![[Skulls.png]] By **John Pickrell** **55 million years ago (MYA)** First primitive primates evolve **8 – 6 MYA** First gorillas evolve. Later, chimp and human lineages diverge **5.8 MYA** _Orrorin tugenensis_, oldest human ancestor thought to have walked on two legs **5.5 MYA** Ardipithecus, early “proto-human” shares traits with chimps and gorillas, and is forest-dwelling **4 MYA** Australopithecines appear. They have brains no larger than a chimpanzee’s – with a volume around 400 – 500 cm3 -, but walk upright on two legs. First human ancestors to live on the savannah ![[dda26c31773be67a38ad9ce94cf78fde.jpg]] ![[female-australopithecus-africanus-mauricio-anton.jpg]] **3.2 MYA** Lucy, famous specimen of _Australopithecus afarensis_, lives near what is now Hadar, Ethiopia **2.7 MYA** Paranthropus, lives in woods and grasslands, has massive jaws for chewing on roots and vegetation. Becomes extinct 1.2 MYA **2.5 MYA** _Homo habilis_ appears. Its face protrudes less than earlier hominids, but still retains many ape features. Has a brain volume of around 600 cm3 Hominids start to use stone tools regularly, created by splitting pebbles – this starts Oldowan tradition of toolmaking, which last a million years Some hominids develop meat-rich diets as scavengers, the extra energy may have favoured the evolution of larger brains **2 MYA** Evidence of _Homo ergaster_, with a brain volume of up to 850 cm3, in [[Africa]] **1.8 – 1.5 MYA** _Homo erectus_ is found in Asia. First true hunter-gatherer ancestor, and also first to have migrated out of Africa in large numbers. It attains a brain size of around 1000 cm3 **1.6 MYA** Possible first sporadic use of fire suggested by discoloured sediments in Koobi Fora, Kenya. More convincing evidence of charred wood and stone tools is found in Israel and dated to 780,000 years ago More complex Acheulean stone tools start to be produced and are the dominant technology until 100,000 years ago **600,000 YA** _Homo Heidelbergensis_ lives in Africa and Europe. Similar brain capacity to modern humans **500,000 YA** Earliest evidence of purpose-built shelters – wooden huts – are known from sites near Chichibu, Japan **400,000 YA** Early humans begin to hunt with spears **325,000 YA** Oldest surviving early human footprints are left by three people who scrambled down the slopes of a volcano in Italy **280,000 YA** First complex stone blades and grinding stones **230,000 YA** Neanderthals appear and are found across Europe, from Britain in the west to Iran in the east, until they become extinct with the advent of modern humans 28,000 years ago **195,000 YA** Our own species _Homo sapiens_ appears on the scene – and shortly after begins to migrate across Asia and Europe. Oldest modern human remains are two skulls found in Ethiopia that date to this period. Average human brain volume is 1350 cm3 **170,000 YA** Mitochondrial Eve, the direct ancestor to all living people today, may have been living in Africa **150,000 YA** Humans possibly capable of speech. 100,000-year-old shell jewellery suggests that that people develop complex speech and symbolism **140,000 YA** First evidence of long-distance trade **110,000 YA** Earliest beads – made from ostrich eggshells – and jewellery **50,000 YA** “Great leap forward”: human culture starts to change much more rapidly than before; people begin burying their dead ritually; create clothes from animal hides; and develop complex hunting techniques, such as pit-traps. Colonisation of Australia by modern humans **33,000 YA** Oldest cave art. Later, Stone Age artisans create the spectacular murals at Lascaux and Chauvet in France _Homo erectus_ dies out in Asia – replaced by modern man **18,000 YA** _Homo Floresiensis_, “Hobbit” people, found on the Indonesian island of Flores. They stand just over 1 metre tall, and have brains similar in size to chimpanzees, yet have advanced stone tools **12,000 YA** Modern people reach the Americas **10,000 YA** Agriculture develops and spread. First villages. Possible domestication of dogs **5,500 YA** Stone Age ends and Bronze Age begins. Humans begin to smelt and work copper and tin, and use them in place of stone implements **5,000 YA** Earliest known writing **4,000 to 3,500 BC** The Sumerians of Mesopotamia develop the world’s first civilisation `Concepts:` `Knowledge Base:` [[Evolution]] [[Digital index]]