First Century: 1 - 100 AD
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First Century: 1 - 100 AD
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THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION BEGINS
While the earliest hominid or human-like species first appeared around 2 million years ago, early homo sapiens, or modern humans, are relatively young – they first appeared in Africa around 200,00 years ago.
For thousands of years after homo sapiens first appeared, early man, laid the foundations for what would eventually become human civilization by developing agriculture, weaponry, art, social structure, and politics.
Although the Mesopotamians are typically considered the very first urban civilization in the world, several earlier peoples developed complex societies and cultures that can also be classified as civilizations and they have been included on this list.
Uru-ka-gina, Uru-in-gina, or Iri-ka-gina (Sumerian: 24th century BC, middle chronology) was King of the city-states of Lagash and Girsu in Mesopotamia, and the last ruler of the 1st Dynasty of Lagash. He assumed the title of king, claiming to have been divinely appointed, upon the downfall of his corrupt predecessor, Luganda.
He is best known for his reforms to combat corruption, which are sometimes cited as the first example of a legal code in recorded history. Although the actual text has not been discovered, much of its content may be surmised from other references to it that have been found. In it, he exempted widows and orphans from taxes; compelled the city to pay funeral expenses (including the ritual food and drink libations for the journey of the dead into the lower world); and decreed that the rich must use silver when purchasing from the poor, and if the poor do not wish to sell, the powerful man (the rich man or the priest) cannot force him to do so.
He also participated in several conflicts, notably a losing border conflict with Uruk. In the seventh year of his reign, Uruk fell under the leadership of Lugal-Zage-Si, Γ©nsi of Umma, who ultimately annexed most of the territory of Lagash and established the first reliably documented kingdom to encompass all of Sumer. The destruction of Lagash was described in a lament (possibly the earliest recorded example of what would become a prolific Sumerian literary genre), which stressed that "the men of Umma ... committed a sin against Ningirsu. ... Offence there was none in Urukagina, king of Girsu, but as for Lugal-Zage-Si, governor of Umma, may his goddess Nisaba make him carry his sin upon his neck" (alternatively – "may she carry his sin upon her neck"). Lugal-Zage-Si himself was soon defeated and his kingdom was annexed by Sargon of Akkad...wiki
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40,000–30,000 BC➽
40,000–35,000 BC: Cro Magnon (Modern Homo-sapiens) appear in Europe, an early cultural center in the Swabian Alb, earliest figurative art (Venus of Schelklingen), beginning Aurignacian (relating to or denoting the early stages of the Upper Paleolithic culture in Europe and the Near East. It is dated in most places to about 34,000–29,000 years ago, and is associated with Cro-Magnon Man.)
35000 BC: Zar, Yataghyeri, Damjili, and Taghlar caves.
32000 BC: Europeans understand how to harden clay figures by firing them in an oven at high temperatures.
30000 BC: Invention of the bow and arrow.
30000 BC: End of the Mousterian Pluvial (relating to or characterized by rainfall) in North Africa
30000 BC–26000 BC: Lion-Human, from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany created. It is now in Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany.
30,000–20,000 BC➽
29,000–25,000 BC: Venus of DolnΓ VΓ¬stonice. It is the oldest known ceramic in the world. The Red Lady of Paviland lived around 29-26,000 years ago, recent evidence has come to light that she was a tribal Chieftan.
28,000 BC: People start to live in Japan.
25,000 BC-17,000 BC: Wall painting with horses, rhinoceroses, and aurochs, Chauvet Cave, Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, ArdΓ©che gorge, France, is made. Discovered in December 1994.
24000 BC: start of the 2nd Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa.
23000 BC: Venus of PetΓΈkovice (PetΓΈkovickΓ‘ venuΕ‘e in Czech) from PetΓΈkovice in Ostrava, Czech Republic, was made. It is now in Archeological Institute, Brno.
23000 BC: In The Seven Daughters of Eve, the ‘clan mother’ of Haplogroup X lives in the Caucasus Region of Southern Russia.
22000 BC: Neanderthals are believed to have become extinct in Europe.
22000 BC: Last Glacial Maximum: Venus of Brassempouy, Grotte du Pape, Brassempouy, Landes, France, was made. It is now at Musee des Antiquites Nationales, St.-Germain-en-Laye.
22000 BC–21000 BC: Venus of Willendorf, Austria, was made. It is now at Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna.
200,000 BC: Humans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving members of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem-solving. This mental capability, combined with an erect body carriage that frees the arms for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make far greater use of tools than any other species. Mitochondrial DNA and fossil evidence indicate that modern humans originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago.
Evidence from archaeogenetic accumulating since the 1990s has lent strong support to the “out-of-Africa” scenario and has marginalized the competing multi-regional hypothesis, which proposed that modern humans evolved, at least in part, from independent hominid populations
75,000-72,000 BC➽
Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia is the location of the largest volcanic eruption in the history of the world. Eruptions occurred in 840,000 BC, 700,000 BC, and 75,000+- BC. The 75,000 eruptions ejected 2,800 Km3. of matter Discovery of common stone tools at Jwakapuram in southern India were discovered above and below the ash deposited as a result of Toba. The possibility that this volcano eruption drove down the population of the earth to about 10,000 humans…one of two bottlenecks in our prehistoric history.
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Historical Events: Year-wise
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Homo ergaster: an extinct species (or subspecies) of hominids that lived in eastern and southern Africa from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the early Pleistocene, about 1.8-1.3 million years ago. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H. Ergaster, but it is now widely thought (though not agreed) to be the direct ancestor of later hominids such as Homo heidelbergensis, Homo sapiens, and Homo Neanderthalensis rather than Asian Erectus. It is one of the earliest members of the genus Homo, possibly descended from, or sharing a common ancestor with, Homo habilis.
Homo heidelbergensis: (“Heidelberg Man”), is an extinct species of the genus Homo which may be the direct ancestor of both Homo Neanderthalensis in Europe and Homo sapiens. The best evidence found for these hominids dates between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago. H. Heidelbergensis stone tool technology was very close to that of the Acheulean tools used by Homo erectus.
Homo Erectus: is an extinct species of hominid that originated in Africa—and spread as far as China and Java—from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene: about 1.8-.3 million years ago. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H. Erectus, with two major alternative hypotheses: Erectus may be another name for Homo ergaster, and therefore the direct ancestor of later hominids such as Homo heidelbergensis, Homo Neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens; or it may be an Asian species distinct from African Ergaster.
Originally migrated from Africa during the Early Pleistocene, possibly as a result of the operation of the Saharan pump, around 2.0 million years ago, and dispersed throughout much of the Old World. Fossilized remains 1.8 and 1.0 million years old have been found in Africa (e.g., Lake Turkana and Olduvai Gorge), Europe (Georgia, Spain), Indonesia (e.g., Sangiran and Trinil), Vietnam, and China (e.g., Shaanxi).
Neanderthal: Also spelled Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia. Neanderthals are either classified as a subspecies of humans (Homo sapiens Neanderthalensis) or as a separate species (Homo Neanderthalensis). The first proto-Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 600,000–350,000 years ago. Proto-Neanderthal traits are occasionally grouped with another phenetic ‘species’, Homo heidelbergensis, or a migrant form, Homo rhodesiensis. By 130,000 years ago, complete Neanderthal characteristics had appeared. These characteristics then disappeared in Asia 50,000 +- years ago, and in Europe 25,000 to 30,000 years ago.
Compiled & edited by Rabi Roy
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