Skip to content
K = 0.731
Homo sapiens and Language（African rock engraving patterns）

AccelerationFour-dimensional view315,000 years ago

315,000 years ago

Homo sapiens and Language

Homo sapiens emerges in Africa; language and social cooperation gradually develop, though people still live as small bands of hunter-gatherers.

Art style · African rock engraving patterns

Origin of Life on EarthDinosaurs and MammalsAI Agents
Arrow keys step through pictures · Wheel to zoom · Drag or click to select time

Civilization metrics

Each sparkline shows the documented history of a metric on a logarithmic time axis. The dot marks the selected moment.

Kardashev index

—

No reliable data yet

World population

—

No reliable data yet · data begins 12,000 years ago

Total human primary energy power

—

No reliable data yet · data begins 12,000 years ago

Compute per dollar

—

No reliable data yet · data begins 1945

Fastest delivery time for a message from London to New York

—

No reliable data yet · data begins 1620

Fastest speed reached by humans

—

No reliable data yet · data begins 302,000 years ago

Near this moment

The eight closest milestones. Select a title to jump there.

  1. 2.9 million years agoHumanity

    The earliest systematic stone-tool tradition, beginning about 2.9 million years ago. Source

  2. 2 million years agoHumanity

    Homo erectus had body proportions close to modern humans and is generally regarded as the first hominin to leave Africa. Source

  3. 1.76 million years agoHumanity

    Symmetrical bifacial hand axes appeared about 1.76 million years ago, as toolmaking turned to deliberate design. Source

  4. 1 million years agoEnergy

    Evidence from Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa shows that the genus Homo was using fire at least about 1 million years ago. Source

  5. 315,000 years agoHumanity

    Early Homo sapiens fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, date to about 315,000 years ago. Source

  6. 60,000 years agoHumanity

    About 70,000 to 50,000 years ago, modern humans spread from Africa across the world. Source

  7. 51,000 years agoCulture

    A cave scene of humans and a wild pig in Sulawesi is at least 51,200 years old. Source

  8. 35,000 years agoCulture

    France's Chauvet Cave holds a wealth of animal paintings, most dating to about 37,000 to 33,500 years ago. Source

Capabilities

Acquired2 / 121 items

Recently acquired

Not yet available

Scenes across eras

Each era illustrated in its own style.

Every timeline entry cites its source. Metrics interpolate logarithmically between sourced data points. Forecasts include institutional and community views, and attributed site scenarios; years are not guaranteed realization dates. Illustrations are AI-generated in each era's style.