Human invent tally marks, their first numeral systems
The oldest tally sticks date to between 35,000 and 25,000 years ago, in the form of notched bones found in the context of the European Aurignacian to Gravettian and in Africa’s Late Stone Age.
Early humans
Humans create art for the first time, possibly in Indonesia
The Griffith University professor Maxime Aubert and his team were able to determine that the Sulawesi paintings are, at minimum, 39,900 years old.
Humans in East Timor begin fishing in the open sea
The world’s oldest fish hook has been unearthed at a site in East Timor, alongside evidence that modern humans were catching fish from the open ocean as far back as 42,000 years ago.
Lion-man of the Hohlenstein-Stadel, the first known example of figurative art, is made
The Löwenmensch figurine or Lion-man of the Hohlenstein-Stadel is a prehistoric ivory sculpture that was discovered in the Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave in 1939.
Ritual cremation practiced for first time in modern-day Australia
Known only as Mungo Man, an individual who walked the earth some 42,000 years ago provides us with what is believed to be the earliest example of cremation in human history.
Humans first settle in Siberia
According to the field of genetic genealogy, people first resided in Siberia by 45,000 B.C.E. and spread out east and west to populate Europe and the Americas.
Early humans settle in modern-day Indonesia
Early humans traveled by sea and spread from mainland Asia eastward to New Guinea and Australia. Homo sapiens reached the region by around 45,000 years ago.
Modern humans settle in the Philippines for the first time
The oldest remains of modern humans in the islands, however, is the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to 47,000 ± 11–10,000 years ago. The Tabon man is presumably a Negrito, who were among the archipelago’s earliest inhabitants, descendants of the first human migrations out of Africa.
Humans begin using flutes – perhaps first melodic musical instruments ever – in modern-day Germany
Roughly 42,000 years ago in modern-day Germany, early humans crafted the world’s first known flutes from bird bone and mammoth ivory. This artistic leap reveals profound ancient ingenuity, suggesting our ancestors used melody as a powerful “social glue” to strengthen community bonds and thrive during the harsh Ice Age.