A brief introduction to World History with simple questions

When did history start?

History started when the universe came into existence. During the big bang time started, and hence the history.

Question: What happened before the big bang?

What is the big bang?

TBD:

When did humans appear on Earth?

Human-like apes appeared 400,000 years ago.

Modern humans appeared 50,000 years ago.

What happened before the appearance of modern humans?

Read more about Evolution

Why it took so long for modern humans to appear?

Read more about Evolution

What is History and what is Prehistory?

The period before any WRITTEN historical document is called prehistory. This is the period between the first known usage of stone tools till the invention of writing systems.

It is very difficult to know what happened in prehistory because there is no written evidence exists. We need to rely heavily on archeology and science to understand what happened during this time.

What is civilization? and when did civilization start?

Early humans are hunter-gatherers. And they moved as groups. At some point, they started to settle down and start to grow their own food. They also started to domesticate animals.

The rise of agriculture and complex settlements enabled humans to live in an advanced society with better lifestyles, arts, and culture. Thus giving rise to civilizations.

Different civilizations started at different time periods in different geological regions.

In general, ancient civilizations appeared around 4000-3000 BCE.

When did writing systems appear?

Different civilizations came up with writing systems at different time periods. So, every civilization has its own prehistory.

We need to look into the archeological evidence to understand the prehistory of each civilization.

In general, the writing systems appeared around 3000 BCE.

What is the transition from Prehistory to History?

Region	First Human Appearance	Civilizations Started	Writing System Appeared
Africa	2.5 million years ago		Egypt – 3100 BCE
Europe	1.3 million years ago
South East Asia
Asia	1.8 million years ago
Australia
North America
South America

Are the dates mentioned in history papers accurate?

No. Not always. Sometimes these dates are only approximated. If you compare the dates with different sources, you will see many discrepancies.

Science is marching towards more reliable and accurate dating methods. Archeologists are digging continuously, and new findings are coming every day. Every day outdates what we know the previous day, and in some cases, completely turns things upside down, which is the true nature of science.

Hey, wait, why my country, my people, and my culture is not included in any of the historical events?

We must acknowledge that history is often focused on Europe and completely ignores other parts of the world. This does not mean other geographical regions contributed nothing to the development of the modern world or science.

History is often told from the perspective of the historian. History is limited to what the historian knows. Oftentimes, it is hard for one person to master the history of the entire world.

How historical timeline is divided?

The three-age system is proposed in the 18th century by Nicholas Mahudel. Though its commonly accepted, the application of this three-age framework to other ancient civilizations is debatable.

Stone Age: The stone age starts from the beginning of tool use. Stone tools are primarily used in this period

Bronze Age: Bronze is used as the primary metal to make tools and weapons.

Iron Age: Iron is used as the primary metal to make tools and weapons.

Can you provide a detailed breakdown of the timeline?

As science advanced, the timeline is further divided. The below table provides one level of breakdown for each age and important events in that period. The fine-grained breakdown of the timeline is omitted in this article to make it simple.

Name	Division	Important Places	Important Events	Human Species
Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) 2.5 million years-9600BCE (till the last ice age )	Lower Paleolithic (2.5 million years – 300,000 years)	The Olduvai Gorge (The cradle of mankind), Chesowanja, Swartkrans Cave Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa	Very earliest tools (Oldowan). Generally accepted evidence of controlled fire usage from Kenya (Chesowanja) and South Africa (Swartkrans Cave).	Astrolopithecines & Hominins
	Middle Paleolithic (300,000 years – 50,000 years)		Evidence of fire usage. Development of modern language capacity. Burial of the dead. Music. Art. Multi Part tools. First “Out of Africa Migration”.	Modern Humans
	Upper Paleolithic (50,000 years – 12,000)	Second “Out of Africa” Migration.		Extinction of Neanderthals
Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) 9600BCE to ~7000BCE (Ice Age to Farming)			Use of flint tools, wooden objects (canoes, bows)
New Stone Age (Neolithic) ~9000BCE to ~4000 BCE (Farming to Copper Age)		Goebekli tepe, Catalhoyuk, Skara Brae, Jericho, Stonehenge, Ggantija	Domestrication of crops and animals, Adoption of Agriculture (Maize & Rice), Development of Pottery, Polished stone tools (Grinding, Cutting, Copping), Complex & larger settlements, Probable usage of wool and linen
Copper Age (4500–3300 BC)		Timna Valley	Use of metals, primarily Copper
Bronze Age (3300-1200 BC)			Advanced use of metals, like Brozne, tin. Smelting. Development of writing. Rise of Empires

What is the rationale behind the three-age system?

Nicholas Mahudel excavated multi-period burial mounds in the 16th century. He observed Iron tools at the top layers and bronze tools at the deeper layers. So he deduced that stone tools are used naturally, then bronze tools, and then iron tools are used by humans.

Does the three-age system applicable to all geographical regions and are the dates the same?

No. Different geographical regions went through these ages at different times.

Some regions started the new age. Then other regions adopted them.

Sometimes, some regions skipped a few ages completely.

What is Copper?

What is the Bronze Age?

Before the Bronze Age, people were using Copper. Bronze Age started around 3300 BCE.

When adding 10-12% of Tin to Copper produced a stronger material than Copper and it is called Bronze. Compared to Copper, Bronze is much harder, more durable, and corrosion-resistant.

People in the Bronze Age produced, traded, or used Bronze.