The Lapita people discover and settle modern-day Samoa
Samoa was discovered and settled by their Lapita ancestors (Austronesian people speaking Oceanic languages), with New Zealand scientists dating remains in Samoa to about 2900–3500 years ago.
Civilization (3000 B.C.E. - 500 C.E.)
Early humans discover and settle Micronesia
The Northern Marianas were the first islands in Oceania colonized by the Austronesian peoples. It was settled by the voyagers who sailed eastwards from the Philippines at approximately 1500 B.C.E.
Hittites in modern-day Turkey develop iron smelting process, launching the Iron Age
The Iron Age began when iron replaced bronze as the most popular metal used for weapons.
Nok culture flourishes in modern-day Nigeria
The Nok culture is an early Iron Age population whose material remains are named after the Ham village of Nok in Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their famous terracotta sculptures were first discovered by Westerners in 1928.
The Shang Dynasty comes to power in China
The Shang dynasty is the earliest dynasty of traditional Chinese history supported by archaeological evidence.
Hammurabi establishes his code of conduct, one of the first known examples of law and order
The code consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments, adjusting “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” as graded depending on social status, of slave versus free man.
The First Babylonian dynasty comes to power in ancient Mesopotamia
The First Babylonian Empire, or Old Babylonian Empire, is dated to c. 1894 B.C.E. – c. 1595 B.C.E., and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period.
Monagrillo culture emerges in modern-day Panama
Monagrillo is an archaeological site in south-central Panama. It provides the earliest example of ceramics in Central America along with one of the earliest examples of maize agriculture in the region.
Austronesian people arrive in modern-day Indonesia
Austronesian people form the majority of the modern population. They may have arrived in Indonesia around 2000 B.C.E. and are thought to have originated in Taiwan.
Andronovo culture flourishes in western Siberia and the Steppe
The Andronovo culture is a collection of similar local Bronze Age cultures that flourished c. 2000-900 B.C.E. in western Siberia and the central Eurasian Steppe.