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.
Mycenaean civilization, the first advanced civilization of mainland Greece, develops fortified palace centres and Linear B writing.
The Shang is the earliest Chinese dynasty confirmed by archaeology, leaving oracle-bone script and sophisticated bronzes.
The hymns of the Rigveda, the oldest text of Hinduism, are composed in Vedic Sanskrit and transmitted orally for generations.
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.
Ramesses II begins a reign of about 66 years, regarded as one of Egypt's most powerful and celebrated pharaohs.
Ramesses II's Egyptian army fights the Hittites near Kadesh in Syria, one of the largest chariot battles of antiquity.
Ramesses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III conclude one of the earliest peace treaties whose text survives.