Timeline

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
4. c. 1550 BCE★★★★★

   New Kingdom of Egypt begins

   Ahmose I expels the Hyksos and reunifies Egypt, opening the New Kingdom, the height of ancient Egyptian power.

   DynastyPolitics· Egypt