

The Earliest Evidence of a Water-Driven Wheel
(Circa 250 BCE)

One of three excavation pits of the Terracotta Army. (View Larger)
Early Example of Assembly Line Production
(215 BCE – 210 BCE)

A Taoist text preserved on silk and discovered in Mawangui in 1973.
The Mawangui Silk Texts
(Circa 175 BCE)

The Earliest Surviving Analog Computer: the Antikythera Mechanism
(Circa 150 BCE – 100 BCE)

Sling-bolts, or bullets, engraved with a winged lightning-bolt on one side, and the words 'take that' on another. Circa fourth century BCE Athens. (View Larger)
Humorous Inscriptions on Lead Sling-Bolts (Sling Bullets; Slingshot) Reflect…
(41 BCE)

The Earliest Surviving Datable Examples of Rustic Capitals
(31 BCE – 79 CE)

The Portland Vase. Shown is the first of two scenes. (View Larger)
The Portland Vase: Classical Connoisseurship, Influence, Destruction &…
(30 BCE – 25 CE)

The Oldest Sculptural Group Found in France
(Circa 25 CE)

30 CE – 500 CE

The Alexamenos Grafitto. (View Larger)
Probably the Earliest Surviving Image of the Crucifixion: A Graffito
(Circa 50 CE – 250 CE)

The Role of the "Ordinator" and "Sculptor" in Producing Roman Stone Inscriptions
(Circa 50 CE)

The Mensa Isiaca or Bembine Table of Isis
(Circa 50 CE)

Roman Inscriptions on Lead Pipes from Common Text Stamps
(69 CE – 79 CE)

A fresco of a Pompein couple with stylus, wax tablets, and papyrus scroll, preserved in the Museuo Archeologico Nazionale. (View Larger)
Roman Portraits Celebrating Literacy
(Circa 75 CE)

Papyrus recovered from the Villa of the Papyri
The Only Library Preserved Intact from Roman Times
(79 CE)

An inscription depicting a contemporaneous politician. (View Larger)
Over 11,000 Wall Inscriptions Survived from Pompeii
(79 CE)

Vindolanda Tablet 309, an inventory of wooden goods dispatched dispatched by and to civilians working for the military. (View Larger, with translation.)
The Oldest Surviving Handwritten Documents in Britain
(Circa 100 CE)

The Most Famous Example of Roman Square Capitals
(113 CE)

Recto of papyrus containing lines from Homer's Illiad, found at Hawara. (View Larger)
The "Hawara Homer"
(Circa 150 CE)

A reconstruction of a portion of the Forma Urbis Romae, showing a section of the Theater of Pompey. (View Larger)
The Forma Urbis Romae
(203 CE – 211 CE)

The Earliest Christian House Church, With the Most Ancient Christian Paintings
(Circa 232 CE)

A Frescoe found in Dura Europos depicting scenes from the Book of Ester. (View Larger)
Possibly the Earliest Record of Rabbinic Texts & the Earliest Continuous…
(244 CE – 256 CE)

A Sarcophagus Showing a Greek Physician in His Library
(Circa 320 CE)

The Latest Known Inscription Written in Egyptian Hieroglyphs
(August 24, 394 CE)

A Diptych Depicting Roman Orators Holding Papyrus Rolls
(Circa 400 CE)

500 CE – 600

The theater at Bet She'an. (View Larger)
The Earliest, Most Significant Rabbinic Texts Are Preserved in Stone
(Circa 500 CE – 600)

600 – 700

A depiction of a constellation from the Dunhuang Chinese Sky. (View Larger)
The Earliest Known Star Atlas
(649 – 684)

800 – 900

A Studio for Royal Mayan Scribes in the Ninth Century
(Circa 825)

900 – 1000

The Oldest Book in Rus', a "Hyper-Palimpsest" of Three Bound Wooden Wax Tablets
(998 – 1030)

1000 – 1100

<p>The reconstructions of three Norse buildings are the focal point of this archaeological site, the earliest known European settlement in the New World. The archaeological remains at the site were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.</p>
The First Conclusive Proof that Norsemen Reached North America
(Circa 1000)

1300 – 1400

Routine Everyday Messages Inscribed on Rune-Sticks
(Circa 1350)

1400 – 1450

The Aztec Calendar Stone. (View Larger)
The Aztec Calendar Stone
(1427 – 1479)

The New Archaeology of the Renaissance
(1444 – 1446)

The First Historical Geography
(1448 – 1458)

1450 – 1500

"A Horse, A Horse, My Kingdom for a Horse."
(August 1485)

1550 – 1600

The First Published Reference to Cave Art
(1575)

Probably the Earliest Book with Illustrations by a Woman Artist
(1587 – 1592)

1600 – 1650

The First Study of Runestones and Runic Inscriptions
(1641)

1750 – 1800

The First Discovery of Ancient Papyri in Europe
(October 19, 1752 – 1754)

Early Archaeological Exploration of Fertility Rites
(1786)

The Rosetta Stone
(July 15, 1799)

1800 – 1850

Deciphering the Hieroglyphs
(1822)

Deciphering the Hieroglyphs
(1823)

Decipherment of the Mayan System of Counting
(1832)

Genesis of the "Three-Age" System in Archaeology
(1836)

Pioneering Treatise on the Antiquity of Man
(1846 – 1849)

1850 – 1875

Production of Mummy Paper in Nineteenth Century America
(1855)

Constantin von Tischendorf Discovers the Codex Sinaiticus
(1859)

Probably the Earliest Paper on Paleolithic Mobiliary Art
(1864)

Pre-Historic Times
(1865)

Schliemann Discovers the Ancient City of Troy
(1871 – 1873)

1920 – 1930

Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamum
(November 4, 1922)

1950 – 1960

Decipherment of Linear B
(1952 – 1953)

1970 – 1980

UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970
(November 14, 1970)

1980 – 1990

The 1970 UNESCO Convention is Implemented in U.S. Law
(January 1983)

1990 – 2000

Rome Reborn on Google Earth
(1997)

The Digital Michelangelo Project
(1998)

2000 – 2005

Over 500,000 Egyptian Papyri Survive
(2002)

Looting of the National Museum of Iraq
(April 6 – April 12, 2003)

The Site of the Original Library of Alexandria
(May 12, 2004)

2005 – 2010

The First Intelligible Word from an Extinct South American Civilization?
(August 12, 2005)

The Finest Roman Cameo Glass Vase Discovered
(October 13, 2009)