Articles

ONE MILLION YEARS

ANTHROPOLOGY | GEOLOGY | ASTRONOMY

 

ANTHROPOLOGY

These pages use a fairly conservative naming system. In recent years a number of changes have been suggested in the classification of hominid fossils.

Many people are now using the genus name Paranthropus, originally given to robustus, to refer to the robust australopithecines (robustus, boisei, and aethiopicus). This change makes sense if all these species form a clade (all of the species descended from a common ancestor) but it is not yet known if this is the case.

Here is a selection of recent discoveries and other developments in paleoanthropology:

    Dec 2010: Most of the nuclear genome of the Denisovan fossil has now been published (Reich et al. 2010), and shows it to have been more closely related to Neandertals than modern humans. The Denisovan genome also seems to have made about a 5% contribution to the genome of modern Melanesians!
    Dec 2010: A new paper (Green et al. 2010)
    Apr 2010: Two partial skeletons assigned to a new species, Australopithecus sediba, were discovered at Malapa in South Africa in 2008 (Berger et al. 2010). It is claimed by its finders to be transitional between A. africanus and Homo and a possible candidate for the ancestor of Homo.
    Oct 2009: A partial skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus which was discovered in late 1994 was finally released after 15 years of excavation, restoration and analysis (White et al. 2009; Gibbons 2009). It was bipedal on the ground, though not as well-adapted to it as the australopithecines, and quadrupedal in the trees. The journal Science has published a collection of 11 papers on the skeleton and its environment.
    Sep 2006: An exceptionally complete skeleton of a young Australopithecus afarensis child, nicknamed 'Selam', has been discovered in Ethiopia. It seems to contain a mixture of bipedal and arboreal features. (Alemseged 2006, Wood 2006)
    Mar 2005: A newly-discovered partial skeleton from Mille in Ethiopia is claimed to be the world's oldest bipedal hominid. The fossil is about 4 million years old and has not yet been classified or published in the scientific literature, though it is said to fall between Ardipithecus ramidus and Australopithecus afarensis.
    Feb 2005: Two skulls found near the Omo River in Ethiopia in 1967 by Richard Leakey and thought to be about 130,000 years old have now been dated at 195,000 years, the oldest date known for a modern human skull (McDougall et al. 2005). The Omo I skull is fully modern, while Omo II has some archaic features.
    Oct 2004: A new species of hominid, Homo floresiensis, has been discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores. The most complete fossil is that of an almost complete skull and partial skeleton of a female who appears to be about a meter tall, with an astonishingly small brain size of 380cc. The floresiensis fossils date from between 38,000 and 18,000 and are thought to be a dwarf form of Homo erectus. (Brown et al. 2004, Morwood et al. 2004, Lahr and Foley 2004)
    Jul 2004: Fragments of a small H. erectus skull, OL 45500, have been discovered at Olorgesailie in Kenya. The skull is an adult or near-adult, and about 0.95 million years old. The brain size can not be measured directly, but from the size of the bones the skull is similar in size to the two larger Dmanisi skulls (D2280 and D2282) and so probably in the 650-800 cc range, which is small for erectus. (Potts et al. 2004, Schwartz 2004) (See also a New Scientist article, Petite skull reopens human ancestry debate, and my comments)
    Mar 2004: A new paper contains details of four new mtDNA sequences which have been retrieved from Neandertal fossils (Serre et al., 2004). This brings the number of known Neandertal mtDNA sequences to eight, all of which are closely related, and considerably different from all modern human mtDNA sequences.
    Mar 2004: Some fragmentary fossils discovered in Ethiopia and dating between 5.2 and 5.8 million years old were originally assigned to a new subspecies, Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba. Following further study, the finders have decided that the differences between them and other fossils justify assigning them to a new species, Ardipithecus kadabba. (Haile-Selassie et al. 2004, Begun 2004)
    Jun 2003: Three new skulls from Herto, Ethiopia, are the oldest known modern human fossils, at 160,000 yrs. The discoverers have assigned them to a new subspecies, Homo sapiens idaltu, and say that they are anatomically and chronologically intermediate between older archaic humans and more recent fully modern humans. Their age and anatomy is cited as strong evidence for the emergence of modern humans from Africa, and against the multiregional theory which argues that modern humans evolved in many places around the world. (White et al. 2003, Stringer 2003)
    Apr 2003: A new study has claimed an age of over 4 million years for the australopithecine skeleton Little Foot from South Africa. If true, this would make it one of the oldest known australopithecine fossils. (Partridge et al. 2003)
    Feb 2003: OH 65, a fossil from Olduvai Gorge consisting of an upper jaw and part of the lower face, may cause a reevaluation of the species Homo habilis. (Blumenschine et al. 2003, Tobias 2003)
    Jul 2002: A fossil skull discovered in Chad, between 6 and 7 million years old, has been assigned to a new genus and species, Sahelanthropus tchadensis. The skull is small and apelike, but with some features associated with hominids. (Brunet et al. 2002, Wood 2002)
    Jul 2002: The fossil skull D2700 discovered at Dmanisi, Georgia, is the smallest and most primitive hominid skull ever discovered outside of Africa, and although tentatively assigned to Homo erectus, it and two other skulls and three lower jaws appear in many ways to be intermediate between it and H. habilis. (Vekua et al. 2002, Balter and Gibbons 2002) These specimens have since been allocated to Homo georgicus (Gabunia et al. 2002)
    Mar 2002: According to its discoverers, a new Homo erectus skull from Bouri in Ethiopia, about 1 million years old, indicates that Homo ergaster should not be considered a separate species from Homo erectus (Asfaw et al. 2002)
    Dec 2001: A new study claims that Homo erectus had rapid dental growth rates and had not yet developed the slow growth rates of modern humans. (Dean et al. 2001, Moggi-Cecchi 2001)
    Jul 2001: A number of fragmentary fossils discovered between 1997 and 2001, and dating from 5.2 to 5.8 million years old, have been assigned to a new subspecies, Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba. (Haile-Selassie 2001) (P.S. this taxon was later named as a species, Ar. kadabba, in March 2004)
    Mar 2001: A 3.6 million year old fossil from Kenya, WT 40000, has been assigned to a new species and genus, Kenyanthropus platyops. (Leakey et al 2001, Lieberman 2001).
    Feb 2001: A French-Kenyan team has found a fossil claimed to be both considerably older than any other hominid (at 6 million years) and more advanced than the australopithecines. The fossil, originally nicknamed "Millennium Man", has been named Orrorin tugenensis, and is claimed by its finders to be a direct ancestor of humans, relegating the australopithecines to a side branch (Senut et al. 2001). These claims are being treated with caution so far (Aiello and Collard 2001).
    Jan 2001: A fossil of a 3.4 million year old hominid, probably belonging to a child, has been discovered in Ethiopia.
    Jan 2001: A new study has sequenced mitochondrial DNA from the anatomically modern Mungo Man fossil from Australia and found it to be outside the range of modern human mtDNA. The authors have claimed this is strong evidence for the multiregional model of human evolution, as opposed to the currently dominant Out Of Africa model (Adcock et al. 2001). However, other other experts have challenged this. Cooper et al. (2001) have published a rebuttal of this claim.
    Mar 2000: Mitochondrial DNA from a second Neandertal specimen (a baby from Mezmaiskaya Cave in Russia) has been successfully sequenced. Like the first specimen, it is well outside the range of variation of modern humans (Ovchinnikov et al. 2000, Höss 2000). Analysis of the mtDNA of a third Neandertal from Vindija in Croatia also confirms the earlier findings. (Krings et al. 2000)
    Apr 2000: Two Homo erectus crania and a mandible have been discovered at Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia. They have been dated at about 1.7 million years. (Gabunia et al. 2000, Balter and Gibbons 2000)
    The complete skull of a female Australopithecus robustus has been discovered at Drimolen in South Africa, along with the lower jaw of a male robustus found only a few inches away. (Keyser 2000)
    Apr 1999: A new species, Australopithecus garhi, has been named from fossils found near Bouri in Ethiopia, by a joint Ethiopian, American and Japanese team. This small-brained, large-toothed hominid was found near antelope bones which had been butchered by stone tools (Asfaw et al. 1999).
    Apr 1999: According to Neandertal expert Erik Trinkaus, the 24500-year-old skeleton of a young boy found in Portugal contains characteristics of both modern human and Neandertals, and is evidence that the two groups interbred (Duarte et al. 1999).
    Oct 1998: Although it has not yet been fully excavated, it seems that virtually an entire australopithecine skeleton has been discovered by Ronald Clarke at Sterkfontein in South Africa. This skeleton belongs to the same individual as the "Little Foot" set of four foot bones discovered by Clarke in 1994 (see below).
    An article by geographer Jerome Dobson (1998) suggests that Neandertal features are caused by an iodine deficiency, or by a genetic difference in the thyroid. (Diseases associated with low-iodine diets are goiter and cretinism.) Expect this controversial claim to receive skeptical scrutiny from anthropologists.
    Jul 1998: Analysis of new A. africanus fossils from Sterkfontein in South Africa suggests that the forelimb and hindlimb proportions of africanus were more ape-like than in the earlier A. afarensis. (McHenry and Berger 1998)
    A well-preserved Homo cranium discovered in Eritrea is about 1 million years old, and contains a mixture of erectus and sapiens characteristics. (Abbate et al. 1998)
    A new A. boisei skull is one of the most complete known, and the first known with an associated cranium and lower jaw. It also has a surprising amount of variability from other boisei skulls, which may have implications for how hominid fossils are classified. (Suwa et al. 1997; Delson 1997)
    Jul 1997: In a stunning technical achievement, it appears that a portion of Neandertal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been successfully extracted for the first time. It differs by a surprising amount from equivalent modern human DNA, suggesting that Neandertals were not particularly closely related to any modern humans, and supporting (but certainly not proving) claims that they were a different species. (Krings et al. 1997; Kahn and Gibbons 1997)
    Some Homo fossils found recently in Spain, and dated at over 780,000 years, are the oldest confirmed European hominids. It is not yet clear what species they belong to, although the discoverers have named them Homo antecessor. (Bermudez de Castro et al. 1997; Kunzig R. 1997)
    The oldest known stone tools have been found at Gona, Ethiopia, in sediments dated at between 2.5 and 2.6 million years old. The makers are unknown, but may be early Homo. (Semaw et al. 1997)
    An upper jaw belonging to the genus Homo and dated at over 2.3 million years old has been found in Ethiopia, associated with stone tools. (Kimbel et al. 1996)
    Recent studies claim that some Javan skulls are between 51,000 and 27,000 years old, far more recent than previously thought. If confirmed, it means that Homo erectus and sapiens co-existed in this region for some time. (Swisher et al. 1996)
    A partial jaw found in Chad (Central Africa) greatly extends the geographical range in which australopithecines are known to have lived. The specimen, which has been nicknamed Abel, has since been named Australopithecus bahrelghazali. (Brunet et al. 1995)
    Four australopithecine foot bones dated at around 3.5 million years are the oldest hominid fossils yet found in South Africa. They seem to be adapted to bipedalism, but have an intriguing mixture of ape and human features (Clarke and Tobias 1995). Since then, 8 more foot and leg bones have been found from the same individual, who has been nicknamed Little Foot.
    Recent finds at Zafarraya in Spain suggest that Neandertals may have survived longer than previously thought, perhaps as recently as 27,000 years ago.
    Two hominid teeth in a small jaw fragment found in China and dated at around 1.9 million years are claimed as evidence that Homo arrived in Asia earlier than currently thought. (Huang et al. 1995) (However other researchers have suggested this is a fossil ape.)
    Recent research suggests that the some australopithecines were capable of a precision grip, like that of humans but unlike apes, which would have meant they were capable of making stone tools. (Susman 1994)

References

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Green et al. 2010: A draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome. Science, 328:710.

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Haile-Selassie Y., Suwa G., and White T.D. (2004): Late Miocene teeth from Middle Awash, Ethiopia, and early hominid dental evolution. Science, 303:1503-5. (Ardipithecus kadabba)

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Earlier than 200,000 BC

Homo ergaster: is an extinct species (or subspecies) of hominid 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 date 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 Turkanaand 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 to 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 by 50,000 +- years ago, and in Europe by 25,000 to 30,000 years ago.

Below added 01-23-2011
“A team of biologists has reported that in the first detailed genetic analysis of the Neanderthal genome, they have found evidence that Neanderthals mated with some modern humans and left their imprint in the human genome

The biologists were led by Svante Paabo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. By comparing the Neanderthal genome with those of various present day humans, the team concluded that about 1 percent to 4 percent of the genome of non-Africans today is derived from Neanderthals.”  From: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/science/07neanderthal.html

Humans/Homo sapiens: are bipedal primates (Latin: “wise man” or “knowing man”) 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 indicates that modern humans originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago.

Also see Homo habilis Here

500,000: The Peking Man Site,  excavations in the early1920′s revealed evidence of human habitation from 500,000 to perhaps 680,000 years ago. The cave was excavated from 1927-37 yielding 200 human fossils (from 40 individuals) Homo erectus, more than 10,000 pieces of stoneware, several cinder layers indicating fire use in early man, as well as animal fossils from 200 separate species.

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 indicates that modern humans originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago. Evidence from archaeogenetics 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 have occurred in 840,000 BC, 700,000 BC, and 75,000+- BC.  The 75,000 eruption 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.  Possibility that this volcano eruption drove down the population of the earth to about 10,000 humans…one of two bottle-necks in our prehistoric history.

From the Oxford Journal Molecular Biology and Evolution this article: “Population Bottlenecks and Pleistocene Human Evolution.” http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/1/2.full 03-03-2011

50,000 years ago: Around 50,000 years ago there was a marked increase in the diversity of human artifacts. For the first time in Africa, bone artifacts and art appear in the archeological record. The first evidence of human fishing is also noted, from artifacts in places such as Blombos cave in South Africa. Firstly among the artifacts of Africa, archeologists found they could differentiate and classify those of less than 50,000 years into many different categories, such as projectile points, engraving tools, knife blades, and drilling and piercing tools.

These new stone-tool types have been described as being distinctly differentiated from each other, as if each tool had a specific purpose. 3,000 to 4,000 years later, this tool technology spread with people migrating to Europe. The new technology generated a population explosion of modern humans and possibly led to the extinction of the Neanderthals. The invaders, commonly referred to as the Cro-Magnons, left many sophisticated stone tools, cave art and Venus figurines wherever they went  Adapted from Wikipedia…03-03-2011

50,000–40,000 BC

• 50000 BC: start of the Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa
• 45000 BC; in Bryan Sykes’ The Seven Daughters of Eve, the ‘clan mother’ of Haplogroup U lives in Central Greece.
• 43,000–41,000 BC: At Ksar Akil in Lebanon, ornaments and skeletal remains of modern humans are dated to this period.
• 40,000+- BC: By this time migration out of Africa that started about 85,000 BC  had Modern Homo-sapiens spread all over Europe, the Middle East,Asia, Africa, and Australia
  
• 40,000+-BC: British scientist find footprints in an abandoned quarry in Central Mexico close to the Cerro Toluquilla volcano. A multinational team of scientists subsequently studied and dated the site.  Added 12-26-2011

40,000–30,000 BC

• 40,000–35,000 BC: Cro Magnon (Modern Homo-sapiens)  appear in Europe, early cultural center in the Swabian Alb, earliest figurative art (Venus of Schelklingen), beginning Aurignacian
• 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 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 Dolní Věstonice. 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 the he 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, Ardéche gorge, France, is made. Discovered in December 1994.
• 24000 BC: start of the second Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa.
• 23000 BC: Venus of Petřkovice (Petřkovická venuše in Czech) from Petřkovice 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 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.
• 20000 BC: end of the second Mousterian Pluvial in North Africa.

20,000–15,000 BC

• 18000 BC-15000 BC: Last glacial period. Mean Sea Levels are believed to be 110 to 120 meters (361 to 394 ft) lower than present, with the direct implication that many coastal and lower riverine valley archaeological sites of interest are today under water.
• 18000 BC: In The Seven Daughters of Eve, the ‘clan mother’ of Haplogroup H lives in Southern France.
• 16500 BC: Paintings in Cosquer cave, where the cave mouth is now under water at Cap Margiou, France were made.
• 18000 BC: Spotted Horses, Pech Merle cave, Dordogne, France are painted. Discovered in December 1994.
• 18000 BC–11000 BC: Ibex-headed spear thrower, from Le Mas d’Azil, Ariege, France, is made. It is now at Musee de la Prehistoire, Le Mas d’Azil.
• 18000 BC–12000 BC: Mammoth-bone village in Mezhirich, Ukraine is inhabited.
  18000 BC –New evidence of pottery from Japan at this date. See Smithsonian Institute.17000 BC: Spotted human hands, Pech Merle cave, Dordogne, France are painted. Discovered in December 1994.
• 17000 BC–15000 BC: Hall of Bulls, Lascaux caves, is painted. Discovered in 1940. Closed to the public in 1963.
• 17000 BC–15000 BC: Bird-Headed man with bison and Rhinoceros, Lascaux caves, is painted.
• 17000 BC–15000 BC: Lamp with ibex design, from La Mouthe cave, Dordogne, France, is made. It is now at Musee des Antiquites Nationales, St.-Germain-en-Laye.
• 15000 BC: Bison, Le Tuc d’Audoubert, Ariege, France.
• 15000 BC In The Seven Daughters of Eve, the ‘clan mother of Haplogroup V lives in Northern Spain, while the ‘clan mother’ of Haplogroup T lives in the Tuscany region of Central Italy.

16,000–12,000 BC

• 15000 BC-12000 BC: Pregnant woman and deer (?), from Laugerie-Basse, France was made. It is now at Musee des Antiquites Nationales, St.-Germain-en-Laye.
• 14000 BC: Paleo-Indians searched for big game near what is now the Hovenweep National Monument.
• 14000 BC: Bison, on the ceiling of a cave at Altamira, Spain, is painted. Discovered in 1879. Accepted as authentic in 1902.
• 14000 BC: Domestication of Reindeer.
• 13000 BC In The Seven Daughters of Eve, the ‘clan mother of Haplogroup K lives in the Veneto Region of Northern Italy.
• 13000 BC: Beginning of the Holocene extinction event.
• 13000 BC: Ice Age ends in Japan.

12,000–11,000 BC

• 12000 BC: The American Southwest has long been occupied by hunter/gatherers and agricultural people. This area, identified with the current states of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada, and areas of northern Mexico, has seen successive prehistoric cultural traditions since approximately 12,000 years ago.  It is likely that both ceramic and irrigation technology were indigenous developments of these cultures. In central Mexico corn/maize was being developed from wild strains of grasses.
• 11500 BC: Oldest temple complex of the world (Göbekli Tepe in Turkey)
• 11500 BC–10000 BC: Wooden buildings in South America (Chile)
• 11000 BC– First pottery vessels (Japan-Jomon culture) NEW 3-16-10 New evidence of pottery in Japan as far back as 18,000 BCE. From Smithsonian Institute
• 11000 BC: First evidence of human settlement in Argentina.
• 11000 BC: The Arlington Springs Man dies on the island of Santa Rosa, off the coast of California.
• 11000 BC: Human remains deposited in caves which are now located off the coast of Yucatan

10,000 BC

• 10,000 BC: – First cave drawings are made, with war and religious scenes, beginnings of what become storytelling, and morphed into acting.
• 10,000 BC: – Bottle Gourd is domesticated and used as a carrying vessel.
• 10,000 BC: – end of the most recent glaciation.
• 9,500 BC: – There is evidence of harvesting, though not necessarily cultivation, of wild grasses in Asia Minor
• 9,500 BC: – First building phase of the temple complex at Göbekli Tepe.
• 9,300 BC: – Figs were apparently cultivated in the Jordan River valley.
• 9000 BC: – Neolithic culture began in Ancient Near East.
• 9000 BC: Near East: – First stone structures at Jericho are built.

Old World 10000 BC

• Asia: Cave sites near the Caspian Sea are used for human habitation.
• Europe: Azilian (Painted Pebble Culture) people occupy Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Scotland.
• Europe: Magdalenian culture flourishes and creates cave paintings in France.
• Europe: Horse hunting begins at Solutré.
• Egypt: Early sickle blades & grinding disappear and are replaced by hunting, fishing and gathering peoples who use stone tools.
• Japan: The Jōmon people use pottery, fish, and hunt and gather acorns, nuts and edible seeds. There are 10,000 known sites.
• Mesopotamia: Three or more linguistic groups, including Sumerian and Semitic peoples share a common political and cultural way of life.
• Mesopotamia: People begin to collect wild wheat and barley probably to make malt then beer.
• Norway: First traces of population in Randaberg.
• Persia: The goat is domesticated.
• Sahara: Bubalus Period.

Americas 10000 BC

• North America: Paleo-Indian hunter-gatherer societies live nomadically in the countryside.
• North America: Blackwater Draw forms in eastern New Mexico, evincing human activity.
• North America: Folsom people flourish throughout the Southwestern United States.
• North America: Settlement at the Nanu site in the Queen Charlotte Islands of modern day British Columbia begins, starting the longest continual occupation in territory now belonging to Canada.

From the Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures: Wikipedia

• Central and East Europe:
  • 30000 BC: Szeletian culture
  • 20000 BC: Pavlovian, Aurignacian cultures
  • 11000 BC: Ahrensburg culture
  • 10000 BC: Epigravettian culture
  • 9000 BC: Gravettian culture
• North and West Africa, and Sahara:
  • 30000 BC: Aterian culture
  • 10000 BC: Ibero-Maurusian (a.k.a. Oranian, Ouchtatian), and Sebilian cultures
  • 8000 BC: Capsian culture
• Central, South, and East Africa:
  • 50000 BC: Fauresmithian culture
  • 30000 BC: Stillbayan culture
  • 10000 BC: Lupembian culture
  • 9000 BC: Magosian culture
  • 7000 BC: Wiltonian culture
  • 3000 BC: beginning of hunter-gatherer art in southern Africa
• West Asia (including Middle East):
  • 50000 BC: Jabroudian culture
  • 40000 BC: Amoudian culture
  • 30000 BC: Emirian culture
  • 20000 BC: Aurignacian culture
  • 10000 BC: Kebarian, Athlitian cultures
• South, Central and Northern Asia:
  • 30000 BC: Angara culture
  • 9000 BC: Khandivili culture
• East and Southeast Asia:
  • 80000 BC: Ordos culture
  • 50000 BC: Ngandong culture
  • 30000 BC: Sen-Doki culture
  • 14000 BC: Jōmon period starts in Ancient Japan.
  • 10000 BC: pre-Jōmon ceramic culture
  • 8000 BC: Hoabinhian culture
  • 7000 BC: Jōmon culture

9000 to 8000 BC

• 9000 BC—Mediterranean—Settling on Mediterranean isles started.
• 9000 BC—Laacher See, northwest of Frankfurt, formed when a volcano blows out to form a caldera
• 9000 BC—Neolithic culture begins in Ancient Near East
• 8700–8400 BC—Britain—Star Carr site in Yorkshire, Britain inhabited by Maglemosian peoples
• 8500 BC—Great Britain—Mesolithic hunters camp at Cramond, Prehistoric Scotland
• 8500 BC–7370 BC; Jericho established with 2000 inhabitants living in mud-brick houses covering 6 acres (24,000 m²) and protected by the Wall of Jericho
• 8300 BC: Great Britian Nomadic hunters arrive in England
• 8000 BC—Norway—Øvre Eiker of Norway inhabited
• 8000 BC—Estonia—Pulli settlement inhabited

Inventions and discoveries

• 9000 BC—The first evidence of the keeping of sheep, in northern Iraq.
• 8500 BC—Natufian culture of Western Mesopotamia is harvesting wild wheat with flint-edged sickles. (1967 McEvedy) About this time, boats are invented, and dogs domesticated in Europe. (1967 McEvedy)
• 8500 BC—Andean peoples domesticate chili peppers and two kinds of bean.
• 8000 BC—Mesopotamia—Agriculture in Mesopotamia
• 8000 BC—Asia—Domestication of the pig in China and Turkey
• 8000 BC—Middle East—Domestication of goats
• 8000 BC—Asia—Evidence of domestication of dogs from wolves, new find in Russia of domesticated dogs dated 12,000 BC
• 8000 BC—Middle East—Ancient flint tools from north and central Arabia belong to hunter-gatherer societies
• 8000 BC—Middle East—Clay vessels and modeled human and animal terracotta figurines are produced at Ganj Dareh in western Iran.
• 8000 BC—Exchange of goods, a three-dimensional combination of an accounting/inventory system and medium of exchange.
• 8000 BC—Exchange of goods may represent the earliest pseudo-writing technology.
• 8000 BC—People of Jericho were making bricks out of clay, then hardened them in the sun. The settlement had grown to 8–10 acres of houses and had substantial walls.

Misc. Stuff

• 9000 BC: Temporary global chilling, as the Gulf Stream pulls southward, and Europe ices over
• 8000 BC—World—Rising Sea
• 8000 BC—Antarctica—long-term melting of the Antarctic ice sheets is commencing
• 8000 BC—Asia—rising sea levels caused by postglacial warming
• 8000 BC—World—Obliteration of more than 40 million animals about this time
• 8000 BC—North America—The glaciers were receding and by 8,000 B.C. the Wisconsin had withdrawn completely.
• 8000 BC—World—Inland flooding due to catastrophic glacier melt takes place in several regions.
• 8000 BC—Glaciers form the rock formation in present-day New Hampshire, USA formerly known as the “Old Man of the Mountain.”
• 7911 BC—Series of seven massive volcanic eruptions give volcanic skies and lowered temperatures for several centuries (ending 7090 BC). Locations not known, but show in polar ice. (NatGeo1986–9)
• 7500 BC–The worlds oldest tree (so far) was found in Sweden.  A spruce that first took root about 9500 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. (2008)  added 2-6-201
• 7640 BC—Date theorized for impact of Tollmann’s hypothetical bolide with Earth and associated global cataclysm.
• 7220 BC—Eruption of Mount Edgecumbe, Alaska.
• 7000 BC—Wild horse populations drop in Europe proper; horse disappears from the island of Great Britain, but was never found in Ireland. (Horse & Man, Clutton-Brock) Extinction probably caused by climatic shift, leading to excessively rich spring feed and mass lameness from founder, making them easy prey (Bolich & Ingraham)
• 7000 BC—English Channel formed^.
• 7000 BC—Neolithic Subpluvial begins in northern Africa
• 6440 BC ± 25 years—Kurile volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has VEI 7 eruption. It is one of the largest of the Holocene epoch
• 6250 BC – Eruptions occur in the Indian Heaven Volcanic field located in central Washington State.
• 6100 BC—The Storegga Slide, causing a mega tsunami in the Norwegian Sea
• 6000 BC—Rising sea levels form the Torres Strait, separating Australia from New Guinea.
• 5000 BC: Rice is cultivated in Southeast Asia. Later it is introduced in Ganges Valley
• 5000 BC: Farming reaches Atlantic coast of Europe from Ancient Near East
• 5000 BC: Maize is cultivated in Mexico
• 5000 BC: Writing systems, such as ideographic Vinca script, Tartaria tablets
• 5000: Metallurgy appears.
• 5000 BC: Agriculture starts in Ancient Japan. Beans and gourds are cultivated.
• 4500 BC: Plough is introduced in Europe (c. 4500 BC)
• 4000 BC: Copper pins dating to 4000 BC found in Egypt.
• 4000 BC: Water Buffalo are domesticated in China
• 4000 BC: Beer brewing is developed.
• 4000 BC: Wheel is developed in Mesopotamia and India
• 4000 BC: Potter’s wheel in Sumer.
• 4000 BC: Susa, in Persia is a center of pottery production.
• 4000 BC: Horses are domesticated in Ukraine.
• 3500 BC–2340 BC: Sumer: wheeled carts, potter’s wheel, White Temple ziggurat, bronze tools and weapons.
• 3250 BC: Potter’s wheel appears in Ancient Near East.
• 3500 BC: The Plough is invented in the Near East.
• 3000 BC: Tin is in use in Mesopotamia soon after this time.

8000 to 2500 BC

• 8000 BC: Ice Age ends.
• 8000 BC: Upper Paleolithic period ends.
• 8000 BC: 7000 BC—Paleolithic–Neolithic overlap (Mesolithic).
• 8000 BC–2300 BC: Neolithic period.
• 8000 BC: Settlement in Franchthi Cave in Peloponnese, Greece, continues. First evidence of seed and animal stocking (lentils, almonds) and obsidian trade with Melos. The settlement was continuously occupied since 20,000 BC and abandoned in 3,000 BC.
• 8000 BC: Settlements at Nevali Cori in present-day Turkey are established.
• 8000 BC: Settlements at Sagalassos in present-day southwest Turkey are established.
• 8000 BC: Settlements at Akure in present-day southwest Nigeria are established.
• 8000 BC: Settlements at Øvre Eiker and Nedre Eiker in present-day Buskerud, Norway are established.
• 8000 BC: Settlements at Ærø, Denmark are established.
• 8000 BC: Settlements at Deepcar near present-day Sheffield, England are established.
• 8000 BC: North American Arctic is inhabited by hunter-gatherers of the Paleo-Arctic Tradition.
• 8000 BC: Pre-Anasazi Paleo-Indians move into the Southwest United States.
• 8000 BC: Plano cultures inhabit the Great Plains area of North America (from 9th millennium)
• 8000 BC: World population: 5,000,000
• 7500 BC: Settlements at Sand, Applecross on the coast of Wester Ross, Scotland are constructed.
• 7500 BC: Çatalhöyük, a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, is founded.
• 7500 BC: Cattle Period begins in the Sahara.
• 7500 BC: Mesolithic hunter-gatherers are the first humans to reach Ireland.
• 7370 BC: End of the large settlement at Jericho.
• 7200–5000 BC: Ain Ghazal, Jordan is inhabited. 30 acres (120,000 m²).
• 7000 BC: First Neolithic settlements with ceramics, in St. Croix, Caribbean Sea.
• 7000 BC: Beginning of the Peiligang culture in China.
• 7000 BC: Agriculture and Neolithic settlement at Mehrgarh, in current-day Baluchistan, Pakistan.
• 7000 BC: Agriculture among the Papuan peoples of New Guinea
• 7000 BC–600 BC: Elam.
• 7000 BC: Elam becomes farming region.
• 7000 BC–6000 BC: Figure from Ain Ghazal, Jordan, was made. It is now in National Museum, Amman, Jordan.
• 6850–4800 BC: Advanced agriculture and a very early use of pottery by the Sesclo culture in Thessaly, Greece.
• 6500 BC: Paleolithic period ended. Neolithic period started in China.
• 6500 BC: Beginning of the Houli culture in China.
• 6500 BC–5500 BC: Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Inhabitants traded obsidian.
• 6200 BC: Beginning of the Xinglongwa culture in China.
• 6000 BC: Beginning of the Cishan culture in China.
• 6000 BC: First traces of habitation of the Svarthola cave in Norway.
• 6000 BC: The Mehrgarh culture reaches its height c. 6000 BC. The Mehrgarh site is one of the most important Neolithic sites in the world. It is located in present-day Pakistan (Baluchistan Province).
• 6000 BC: The entire 6th Millennium was a part of the Holocene climatic optimum (so were the 4th, 5th, and 7th Millennia). This was a warm period also known as the Atlantic period. This period was characterized by minimal glaciation and high sea levels.
• 6000 BC: The Copper Age comes to the Fertile Crescent.  First use of copperin Middle East.
• 6000 BC: Fully Neolithic agriculture has spread through Anatolia to the Balkans.
• 6000 BC: Beginning of Neolithic Yangshao culture in south-central China<t.1500 BC>. Somewhere in this expanse of time, they invent the earliest pictographs of Chinese writing.
• 6000 BC: Equids disappear from the Americas.
• 6000 BC: Jungle fowl kept in India.
• 6000 BC: Female figurines holding serpents are fashioned on Crete and may have been associated with water, regenerative power and protection of the home.
• 5900 BC: Prehistoric Vinca culture emerges on the shores of lower Danube
• 5800 BC: Beginning of the Dadiwan culture in China.
• 5800 BC: The Hosanna Period in Mesopotamia <t. 5500 BC>, with the earliest version of stamp seals.
• 5760 BC: The volcano Puy-de-Dôme in France erupts.
• 5677 BC: Cataclysmic volcanic explosion of 12,000-foot (3,700 m) high Mount Mazama creates Oregon’s Crater Lake when the resulting caldera fills with water. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 7, it remains the largest single Holocene eruption in history of the Cascade Range.
• 5600 BC: Beginning of the desertification of North Africa, which ultimately lead to the creation of the Sahara desert.  It’s possible this process pushed some natives into migrating to the region of the Nile in the east, thereby laying the groundwork for the rise of Egyptian civilization.
• 5600 BC: The Red Paint people become established in the region from present-day Labrador to New York.
• 5509 BC: The Byzantine calendar dates creation to 1 September of this year.
• 5500 BC: Beginning of the Xinle culture in China.
• 5500 BC: Agriculture started in Ancient Egypt.
• 5500 BC: Predynastic period (Neolithic) starts in Ancient Egypt (other date is 4350 BC).
• 5450 BC: Volcano Hekla eruption.
• 5400 BC: Beginning of the Zhaobaogou culture in China.
• 5400 BC: Irrigation and the beginning of the Sumerian civilization in Southern Iraq.
• 5400 BC/3400 BC: ?? Watson Brake mound complex constructed in present-day Louisiana.
• 5300 BC: Beginning of the Beixin culture in China.
• 5200 BC: Beginning of human inhabitation and settlements in Malta.
• 5000 BC: Beginning of the Hemudu culture in China.
• 5000 BC: Beginning of the Daxi culture in China.
• 5000 BC: Beginning of the Majiabang culture in China.
• 5000 BC: Beginning of the Yangshao culture in China.
• 5000 BC: Farming reached central and North Europe.

• 6000 BC: Cycladic people started to use a coarse, poor-quality local clay to make a variety of objects.
• 6000 BC: Brick building was taking place at Çatalhöyük, Turkey.
• 6000 BC: Agriculture appears in the valley of the Nile.
• 6000 BC: Rice cultivated in Asia.
• 6000 BC: Plough invented.
• 6000–5000 BC: Wine is created for the first time in Persia.
• 5000 BC: Agriculture began in the Americas perhaps this early, in complete isolation from the Old World.
• 5700 BC: Samarran Culture at Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) begins (c. 5700–4900 BC C-14, 6640–5816 BC cal BC).
• 5500 BC: pottery at Mehrgarh in current-day Baluchistan, Pakistan.
• 5508 BC: Year of Creation that is adopted in 7th century Constantinople, and used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and secularly in Russia until early in the 18th century AD
• 5490 BC: Year of Creation as reckoned by early Syrian Christians.
• 5100 BC: Temples founded in South Mesopotamia.

• 5000–4500 BC: Għar Dalam phase of Neolithic farmers on Malta, possibly immigrant farmers from the Agrigento region of Sicily.
• 5000–4000 BC: Bowl, from Banpo, near Xi’an, Shaanxi, is made. Neolithic period. Yangshao culture. It is now kept at Banpo Museum.
• 5000–2000 BC: Neolithic period in China.
• 4900–4600 BC: Arrangements of circular ditches are built in Central Europe.
• 4800 BC: Dimini culture replaces the Sesklo culture in Thessaly (4800–4000 BC)
• 4500 BC: Settlement of Chirokitia dates from this period.
• 4500 BC: Ending of Neolithic IA (the Aceramic) in Cyprus4350 BC: Kikai Caldera forms in a massive VEI7 eruption.
• 4300 BC: Theta Boötis became the nearest visible star to the celestial  North Pole. It remained the closest until 3942 BC when it was replaced by Thuban.
• 4250–3750 BC: Menhir alignments at Menec, Carnac, France are made.
• 4200 BC: Date of Mesolithic examples of Naalebinding found in Denmark, marking spread of technology to Northern Europe.
• 4100–3500 BC: New wave of immigration to Malta from Sicily leads to the Żebbuġ and Mġarr phases, and to the Ġgantija phase of temple builders.4004 BC: God creates our world and Adam and Eve J
• 4000 BC: Mesopotamia is in the Uruk period, with emerging Sumerian hegemony and development of “proto-cuneiform” writing; Base-60 mathematics, astronomy and astrology, civil law, complex hydrology, the sailboat, potter’s wheel and wheel; the Chalcolithic proceeds into the Early Bronze Age.
• 4000 BC: First Neolithic settlers in the island of Thera (Santorini), Greece, migrating probably from Minoan Crete.
• 4000 BC: Beaker from Susa (modern Shush, Iran) is made. It is now at Musee du Louvre, Paris.
• 4000–2000 BC: People and animals, a detail of rock-shelter painting in Cogul, Lerida, Catalonia, are painted. It is now at Museo Arqueologico, Barcelona.
• 4004 BC: If you follow Ussher’s Chronology the world began on October 23 in this year
• 4000 BC: Babylonian influence predominant in Mediterranean regions of Asia (to 2000 BC)
• 3760 BC: Year of Creation as reckoned in the Hebrew calendar that will be used from the 15th century AD
• 3641 BC: February 10, 3641 Year of Creation as reckoned by the Mayan calendars in the Western hemisphere.
• 3600 BC: first rupestrian art Chiribiquete (Caquetá). In Colombia,
• 3600 BC: Construction of the Ġgantija megalithic temple complex on the Island of Gozo, 3600 BC: Malta  the world’s oldest extant free-standing structures, and the world’s oldest religious structures. (Dubious: see Göbekli Tepe)
• 3600–3200 BC: Construction of the first temple within the Mnajdra solar temple complex on Malta, containing “furniture” such as stone benches and tables, which set it apart from other European megalith constructions.
• 3600–3000 BC: Construction of the Ta’ Ħaġrat and Kordin III temples on Malta.
• 3500 BC: Figures of a man and a woman, from Cernavoda, Romania are made. They are now at National Historical Museum, Bucharest.
• 3500–3400 BC: Jar with boat designs, from Hierakonpolis (today in the Brooklyn Museum) is created. Predynastic Egypt.
• 3500–2340 BC: First cities developed in Southern Mesopotamia. Inhabitants migrated from north.
• 3372 BC: First date in Mayan chronology
• 3300–2900 BC: Construction of the Newgrange solar observatory/passage tomb in Ireland.
• 3300 BC: Ötzi the Iceman dies near the present-day border between Austria and Italy, only to be discovered in 1991 buried in a glacier of the Ötztal Alps. His cause of death is believed to be homicide
• 3250–3000 BC: Construction of three megalithic temples at Tarxien, Malta.
• 3200–2500 BC: Construction of the Ħaġar Qim megalithic temple complex on Malta, featuring both solar and lunar alignments.
• 3150 BC: Predynastic period ended in Ancient Egypt. Early Dynastic (Archaic) period started (according to French Egyptologist Nicolas Grimal. The period includes 1st and 2nd Dynasties.
• 3150 BC: a lesser Tollmann’s hypothetical bolide event may have occurred.
• August 11, 3114 BC: Gregorian calendar reference starting date of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by the ancient Maya civilization.
• February 18, 3102 BC: Beginning of the Kali yuga era. Starting date of the Hindu calendar’s last epoch.
• 3100 BC: According to the legend, Menes unifies Upper and Lower Egypt, and a new capital is erected at Memphis.
• 3100 BC: Narmer Palette
• 3100–2600 BC: Neolithic settlement at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, is inhabited.
• 3079 BC: Ancient Vietnamese nation of Văn Lang is established by the first Hùng Vương.
• 3100 BC: First to Fourth dynasty of Kish in Mesopotamia.
• 3100 BC: Discovery of silver.
• 3100 BC: The beginnings of Iberian civilizations, arrival to the peninsula dating as far back as 4000 BC.
• 3044 BC: If you follow Ussher’s  Biblical Chronology…Adam died about this time
• 3000 BC: First pottery in Colombia at Puerto Hormiga (Magdalena), considered one of the first attempts of pottery of the New World First settlement at Puerto Badel (Bolivar).
• 3000 BC: Sumerian temple of Janna at Eridu erected.
• 3000 BC: Temple at Al-Ubaid and tome of Mes-Kalam-Dug built near Ur, Chaldea.
• 2500 BC: Harappan civilization, at its peak, covered an area of around 480,000 km². Its heartland lay in the Indus river valley in Pakistan, but settlements spread as far as the Makran coast, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, eastern Punjab, Kutch and Saurashtra. They included cities like Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Kalibangan, Dholavira, ports like Lothal, Sutkagen-dor and Sotka-koh and numerous villages as well. They used irrigation to farm and constructed cities. The two main cities had sewage systems, bronze, trade tokens (early coins), and hieroglyphs. There were even baths at one of the villages, besides the great baths of brick in each city. Geometry of shrines and altars tends to identify these with the cities of the Yajur Veda: they might easily be a thousand years older than this conservative date.   Adapted from Wikipedia.

Neolithic (10,000+- BC to 3500+- BC) human settlements include:

• Tabon Cave Complex in Quezon, Palawan, Philippines 5000 – 2000 BC
• Spirit Cave in Thailand, 9000 – 5500 BCE
• Padah-Lin Caves in Myanmar, ca 11000 BCE
• Franchthi Cave in Greece, epipalaeolithic (ca. 10000 BCE) settlement, reoccupied between 7500–6000 BC
• Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, ca. 9000 BCE
• Jericho in West bank, Neolithic from around 8350 BCE, arising from the earlier Epipaleolithic Natufian culture
• Nevali Cori in Turkey, ca. 8000 BCE
• Ganj Dareh in Iran, ca. 7000 BCE
• Çatalhöyük in Turkey, 7500 BCE
• Pengtoushan culture in China, 7500 – 6100 BCE
• ‘Ain Ghazal in Jordan, 7250–5000 BCE
• Jhusi in India, 7100 BCE
• Karanovo in Bulgaria, 6200 BCE
• Petnica in Serbia,6000 BCE
• Sesklo in Greece, 6850 BCE (with a ±660 year margin of error)
• Dispilio in Greece, ca. 5500 BCE
• Jiahu in China, 7000 to 5800 BCE
• Mehrgarh in Pakistan, 7000 BCE
• Knossus on Crete, ca. 7000 BCE
• Lahuradewa in India, 9000 BCE
• Porodin in Republic of Macedonia, 6500 BCE
• Vrshnik (Anzabegovo) in Republic of Macedonia, 6500 BCE
• Pizzo di Bodi (Varese), Lombardy in Italy, ca 6320 ±80 BCE
• Sammardenchia in Friuli, Italy , ca 6050 ±90 BCE,
• Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, 5500 – 2750 BCE, in Ukraine, Moldova and Romania first salt works
• Hemudu culture in China, 5000 – 4500 BCE, large scale rice plantation
• around 2000 settlements of Trypillian culture, 5400 – 2800 BCE
• The Megalithic Temples of Malta, 3600 BCE
• Knap of Howar and Skara Brae, Orkney, Scotland, from 3500 BCE and 3100 BCE respectively
• Brú na Bóinne in Ireland, ca. 3500 BCE
• Lough Gur in Ireland from around 3000 BCE
• Lajia in China, 2000 BCE

 

GEOLOGY

UPDATING ...

 

ASTRONOMY

Geologic Time Scale - as 18 galactic rotations

The idea: A nice unit to use when describing earth's planetary history is periods of galactic rotation (250 million years). Rather than the usual 1 million years (MYA, "million years ago"). The resulting small numbers seem easier to understand and remember. And delightfully, geological eras pace fairly nicely at 50 megayear intervals, which is 1/5 of an orbit. So these three time frameworks reinforce each other.

Earth has circled the galaxy 18 times. The dinosaurs died out 2/5's of an orbit ago. Fish began almost 2 orbits ago. Multicellular life, about 4. This way of describing time is perhaps complimentary to the usual n million years ago.

The general idea: If one's measuring units get much smaller than the objects of interest, developing a feel for the objects requires a feel for relations among annoyingly large (representation) numbers. For instance, the Devonian period was 410 to 360 MYA, or 50 MY beginning at 410 MYA, with an earth lifetime of 4500 MY. Versus 1/5 of an orbit beginning 1.5 orbits ago, and an earth lifetime of 18 orbits.

 

---

Creating a unit...

Much of the galaxy is a spinning disk.
The earth is something like 1/4 out from the center. (25 Kly)
It gets around every 250 million years or so.

So we create a unit, 1 "galactic orbit" = 250 MY.
Here are some comparisons we may find useful. It falls out rather nicely.

orbits	years
4 orbits	1 billion years
2 orbits	500 million years
1 orbit	250 million years
3/4 orbit	188 million years
2/3 orbit	167 million years
1/2 orbit	125 million years
4/10 orbit	100 million years
1/3 orbit	83 million years
1/4 orbit	63 million years
1/5 orbit	50 million years
1/10 orbit	25 million years
4/100 orbit	10 million years
1/100 orbit	2.5 million years
4/1000 orbit	1 million years

---

Earth's history

(Warning: This is a quick hack. I would be unsurprised by errors.)

orbit	comments	MYA
1	accrete, bombardment	4500-4250	Hadean (45-38)
2	~atmosphere, ~water	4250-...	|
3	end bombard, cool, crust plates	4000	|
4	oceans	3750	Archaean (38-25)
5	life begins	3500	|
6	prokaryotes	3250	|
7	bacteria	3000	|
8		2750	|
9	stable continents begin	2500	Proterozoic, paleo (25-16)
10	oxygen disaster	2250	|
11		2000	|
12	eukaryotes	1750	meso... (16-9)
13		1500	|
14		1250	|
15	multicellular	1000	neo... (9-5.4)
16	Vendian	750-...	|
17	Cambrian, critters	500-250	Paleozoic Era
18	dinos, dieoff, critters	250-now	Mesozoic & Cenozoic Eras

The last few orbits... Nice how geologic periods match 50 megayear boundaries.
(Warning: This is a quick hack. I would be unsurprised by errors.)

orbits ago	MYA
4.0 (15)	1000
3.8	950	~multicellular life exists
3.6	900
3.4	850
3.2	800
3.0 (16)	750
2.8	700	Stromatolite decline begins
2.6	650
2.4	600	Vendian, first macroscopic soft bodies (jellyfish)
2.2	550	Cambrian explosion, shelled marine animals, worms
2.0 (17)	500	Ordovician, graptolites
1.8	450	Silurian, early fish
1.6	400	Devonian, fish
1.4	350	Carboniferous, land plants
1.2	300	Permian, amphibians, reptiles gymnosperms
1.0 (18)	250	Triassic, molluscs, reptiles
4/5	200	Jurassic
3/5	150	Cretaceous, angiosperm plants, reptile peak
2/5	100	Dinos & reptiles die, mammals romp
1/5	50	Mammals

Really need an example which follows a single something through time... (geography, atmosphere, a critter flavor, something) and describes change by orbits and orbital fractions. Mention sensitivity to 2.5e8 estimate.

 

CLIMATE

In about 45 years, temperatures on Earth will be hotter than at anytime during the past one million years, says the U.S. government's top climatologist in a new report released today.

According to the report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the planet is just two degrees shy of an average temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit, which is what they believe the temperature was about a million years ago.

NASA's James Hansen, along with colleagues from the University of California and Columbia University, are for the first time, marking a calendar signaling the approach of temperatures that humans have never experienced.

"Humans are now in control of the Earth's climate, for better or worse," Hansen tells ABC News.

Based on a "business as usual" scenario in which greenhouse gasses continue to rise unabated, Hansen says we'll break the million-year-old record in about 45 years. But he stresses we can't wait that long to cut greenhouse gas pollution, because of the decades it takes for the climate system to respond to changes.

"We need to get started now," he says. "We can't wait another decade or two to take this seriously."

Those 2 degrees the scientists are talking about may not sound like much, but what that change means is that by mid-century, the world will experience even more record heat waves, wildfires, more intense storms and flooding.

In other parts of the world, the increase may worsen drought conditions as more mountain glaciers and snow packs vanish, no longer sending water to the valleys below.

And in a highly unusual move for a scientific paper, the authors devote eight paragraphs to systematically deconstructing the assertions of a prominent science fiction novelist. In the non-fiction sections of his 2004 book "State of Fear," best-selling author Michael Crichton wrote that Hansen's climate change calculations were "wrong by 300 percent."

Hansen says Crichton misrepresented his scientific work and, adds the scientist, has done so in testimony before Congress and in a meeting with President Bush -- even though he is not a climate expert.

"He is propagating false information to the public," Hansen says.

Crichton, through a publicist, declined ABC News' request for an interview.

ARTICLE HERE