Humans in ancient China invent lacquer
Radiating a serene luster, lacquer ware is an exquisite Chinese craft. As the earliest users, the Chinese have enjoyed its beauty since the Neolithic Age.
Early humans
Peiligang culture begins in ancient China
The Peiligang culture is the name given by archaeologists to a group of Neolithic communities in the Yi-Luo river basin in Henan Province, China.
Rice begins to be domesticated in modern-day central China
By about 5,000 B.C.E., domesticated japonica is found throughout the Yangtse valley, including large amounts of rice kernels at such sites as TongZian Luojiajiao (7100 BP) and Hemuda (7000 BP).
The Jiahu symbols of the Peiligang culture in China are created
A 2003 report in Antiquity interpreted them “not as writing itself, but as features of a lengthy period of sign-use which led eventually to a fully-fledged system of writing.
Humans in northern China invent mead
Mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops.
Humans create “Cave of the Hands” in modern-day Argentina
An important site of prehistoric art in southern Argentina, Cueva de las Manos is a rock shelter which is famous for its collages of hand stencils and other handprints.
Humans of ancient Brazil independently invent pottery
The earliest pottery ever found in the Western Hemisphere, radiocarbon-dated 8,000 years old, has been excavated in the Amazon basin of Brazil, near Santarém, providing evidence to overturn the assumption that the tropical forest region was too poor in resources to have supported a complex prehistoric culture.
Capsian culture flourishes in modern-day Tunisia
The Capsian culture was a Mesolithic and Neolithic culture centered in the Maghreb that lasted from about 8,000 to 2,700 B.C.E.
Humans begin living in large villages, perhaps in modern-day Turkey
Archaeologists have long debated what caused the Neolithic Revolution, when prehistoric human beings gave up the nomadic life, founded villages and began to farm the land.
Humans begin cultivating yams in West Africa
People started to cultivate yams, rather than digging up wild ones, as long as 10,000 years ago in both Africa and Asia, and some time later in the New World.