# ANTHROPOLOGICAL TIMELINE

This is my own summary of the time events which are important to me. For comparison, Wikipedia's "timeline of prehistory" has a different emphasis (and is far longer).

13,700,000,000 years ago : BANG
..4,500,000,000 Earth formed.
..3,700,000,000 amoebas developed.
.....520,000,000 enough oxygen in atmosphere to support the Cambrian Revolution – a sudden increase in plants and oxygen breathing animals.
.....180,000,000 first mammals appeared.
.........4,000,000 homo like species appeared.
.........1,800,000 Homo Erectus climbed down from the trees. Humans start making rough hand axes and cleavers.
............400,000 – 150,000 learnt to control then make fire (human life started being fun).
............300,000 Homo Sapiens arrived on the scene. Time was measured by the moon. I imagine abstract reasoning started when someone discovered 7 x 4 = 28.
............120,000 burials simultaneously with grave goods in them (shells with wear marks – used as fashion) "symbolic behaviour".
............100,000 Homo Erectus died out
..............50,000 Neanderthals died out (very last fossil 35,000).
..............40,000 bows and arrows invented.
..............28,000 elaborate grave goods, imaginary beings depicted, shamanistic practices.

## Civilisation Started

15,000 years ago, after the last ice age, grass produced a larger grain. 12,000 years ago civilisation started. Humans started farming. The possibility of storing large grain grasses (wheat, barley and rice) in a common central storage place over a period of years avoided famine, (also linseed for lamp oil and clothes). Life slowly became more fun. Population started increasing, and new technical discoveries developed exponentially.

10,000 years ago (8,000 BCE.) melting and use of copper.
5,300 : Bronze from mixing copper and tin.
5,000 : Pyramids in Egypt and Peru and stone-circles in Europe. The increased population was set to work, moving great big stones for the Gods.
4,000 : First books (Indian Vedas, Jewish Old Testament, Chinese I Ching) and a general increase (among the rich in prosperous cultures), of abstract thinking.
4,000 : The spoked wheel (robust and lightweight) started being developed. It took another thousand years till the hub mechanism was developed enough for general practical use.
3,500 : Steel – originally made from mixing cow dung (carbon) with iron – provided a cheap, strong, light, workable material. Civilisation suddenly took on new froms. With lightweight weapons and armour for wars; wheel-rims and wheel-hubs for transport; and ploughs and farming equipment which could be pulled by donkeys. This made agriculture and trade successful; and stable divisions of labour with their individual identities.
3,000 : The beginning of military warfare. Rulers wanted power and territory.
2,500 : Buddha inspired by the wheel, wanted Nirvana
2,000 : Jesus wanted One God for everyone.

In CE. (AD.) 325, as the Roman Empire collapsed, the Christian Eastern and Catholic churches suddenly became the official religions. They became the main authority and unifying force in the "civilised world". They introduced a new understanding of God as a Holy Trinity. In 610 Mohammed reintroduced the simple One God.

Globalisation
In modern Europe from 1450 onwards Gutenberg's printing press revolutionised the spread of information based on the written word.

Then in 1517 came Martin Luther's reformation – which 'horny Henry VIII' embraced in 1533, and in England opened up the possibility of freedom of thought and belief for an entire population, without the wars it had caused in Europe. The policy of freedom of thought, led to centuries of success for England.

The printed word and freedom of belief, led to unprecedented mind-boggling developments, and cultural and political revolutions throughout Europe and N. America for the next few hundred years. Until around 1920 when in the 'Western World', the value of each individual was established, everyone received the opportunity of schooling, and the right to vote.

The developments also led to capitalism, modern banking, and the industrial revolution – so that by the 1800s Britain's C02 emissions and CO2 emissions per person, were far greater than all the other nations of the world added together.

Throughout civilisation there has been an exponential population increase. More people lived in the 20th century than in all the time before added together.

The ancient wooden spoked wheel remained fundamentally unchanged for 2,000 years. Then trains and railway networks developed around 1850, and cars were invented around 1900.

And so, the increased population became increasingly mobile, and at the same time, the horse and carriage dissapeared. With it the family trades of a 2,000 year old socially stable system of wheelrights, foresters, blacksmiths, etc. collapsed, and were replaced with modern education to sustain the new technical world.

The cultural meltdown we experience now, will only happen once in the history of our planet. The present exchange of ideas, beliefs and values, is the most important crossing point human cultures will ever make… it could be a magical time.

Please continue with The Speed of Modern Life

Back to Chapter Three: Civilisation's Habitual Ruts
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