Paleoanthropology, genealogy and the miracle of DNA: the Human Timeline and Us

Part Seven:  The Human Timeline and Us

William Hudson. Latest update 20^th October 2012

3,400,000 BP	Earliest known use of stone tools by Australopithecus afarensis (“Lucy”) in East Africa
2,400,000 BP	Appearance of the genus Homo in East Africa (Homo habilis)
800,000 BP	The Happisburgh flints (Norfolk), oldest evidence of humans in Britain (possibly Homo antecessor)
500,000 BP	Earliest hominid remains in Britain (Homo heidelbergensis)
300,000 BP	First widespread use of fire
250,000 BP	Appearance of modern humans in East Africa (Homo sapiens sapiens)
150,000 BP	Date of “mitochondrial Eve” in East Africa
140,000 BP	Possible extinction of Homo erectus
90,000 BP	Date of “Y-chromosomal Adam” in East Africa
60,000 BP	Migration of modern humans out of Africa
55,000 BP	Appearance of the U mitochondrial haplogroup (William)
45,000 BP	Appearance of the J mitochondrial haplogroup (Sharon)
43,000 BP	Earliest known remains of the Upper Paleolithic Cro-Magnon man; the first modern humans in Europe.
35,000 BP	Oldest known cave paintings (France)
26,000 BP	Onset of the Last Glacial Maximum
25,000 BP	Extinction of Homo neanderthalensis
20,000 BP	Appearance of the R1b y-chromosomal haplogroup (William & Willy)
20,000 BP	Appearance of the U5a mitochondrial sub-haplogroup (William)
19,000 BP	Appearance of the J2a mitochondrial sub-haplogroup (Sharon)
12,500 BP	End of last European ice age
9,000 BC	Cereal crops first grown in the Fertile Crescent and first attempts at domestication of animals (start of the Neolithic era)
7,500 BC (= 9,500 BP)	Appearance of the R1b1a2 y-chromosomal sub-haplogroup (William)
7150 BC	Death of the Mesolithic “Cheddar Man” who belonged to the mitochondrial U5a haplogroup (William)
4500 BC	Invention of the wheel, possibly in Mesopotamia
4000 BC (= 6,000 BP)	Appearance of the U5a2a mitochondrial sub-haplogroup (William)
3400 BC	Writing invented in southern Mesopotamia
3300 BC	First use of copper and bronze marked the start of the Bronze Age
3100 BC	Neolitithic village at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands
2560 BC	Completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza
1341 BC	Death of the Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun who belonged to the y-chromosomal haplogroup R1b1a2 (William & Willy)
1,200 BC	First use of iron in Turkey marked the start of the Iron Age
700 BC	Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey