World History Timeline

Timeline

7 events

16th century BCE

  1. c. 16th century BCE – c. 5th century BCE★★★★★

    Lapita culture spreads across the western Pacific

    Bearers of the Lapita culture, known for their dentate-stamped pottery, settled islands from the Bismarck Archipelago to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, laying the foundations of Polynesian societies.

    ExplorationCulture· Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa
  2. c. 16th century BCE – c. 11th century BCE★★★★★

    Mycenaean civilization emerges in Greece

    Mycenaean civilization, the first advanced civilization of mainland Greece, develops fortified palace centres and Linear B writing.

    Culture· Greece
  3. c. 16th century BCE – c. 11th century BCE★★★★★

    Shang dynasty rules the Yellow River valley

    The Shang is the earliest Chinese dynasty confirmed by archaeology, leaving oracle-bone script and sophisticated bronzes.

    DynastyCulture· China

15th century BCE

  1. c. 15th century BCE – c. 1st century★★★★★

    Nok culture in West Africa

    The Nok culture flourished in present-day central Nigeria, known for its terracotta sculptures and as one of the earliest iron-smelting cultures in sub-Saharan Africa.

    CultureTechnology· Nigeria

12th century BCE

  1. c. 12th century BCE – c. 4th century BCE★★★★★

    Rise of the Olmec civilization

    The Olmecs develop the earliest known complex civilization of Mesoamerica along Mexico's Gulf Coast, known for their colossal stone heads.

    Culture· Mexico

11th century BCE

  1. c. 11th century BCE★★★★★

    The Phoenician alphabet

    The Phoenicians use a consonantal alphabet that became the ancestor of the Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Arabic scripts.

    CultureTechnology· Lebanon
  2. c. 1046 BCE★★★★★

    Battle of Muye: Zhou overthrows Shang

    King Wu of Zhou defeats the last Shang king, founding the Zhou, the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history.

    WarDynasty· China
Timeline · World History Timeline