The timeline of historic inventions is a chronological list of particularly significant technological inventions and their inventors, where known. This page lists non-incremental inventions that are widely recognised by reliable sources as having had a direct impact on the course of history that was profound, global, and enduring. The dates in this article frequently use the units mya and kya, which refer to millions and thousands of years ago, respectively.
Paleolithic
The dates listed in this section refer to the earliest evidence of an invention found and dated by archaeologists (or in a few cases, suggested by indirect evidence). Dates are often approximate and change as more research is done, reported and seen. Older examples of any given technology are often found. The locations listed are where the earliest solid evidence has been found, but for earlier inventions, there is little certainty about how close that is to where the invention took place.
Lower Paleolithic The Lower Palaeolithic period lasted over 3 million years, during which many human-like species evolved, including, toward the end of this period, Homo sapiens. The original divergence between humans and chimpanzees occurred 13 Mya; however, interbreeding continued until as recently as 4 Mya, with the first species clearly belonging to the human (and not chimpanzee) lineage being Australopithecus anamensis. Some species are controversial among paleoanthropologists, who disagree on whether they are species on their own or not. Here Homo ergaster is included under Homo erectus, while Homo rhodesiensis is included under Homo heidelbergensis.
During this period, the Quaternary glaciation began (about 2.58 million years ago) and continues to today. It has been an ice age, with cycles of 40–100,000 years alternating between long, cold, more glaciated periods, and shorter, warmer periods – interglacial episodes.
3.3 Mya – 2.6 Mya: Stone tools - found in modern-day Kenya are older and only found on the archetype road. Ancient stone tools from Ethiopia (Oldowan) were hand-crafted by Australopithecus or related people. 1.76 Mya: Advanced (Acheulean) stone tools in Kenya by Homo erectus"Anthropologists have yet to find an Acheulian hand axe gripped in a Homo erectus fist but most credit Homo erectus with developing the technology." 1.75 Mya – 150 kya: Varying estimates for the origin of language 1.5 Mya: Earliest likely control of fire by Homo Erectus 1.5 Mya: Bone tools in Africa by Homo erectus and/or Paranthropus boisei 1 Mya-780 Kya: Cooking in Middle East by Homo erectus 900 kya – 40 kya: Rafts 500 kya: Hafting in South Africa by Homo heidelbergensis 500 kya – 450 kya: Woodworking construction in Zambia by Homo heidelbergensis (The oldest known surviving buildings are made from stone and date back no more than 9,500 years.) 420 – 200 kya: Food storage in the form of uncracked bones saved for their marrow in Qesem cave, Israel. 400 kya: Hide and leather clothing, footwear and shelter. 400 kya: Pigments in Zambia by Homo heidelbergensis 337 kya – 300 kya: Schöningen Spears in GermanyKouwenhoven, Arlette P., World's Oldest Spears likely by Homo heidelbergensis or early Neandarthals. 320 kya: The trade and long-distance (up to 50 miles) transportation of resources (e.g. obsidian), use of pigments, and possible making of projectile points in Kenya
Middle Paleolithic The evolution of early modern humans around 300 kya coincides with the start of the Middle Paleolithic period. During this 250,000-year period, our related archaic humans such as Neanderthals and Denisovans began to spread out of Africa, joined later by Homo sapiens. Over the course of the period we see evidence of increasingly long-distance trade, religious rites, and other behavior associated with Behavioral modernity. 279 kya: Hafting and early stone-tipped projectile weapons in Ethiopia 200 kya: Simple glue (adhesive) made of one kind of material, birch tar, in Central Italy by Neanderthals. 200 kya: Beds in South Africa. 170 kya – 90 kya: Clothing, among anatomically modern humans in Africa. Genetic evidence from body lice suggests a range of dates centering over 100 thousand years ago. The first bone scrapers appropriate for scraping hides to make supple leather were found in Morocco dating to 90–120,000 years ago. 164 kya – 47 kya: Heat treating of stone blades in South Africa. 135 kya – 100 kya: Beads in Israel and Algeria — implying string or thread 100 kya: Ochre processed, and compound paints made in South Africa 100 kya: Funerals (in the form of burial) in Skhul Cave, Israel 90 kya: Harpoons in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 70 kya – 60 kya in Sibudu Cave in South Africa by Homo sapiens: Compound adhesives Arrows and other evidence of bow-and-arrow technology Sewing needle (implying thread of some kind) 62 kya – 61 kya: Cave painting in Spain by Neanderthal "we present dating results for three sites in Spain that show that cave art emerged in Iberia substantially earlier than previously thought. Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates on carbonate crusts overlying paintings provide minimum ages for a red linear motif in La Pasiega (Cantabria), a hand stencil in Maltravieso (Extremadura), and red-painted speleothems in Ardales (Andalucía). Collectively, these results show that cave art in Iberia is older than 64.8 thousand years (ka). This cave art is the earliest dated so far and predates, by at least 20 ka, the arrival of modern humans in Europe, which implies Neandertal authorship." 59–49 kya: Dentistry in southwestern Siberia, by Neanderthals 55.8–51.2 kya: Representational and Narrative art in Indonesia by Homo sapiens
Upper Paleolithic to Early Mesolithic 50 kya was long regarded as the beginning of behavioral modernity, which defined the Upper Paleolithic period. The Upper Paleolithic lasted nearly 40,000 years, while research continues to push the beginnings of behavioral modernity earlier into the Middle Paleolithic. Behavioral modernity is characterized by the widespread observation of religious rites, artistic expression and the appearance of tools made for purely intellectual or artistic pursuits. 49 kya – 30 kya: Ground stone tools – fragments of an axe in Australia date to 49–45 ka, more appear in Japan closer to 30 ka, and elsewhere closer to the Neolithic."Prehistoric Japan, New perspectives on insular East Asia", Keiji Imamura, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 47 kya: The oldest-known mines in the world are from Eswatini, and extracted hematite for the production of the red pigment ochre.Swaziland Natural Trust Commission, "Cultural Resources – Malolotja Archaeology, Lion Cavern", Retrieved 27 August 2007, . 45 kya – 9 kya: Earliest evidence of shoes, suggested by changes in foot bone morphology in China by Tianyuan man. The earliest physical shoes found so far are bark sandals dated to 10 to 9 kya in Fort Rock Cave, United States. The oldest known leather shoe dated to 5.5 kya was found in excellent condition in the Areni-1 cave located in the Vayots Dzor province of Armenia. 44 kya – 42 kya: Tally sticks (see Lebombo bone) in EswatiniIt is called a notched bone, illustrated in Fig. 1, 12 42 kya: Flute in Germany 42-17.5 kya: The oldest spear-thrower (aka atlatl, woomera) found so far was in France, dated to 17.5 thousand years ago. Indirect evidence suggests 42 thousand years ago or longer, from study of Mungo Man's arthritis 37 kya: Mortar and pestle in Southwest Asia 32-28 kya: Rope and Cords for "hafting stone tools, weaving baskets, or sewing garments," according to Elis Kvavadze et al. 31 kya: Amputation and surgery. Medicine in a meaningful sense likely predates the human-chimpanzee split, as, for example, herbal medicine has been observed in other primates. 28 kya: Ceramics (direct evidence) and weaving (impressions left in the ceramics) in Moravia"The occupants used flint knives, made bone tools and modelled in baked clay – on which they left their fingerprints, along with imprints of reindeer hair and textiles." "Several imprints of human fingers, animal hair and textile structures were incidentally produced as well" (Czech Republic) and Georgia. (The oldest piece of woven cloth found so far was in Çatalhöyük, Turkey and dated to about 9,000 years ago.) 24 kya: Oldest known ceramic sculpture 23 kya: Domestication of the dog in Siberia. 22 – 17 kya Bullroarer"In total, Dauvois describes or illustrates seven likely bullroarers associated with Solutrean and Magdalenian contexts" Dauvois, M. (1989) Son et Musique Paléolithiques, Les Dossiers D'Archéologie Vol. 142, p. 2-11. 22 kya: Fish hook in Okinawa Island, modern day Japan. 21 – 3.7 kya: Star chart in France, and later Spain, Kashmir, Germany, and Egypt. 20 – 16 kya: Pottery in China"Chinese pottery may be earliest discovered". Associated Press. 1 June 2009 14.5 kya: Bread in Jordan 12 kya: Spindle whorl, also the oldest wheel-like tool, at Nahal Ein Gev II, Israel
Agricultural and proto-agricultural eras The end of the Last Glacial Period ("ice age") and the beginning of the Holocene around 11.7 ka coincide with the Agricultural Revolution, marking the beginning of the agricultural era, which persisted there until the industrial revolution.
Neolithic and Late Mesolithic
During the Neolithic period, lasting 8400 years, stone began to be used for construction, and remained a predominant hard material for toolmaking. Copper and arsenic bronze were developed towards the end of this period, and of course the use of many softer materials such as wood, bone, and fibers continued. Domestication spread both in the sense of how many species were domesticated, and how widespread the practice became. 10,000 BC – 9000 BC: Agriculture in the Fertile Crescent 10,000 BC – 9000 BC: Domestication of sheep in Southwest Asia (followed shortly by pigs, goats and cattle) 10,000 - 9000 BC: Alcohol fermentation – specifically mead, in Southwest Asia 9500 BC – 9000 BC: Oldest known surviving building – Göbekli Tepe, in Turkey 9000 BC – 6000 BC: Domestication of rice in China 9000 BC: Mudbricks (unfired bricks), and clay mortar in Jericho. 8400 BC: Oldest known water well in Cyprus. 8040–7510 BC: The Pesse canoe is the oldest boat we have found, while early human habitation of Crete and Australia make clear human seafaring goes back tens or hundreds of thousands of years. (see above) 8000–7500 BC: Proto-city – large permanent settlements, such as Tell es-Sultan (Jericho) and Çatalhöyük, Turkey. 8000–5000 BC: Domestication of potatoes, in southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia by pre-Columbian farmers, around Lake Titicaca. 7500–6500 BC: Copper tools, by the people of the Old Copper Complex from the Great Lakes region of North America. 7000 BC: Sled dog and Dog sled, in Siberia. 6500 BC: Evidence of lead smelting in Çatalhöyük, Turkey 6000 BC: Kiln in Mesopotamia (Iraq) 6th millennium BC: Irrigation in Khuzistan, Iran 6000 BC – 3200 BC: Proto-writing in present-day Egypt, Iraq, Romania, China, India and Pakistan. 5900 – 5600 BC: Oldest evidence of salt production found in Southeastern Europe, in the countries of Moldova and Romania. 5500 – 5200 BC: Oldest evidence of cheese found, in Poland and on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. 5500 BC: Sailing - pottery depictions of sail boats, in Mesopotamia, and later ancient EgyptThe sea-craft of prehistory, p76, by Paul Johnstone, Routledge, 1980 5000 BC: Copper smelting in Serbia. 5000 BC: Seawall in Tel Hareiz, near Haifa, Israel. 5th millennium BC: Lacquer in ChinaLoewe (1968), 170–171 5000 BC: Cotton thread, in Mehrgarh, Indus Valley, connecting the copper beads of a bracelet. 5000 BC – 4500 BC: Rowing oars in ChinaDeng, Gang. (1997). Chinese Maritime Activities and Socioeconomic Development, c. 2100 B.C.–1900 A.D. Westport: Greenwood Press. , p. 22. 4500 BC – 3500 BC: Lost-wax casting in Palestine. In or the Indus Valley 4400 BC: Fired bricks in China.