6th millennium BC

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Events

• c. 6000 BC: The entire 6th Millennium was a part of the Holocene climatic optimum
  Holocene climatic optimum
  
  The Holocene Climate Optimum was a warm period during roughly the interval 9,000 to 5,000 years Before Present. This event has also been known by many other names, including: Hypsithermal, Altithermal, Climatic Optimum, Holocene Optimum, Holocene Thermal Maximum, and Holocene Megathermal....
   (so were the 4th
  4th millennium BC
  
  The 4th millennium BC saw major changes in human culture. It marks the beginning of the Bronze Age and of writing.The city states of Sumer and the kingdom of Ancient Egypt are established and grow to prominence....
  , 5th
  5th millennium BC
  
  The 5th millennium BC saw the spread of agriculture from the Near East throughout southern and central Europe.Urban cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia flourish, developing the wheel....
  , and 7th
  7th millennium BC
  
  During the 7th Millennium BC, agriculture spreads from Anatolia to the Balkans.World population is essentially stable at around 5 million people, living mostly widely scattered across the globe in small hunting-gathering tribes....
   Millennia). This was a warm period also known as the Atlantic period
  Atlantic (period)
  
  The Atlantic in palaeoclimatology was the warmest and moistest Blytt-Sernander period, pollen zone and chronozone of Holocene north Europe. The climate was generally warmer than today....
  . This period was characterized by minimal glaciation and high sea levels. (McEvedy)
• c. 6000 BC: The Copper Age
  Copper Age
  
  The Chalcolithic period or Copper Age period [also known as the Eneolithic ], is a phase in the development of human culture in which the use of early metal tools appeared alongside the use of stone tools....
   comes to the Fertile Crescent
  Fertile Crescent
  
  The Fertile Crescent is a region in the Near East, incorporating the Levant and Mesopotamia, and often extended to Lower Egypt. Mesopotamia is considered the Cradle of civilization and saw the development of the earliest human civilizations and is the History_of_writing#Bronze_Age_writing and Wheel#History....
  . (Roux 1980) First use of copper
  Copper
  
  Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
   in Middle East. (Bailey 1973)
• c. 6000 BC: Fully Neolithic
  Neolithic
  
  The Neolithic period was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 Before the Christian Era in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age....
   agriculture
  Agriculture
  
  Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
   has spread through Anatolia
  Anatolia
  
  Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast....
   to the Balkans
  Balkans
  
  The Balkans is the historical name of a geographic subregion of southeastern Europe. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains, which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia....
  . (1967 McEvedy)
• c. 6000 BC: Beginning of Neolithic
  Neolithic
  
  The Neolithic period was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 Before the Christian Era in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age....
   Yangshao culture
  Yangshao culture
  
  The Yangshao culture was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the central Yellow River in China. The Yangshao culture is dated from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC....
   in south-central China
  China
  
  China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
   . Somewhere in this expanse of time, they invent the earliest pictographs of Chinese writing. (Atlas of China, 1983)
• c. 6000 BC: Equids disappear from the Americas
  Americas
  
  The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
  .
• c. 6000 BC: Junglefowl
  Junglefowl
  
  Junglefowl are the four living species of bird from the genus Gallus in the pheasant family, which occur in India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia....
   kept in India.
• c. 6000 BC: Female figurines holding serpents are fashioned on Crete
  Crete
  
  Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
   and may have been associated with water, regenerative power and protection of the home.
• c. 5900 BC: Prehistoric Vinca culture
  Vinca culture
  
  The Vinca culture was an early culture of Europe , stretching around the course of Danube in what today is Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Republic of Macedonia, although traces of it can be found all around the Balkans, parts of Central Europe and Asia Minor....
   emerges on the shores of lower Danube
  Danube
  
  The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
  
• c. 5800 BC: Beginning of the Dadiwan culture
  Dadiwan culture
  
  The Dadiwan culture was a Neolithic culture found primarily in Gansu and western Shaanxi, China. The culture takes its name from the earliest layer found at the type site at Dadiwan....
   in China
  China
  
  China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
  .
• c. 5800 BC: The Hassuna Period in Mesopotamia
  Mesopotamia
  
  Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
   , with the earliest version of stamp seal
  Stamp seal
  
  The stamp seal is a carved object, usually stone, first made in the 4th millennium BC, and probably earlier. They were used to impress their picture or inscription into soft, prepared clay....
  s. (Roux 1980)
• c. 5760 BC: The volcano
  Volcano
  
  A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
   Puy-de-Dôme
  Puy-de-Dôme (mountain)
  
  Puy-de-D?me is a large lava dome and one of the youngest volcanoes in the Cha?ne des Puys region of Massif Central in south-central France. Curiously, this chain of volcanoes including numerous cinder cones, lava domes, and maars is located far from the edge of any tectonic plate....
   in France
  France
  
  France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
   erupts.
• c. 5677 BC: Cataclysmic volcanic explosion of high Mount Mazama
  Mount Mazama
  
  Mount Mazama is a destroyed stratovolcano in the Oregon part of the Cascade Volcanoes and the Cascade Range. The volcano's collapsed caldera holds Crater Lake, and the entire mountain is located within Crater Lake National Park....
   creates Oregon
  Oregon
  
  Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
  's Crater Lake
  Crater Lake
  
  Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and famous for its deep blue color and water clarity....
   when the resulting caldera fills with water. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index
  Volcanic Explosivity Index
  
  The Volcanic Explosivity Index was devised by Christopher G. Newhall of the U.S. Geological Survey and Stephen Self at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1982 to provide a relative measure of the explosiveness of volcano eruptions....
   of 7, it remains the largest single Holocene eruption in history of the Cascade Range
  Cascade Range
  
  The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California....
  .
• c. 5600 BC: Beginning of the desertification of North Africa
  North Africa
  
  North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
  , which ultimately lead to the creation of the Sahara
  Sahara
  
  The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometers , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe....
   desert. It's possible this process pushed some natives into migrating to the region of the Nile
  Nile
  
  The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the List of rivers by length in the world.The Nile has two major tributary, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and silt, but the former being the longer of the two....
   in the east, thereby laying the groundwork for the rise of Egyptian
  Ancient Egypt
  
  Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
   civilization.
• c. 5600 BC: The Red Paint People
  Red Paint People
  
  The Red Paint People are a Pre-Columbian culture indigenous to the New England and Atlantic Canada regions of North America. They were named after their burials, which used large quantities of ochre, normally red, to cover both bodies and grave goods....
   become established in the region from present-day Labrador
  Labrador
  
  Labrador is a region of Atlantic Canada. Together with the island of Newfoundland from which it is separated by the Strait of Belle Isle, it constitutes the province of Newfoundland and Labrador....
   to New York
  New York
  
  The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
   state.
• 5509 BC: The Byzantine calendar
  Byzantine calendar
  
  The Byzantine calendar was the calendar officially used by the Byzantine Empire from 988 by Basil II until it was conquered in 1453. It was identical to the Julian calendar except that the names of the months were transcribed from Latin into Greek language, the first day of the year was 1 September, and its year one was 6th millennium BC, th...
   dates creation
  Creation according to Genesis
  
  Creation according to Genesis is the creation myth found in the Hebrew Bible, . It describes the making of the Firmament and the Earth and of the first humans by God in Abrahamic religions ....
   to 1 September of this year.
• c. 5500 BC: Beginning of the Xinle culture
  Xinle culture
  
  The Xinle Civilization was a Neolithic culture in northeast China, found primarily around the lower Liao River on the Liaodong Peninsula in Liaoning....
   in China.
• c. 5500 BC: Agriculture
  Agriculture
  
  Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
   started in Ancient Egypt
  Ancient Egypt
  
  Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
  .
• c. 5500 BC: Predynastic period (Neolithic) starts in Ancient Egypt (other date is 4350 BC).
• c. 5450 BC: Volcano
  Volcano
  
  A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
   Hekla
  Hekla
  
  Hekla is a stratovolcano located in the south of Iceland with a height of . Hekla is Iceland's most active volcano; over 20 eruptions have occurred in and around the volcano since 874....
   eruption.
• c. 5400 BC: Beginning of the Zhaobaogou culture
  Zhaobaogou culture
  
  The Zhaobaogou culture was a Neolithic culture in northeast China, found primarily in the Luan River valley in Inner Mongolia and northern Hebei....
   in China.
• c. 5400 BC: Irrigation
  Irrigation
  
  Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops. In crop production it is mainly used in dry areas and in periods of rainfall shortfalls, but also to protect plants against frost....
   and the beginning of the Sumer
  Sumer
  
  Sumer was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern Iraq , known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period through the Uruk period and the Dynastic periods until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC....
  ian civilization in Southern Iraq
  Iraq
  
  Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
  .
• c. 5400 BC: Watson Brake
  Watson Brake
  
  Watson Brake is an arrangement of human-made mounds located in the floodplain of the Ouachita River near Monroe, Louisiana in northern Louisiana, United States....
   mound complex constructed in present-day Louisiana. (Correction: 5400 BP, or 3400 BC)
• c. 5300 BC: Beginning of the Beixin culture
  Beixin culture
  
  The Beixin culture was a Neolithic culture in Shandong, China. 50 sites from the culture have been discovered. The culture showed evidence of millet cultivation and domestic buffalo domestication....
   in China.
• c. 5200 BC: Beginning of human inhabitation and settlements in Malta
  Malta
  
  Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
  .
• c. 5000 BC: Beginning of the Hemudu culture
  Hemudu culture
  
  The Hemudu culture was a Neolithic culture that flourished just south of the Hangzhou Bay in Jiangnan in modern Yuyao, Zhejiang, China. The site at Hemudu was discovered in 1973....
   in China.
• c. 5000 BC: Beginning of the Daxi culture
  Daxi culture
  
  The Daxi culture was a Neolithic culture centered in the Three Gorges region, around the middle Yangtze River, China. The culture ranged from western Hubei to eastern Sichuan and the Pearl River Delta....
   in China.
• c. 5000 BC: Beginning of the Majiabang culture
  Majiabang culture
  
  The Majiabang culture was a Neolithic culture that existed at the mouth of the Yangtze River, primarily around the Lake Tai area and north of Hangzhou Bay in China....
   in China.
• c. 5000 BC: Beginning of the Yangshao culture
  Yangshao culture
  
  The Yangshao culture was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the central Yellow River in China. The Yangshao culture is dated from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC....
   in China.
• c. 5000 BC: Farming reached central and north Europe
  Europe
  
  Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
  .

Environmental changes

• c. 7000 BC: Beginning the Holocene climatic optimum
  Holocene climatic optimum
  
  The Holocene Climate Optimum was a warm period during roughly the interval 9,000 to 5,000 years Before Present. This event has also been known by many other names, including: Hypsithermal, Altithermal, Climatic Optimum, Holocene Optimum, Holocene Thermal Maximum, and Holocene Megathermal....
  .
• c. 6000 BC - The land bridge connecting England
  England
  
  native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
   with the rest of Europe
  Europe
  
  Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
   disappears beneath the waters of the North Sea
  North Sea
  
  The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
   and the English Channel
  English Channel
  
  The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
  .
• c. 5600 BC: According to the Black Sea deluge theory
  Black Sea deluge theory
  
  The Black Sea deluge is a hypothesized prehistoric flood that occurred when the Black Sea filled rapidly circa 5600 BC. The hypothesis made headlines when The New York Times published it in December 1996....
  , the Black Sea
  Black Sea
  
  The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
   floods with salt water. Some 3000 cubic miles (12,500 km³) of salt water is added, significantly expanding it and transforming it from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water sea.

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• c. 6000 BC: Cycladic people started to use a coarse
  Coarse
  
  Coarse may refer to:*Bosanski O?trodlaki Gonic, developed by 19th century Bosnian hunters as a scent hound.*Coarse bubble diffusers, produce 1/4 to 1/2 inch bubbles which rise rapidly from the floor of a wastewater treatment plant or sewage treatment plant tank....
  , poor-quality local clay to make a variety of objects.
• c. 6000 BC: Brick
  Brick
  
  A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using mortar ....
   building was taking place at Çatalhöyük
  Çatalhöyük
  
  ?atalh?y?k was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, c 7500-5700 BCE. It is the largest and best preserved Neolithic site found to date....
  , Turkey
  Turkey
  
  Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
  .
• Agriculture
  Agriculture
  
  Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
   appears in the valley of the Nile
  Nile
  
  The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the List of rivers by length in the world.The Nile has two major tributary, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and silt, but the former being the longer of the two....
  .
• Rice
  Rice
  
  Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
   cultivated in Asia
  Asia
  
  Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
  .
• Plough
  Plough
  
  The plough is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture....
   invented.
• c. 6000–5000 BC: Wine
  Wine
  
  Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
   is created for the first time in Persia.
• c. 5000 BC: Agriculture began in the Americas perhaps this early, in complete isolation from the Old World.
• Artifacts of stone were supplemented by those of metal, and the crafts of basketry, pottery, weaving (Africa
  Africa
  
  Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
  ).
• Dead were buried in a fetal position, surrounded by the burial offerings and artifacts, facing west (Africa
  Africa
  
  Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
  ).
• Decorated, black-topped clay pots and vases; bone and ivory combs, figurines, and tableware, are found in great numbers (Africa
  Africa
  
  Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
  ).
• Jewelry of all types and materials (Africa
  Africa
  
  Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
  ).
• Objects began to be made not only with a function, but also with an aesthetic value. (Africa
  Africa
  
  Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
  )
• Organized, permanent settlements focused around agriculture. (Africa
  Africa
  
  Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
  )

Cultural landmarks

• 'c. 5700 BC: Samarran Culture
  Samarra
  
  Samarra is a city in Iraq.It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah al-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
   at Mesopotamia
  Mesopotamia
  
  Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
   (present day Iraq
  Iraq
  
  Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
  ) begins (c. 5700–4900 BC C-14
  Radiocarbon dating
  
  Radiocarbon dating, or carbon dating, is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 60,000 years....
  , 6640–5816 BC ).
• c. 5500 BC: pottery
  Pottery
  
  Pottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. Major types of pottery include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries....
   at Mehrgarh
  Mehrgarh
  
  Mehrgarh, one of the most important Neolithic sites in archaeology, lies on what is now the "Kachi plain" of today's Balochistan , Pakistan. It is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia."...
   in current-day Baluchistan
  Balochistan (Pakistan)
  
  Balochistan, or Baluchistan, is a Subdivisions of Pakistan in Pakistan, the largest in the country by geographical area; it is slightly smaller than Norway....
  , Pakistan
  Pakistan
  
  Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
  .
• c. 5100 BC: Temple
  Temple
  
  A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A ??templum?? constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur....
  s founded in South Mesopotamia
  Mesopotamia
  
  Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
  .
• Mediterranean Old European cultures.