200,000 years ago: First evidence of Homo sapiens in Africa.
150,000–50,000 years ago: Development of language.
100,000 years ago: Homo sapiens starts to move out of Africa; early burials with grave goods.
75,000 years ago: Pierced shell necklaces.
45,000 years ago: First fully modern humans in Europe.
42,000 years ago: Flutes of wood and bone appear in Europe.
40,000–35,000 years ago: Human, animal and human–animal figures in Europe, carved in stone and ivory.
38,000–35,000 years ago: Cave art already highly developed.
22,000 years ago: Peak of last ice age.
19,000 years ago: Evidence of wild cereal gathering in the Middle East.
14,000 years ago: Dogs known to have been domesticated from wolves, though this may have happened earlier. First use of grindstones in Middle East.
13,000 years ago: Earliest known portable art in China – engraved antler found in Longyn Cave.
12,000 years ago: Glaciers retreat in Europe.
8,000 years ago: Wheat and barley cultivation spreads to Nile valley from Middle East.
7,000 years ago: Hunting and fishing villages in Yangtze river delta in China start to cultivate rice. Cereal-farming villages established in western Europe.
4,500 years ago: Evidence of long-distance trade throughout South America.