Timeline

Prehistoric Migrations

10,000 – 1,000 BCE · 6 events

The end of the Ice Age triggered a revolution in human society: farming emerged independently in the Levant, China, and the Americas, and farming populations then expanded outward, replacing or absorbing hunter-gatherers across vast territories. The Yamnaya pastoralists of the Pontic-Caspian steppe delivered Indo-European languages to Europe and South Asia in one of prehistory's most consequential migrations, while Austronesian sailors began their extraordinary colonisation of the Pacific from Taiwan.

Dates are approximate. Ranges reflect current scientific consensus and are subject to revision as new evidence emerges.