Emergence of Civilization

Nanzhuangtou site In Yellow River Valley

11,000 BCE

Nanzhuangtou is a settlement in the in China near the yellow river valley. It is one of the earliest discovered in China. They had pottery and domesticated dogs which is pretty cool since not a lot of people were doing that kind of stuff so early. This would not be considered a civilization though because they had didn't have a system of organization for people.

Various Permanent Egyptian Settlements Develop

6000 BCE

Around the region surrounding modern day Egypt, various permanent settlements started to emerge.

Cucuteni–Trypillia culture Emerges

5000 BCE

The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture settled around modern day Moldova and Ukraine. They were a static society not prone to violence or conquest. We have little archaeological findings of their settlements because they would periodically burn their cities to rebuild anew.

Horses become domesticated

4500 BCE

Horses started to become domesticated around this time in Eurasia. I believe this to be the greatest factor to the advancement of civilization due to the increase in communication and trade.

Sumerian Civilization Settles

4500 BCE

The Sumer people settled in modern day Iraq around this time. The are the oldest civilization discovered in the Mesopotamian region.

City of Uruk formed

4000 BCE

Uruk was one of the first cities ever created. It is known widely in myth from the time and the effect it had on the area. Uruk was so influential that the period of time after its creation when other cities were forming is called the Uruk period. We would consider this a city because it had thousands of inhabitants.

Caral-Supe Civilization Emerges

3500 BCE

This society formed in modern day Peru. It was one of the first widely organized societies in the Americas.

Indus River Valley Emerges, Starts Harappan Society

3300 BCE

This is the oldest discovered civilization on earth. This society is believed to start to emerge around 3300 when farmers moved from the isolated mountains to the lowlands in the valley by the Ravi river. People would start to live near each other and work together to not just survive but thrive. As this way of life grew their small settlements would turn into villages and then to walled off cities.

Unification of Lower and Upper Egypt

3150 BCE

Settlements around the Nile river began to unite. The cities would cluster into differents powers eventually forming two nations. These were lower and upper Egypt, but around 3150 they would unite to form the power of egypt we are most familiar with. With this egyptian society began to advance with advancement of architecture, pottery, agriculture, and education.

British people!!

2900 BCE

The British isles have been occupied by many different groups of people but around this time people had been settled here for long enough to start to form civilization. They made large monuments like Stonehenge around this time.

Old Kingdom of Egypt founded

2613 BCE

What is known as the Old Kingdom of Egypt, was founded around this time.

Xia dynasty

2070 BCE

Earliest dynasty in China. Some historians debate whether or not it actually existed because it is only know from myth and little archeological evidence.

Mycenaean Society in Greece

1750 BCE

The Mycenaean Society was a culture that was prominent on mainland Greece. They were the first organized and distinctively Greek civilization.

Decline of Harappan Society

1700 BCE

Around this time the Harappan Society that inhabited the Indus River Valley started to decline. The exact reason for this is unknown but some theories include: complications caused by conquest, change to the environment, migration, or a mix of these theories.

Olmec civilization emerges

1200 BCE

The Olmec's were the earliest civilization that occupied the mesoamerican region. The name Olmec originates from the Aztecs given name for a group of people also found in the region. Archeologists mistakenly named the sites they found as Olmec but the name stuck and that is how we refer to them today.

City of Cahokia

1050 BCE

This was a mississippian city in modern day Missouri. This was the largest and most urban city in North America. The original name of the city is not known.

Yayoi people of mainland Asia inhabit Japan

1000 BCE

Before the Yayoi people inhabited Japan it was still mostly hunter-gatherer societies. With the settlement of these people they brought their technologies and life style.

The City of Rome Founded

753 BCE

Legend state that the twin brothers Romulus and Remus founded the city of Rome in 753. This is just the beginning of the city of Rome but still shows how long it took for Civilization to form.