Editing Timeline of historic inventions (section)

===Lower Paleolithic===
The Lower Paleolithic period lasted over 3 million years, during which there many human-like species [[Human evolution|evolved]] including toward the end of this period, ''Homo sapiens''. The original divergence between humans and [[chimpanzees]] occurred 13 ([[Year#SI prefix multipliers|Mya]]), however interbreeding continued until as recently as 4 Ma, with the first species clearly belonging to the human (and not chimpanzee) lineage being ''[[Australopithecus anamensis]]''.  Some species are controversial among paleoanthropologists, who disagree whether they are species on their own or not. Here [[Homo ergaster]] is included under [[Homo erectus]], while [[Homo rhodesiensis]] is included under [[Homo heidelbergensis]].

During this period the [[Quaternary glaciation]] began (about 2.58 million years ago), and continues to today. It has been an [[ice age]], with [[Timeline of glaciation|cycles of 40–100,000 years]] alternating between long, cold, more glaciated periods, and shorter warmer periods – [[interglacial]] episodes.

* '''3.3 Mya – 2.6 Mya:''' [[Stone tool]]s - found in modern-day [[Kenya]] are older and only found on the archetype road. Ancient stone tools from [[Ethiopia]] ([[Oldowan]]) were hand-crafted by [[Australopithecus]] or related people.<ref name="de Heinzelin">{{cite journal | last1 = De Heinzelin | first1 = J | last2 = Clark | first2 = JD | last3 = White | first3 = T | last4 = Hart | first4 = W | last5 = Renne | first5 = P | last6 = Woldegabriel | first6 = G | last7 = Beyene | first7 = Y | last8 = Vrba | first8 = E | title = Environment and behavior of 2.5-million-year-old Bouri hominids | journal = Science | volume = 284 | issue = 5414 | pages = 625–9 | year = 1999 | pmid = 10213682 | doi=10.1126/science.284.5414.625| bibcode = 1999Sci...284..625D}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last1=Toth | first1=Nicholas | last2=Schick | first2=Kathy |year=2009 | contribution=African Origins | title=The Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies | edition=2nd | editor-first=Chris | editor-last=Scarre | location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson | pages=67–68}}</ref>{{explain|date=October 2023}}
* '''2.3 Mya:''' Earliest likely [[Control of fire by early humans|control of fire]] and [[cooking]], by ''[[Homo habilis]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/06/invention-of-cooking-drove-evolution-of-the-human-species-new-book-argues/|title=Invention of cooking drove evolution of the human species, new book argues|date=1 June 2009|website=harvard.edu|access-date=26 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="Miller">{{Cite web|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/09-archaeologists-find-earliest-evidence-of-humans-cooking-with-fire|title=Until the Wonderwerk Cave find, Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, a lakeside site in , was considered to have the oldest generally accepted evidence of human-controlled fire.}}</ref><ref name="James">{{cite journal|last=James|first=Steven R.|date=February 1989|title=Hominid Use of Fire in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene: A Review of the Evidence|journal=Current Anthropology|url=http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/archaeology/Publications/Hearths/Hominid%20Use%20of%20Fire%20in%20the%20Lower%20and%20Middle%20Pleistocene.pdf|volume=30|issue=1|pages=1–26|publisher=University of Chicago Press|doi=10.1086/203705|s2cid=146473957|access-date=4 April 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212084645/http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/archaeology/Publications/Hearths/Hominid%20Use%20of%20Fire%20in%20the%20Lower%20and%20Middle%20Pleistocene.pdf|archive-date=12 December 2015}}</ref>
* '''1.76 Mya:''' Advanced ([[Acheulean]]) stone tools in [[Kenya]] by ''[[Homo erectus]]''<ref>[http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2839 "Anthropologists have yet to find an Acheulian hand axe gripped in a ''Homo erectus'' fist but most credit ''Homo erectus'' with developing the technology."]</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=An earlier origin for the Acheulian|first1=Christopher J.|last1=Lepre|first2=Hélène|last2=Roche|first3=Dennis V.|last3=Kent|first4=Sonia|last4=Harmand|first5=Rhonda L.|last5=Quinn|first6=Jean-Philippe|last6=Brugal|first7=Pierre-Jean|last7=Texier|first8=Arnaud|last8=Lenoble|first9=Craig S.|last9=Feibel|journal=Nature|volume=477|issue=7362|pages=82–85|doi=10.1038/nature10372|pmid=21886161|bibcode=2011Natur.477...82L|year=2011|s2cid=4419567}}</ref>
* '''1.75 Mya – 150 kya:''' Varying estimates for the [[origin of language]]<ref name="Uomini e72693">{{Cite journal |last1=Uomini |first1=Natalie Thaïs |last2=Meyer |first2=Georg Friedrich |date=2013-08-30 |editor-last=Petraglia |editor-first=Michael D. |title=Shared Brain Lateralization Patterns in Language and Acheulean Stone Tool Production: A Functional Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound Study |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=8 |issue=8 |pages=e72693 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0072693 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=3758346 |pmid=24023634|bibcode=2013PLoSO...872693U |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Perreault 2012">{{Cite journal |last1 = Perreault | first1 = C. | last2 = Mathew | first2 = S. | title = Dating the origin of language using phonemic diversity | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | issue = 4 | pages = e35289 | year = 2012 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0035289 | pmid = 22558135 | pmc = 3338724| bibcode = 2012PLoSO...735289P| doi-access = free }}</ref>
* '''1.5 Mya:''' [[Bone tool]]s in Africa by ''[[Homo erectus]]'' and/or ''[[Paranthropus boisei]]''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/human-ancestors-oldest-bone-tools | title=Human ancestors made the oldest known bone tools 1.5 million years ago | date=5 March 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1038/s41586-025-08652-5 | title=Systematic bone tool production at 1.5 million years ago | date=2025 | last1=de la Torre | first1=Ignacio | last2=Doyon | first2=Luc | last3=Benito-Calvo | first3=Alfonso | last4=Mora | first4=Rafael | last5=Mwakyoma | first5=Ipyana | last6=Njau | first6=Jackson K. | last7=Peters | first7=Renata F. | last8=Theodoropoulou | first8=Angeliki | last9=d'Errico | first9=Francesco | journal=Nature | volume=640 | issue=8057 | pages=130–134 | pmid=40044851 | pmc=11964934 | bibcode=2025Natur.640..130D }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://humanorigins.si.edu/early-humans-make-bone-tools|title= Early humans make bone tools|author= <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|website= Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program|date= 17 February 2010|access-date= 3 March 2020|archive-date= 26 November 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201126123811/https://humanorigins.si.edu/early-humans-make-bone-tools|url-status= dead}}</ref>
* '''900 kya – 40 kya:''' [[Boat]]s<ref name="Plakias2010" >{{cite web
 | title = Plakias Survey Finds Mesolithic and Palaeolithic Artifacts on Crete
 | publisher = www.ascsa.edu.gr
 | url = http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/index.php/news/newsDetails/plakias-survey-finds-stone-age-tools-on-crete/
 | access-date = 28 October 2011
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rose |first=Mark |date=1998 |title=First Mariners - Archaeology Magazine Archive |url=https://archive.archaeology.org/9805/newsbriefs/mariners.html |access-date=2013-11-16 |website=archive.archaeology.org}}</ref>
* '''500 kya:''' [[Hafting]] in South Africa by ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]''<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wilkins|first=J.|author2=Schoville, B. J. |author3=Brown, K. S. |author4= Chazan, M. |title=Evidence for Early Hafted Hunting Technology|journal=Science|date=15 November 2012|volume=338|series=6109|issue=6109|pages=942–946|doi=10.1126/science.1227608|pmid=23161998 |bibcode=2012Sci...338..942W|s2cid=206544031}}</ref>
* '''500 kya – 450 kya:''' [[Woodworking]] construction in [[Zambia]] by ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]''<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Barham | first1 = L. | last2 = Duller | first2 = G.A.T. | last3 = Candy | first3 = I. | display-authors=etal | year = 2023 | title = Evidence for the earliest structural use of wood at least 476,000 years ago | journal = Nature | volume = 622 | issue = 7981 | pages = 107–111 | doi = 10.1038/s41586-023-06557-9| doi-access = free | pmid = 37730994 | pmc = 10550827 | bibcode = 2023Natur.622..107B | hdl = 10400.1/20204 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> (The [[List of oldest extant buildings|oldest known surviving buildings]] are made from stone and date back no more than 9,500 years.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clare |first=Lee |year=2020 |title=Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. A brief summary of research at a new World Heritage Site (2015–2019) |journal=E-Forschungsberichte |publisher=[[Deutsches Archäologisches Institut]] |volume=2020 |issue=2 |pages=81–88 |doi=10.34780/efb.v0i2.1012}}</ref>)
* '''420 – 200 kya:''' [[Food storage]] in the form of uncracked bones saved for their marrow in [[Qesem cave]], Israel.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1126/sciadv.aav9822 | title=Bone marrow storage and delayed consumption at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel (420 to 200 ka) | date=2019 | last1=Blasco | first1=R. | last2=Rosell | first2=J. | last3=Arilla | first3=M. | last4=Margalida | first4=A. | last5=Villalba | first5=D. | last6=Gopher | first6=A. | last7=Barkai | first7=R. | journal=Science Advances | volume=5 | issue=10 | pages=eaav9822 | pmid=31633015 | pmc=6785254 | bibcode=2019SciA....5.9822B }}</ref>
* '''400 kya:''' [[Pigment]]s in Zambia by ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/733747.stm|title=BBC News – SCI/TECH – Earliest evidence of art found|website=BBC News|access-date=26 March 2018}}</ref>
* '''337 kya – 300 kya:''' [[Schöningen spears|Schöningen]] [[Spear]]s in [[Germany]]<ref>Kouwenhoven, Arlette P., [http://www.archaeology.org/9705/newsbriefs/spears.html World's Oldest Spears]</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Richter | first1 = D. | last2 = Krbetschek | first2 = M. | year = 2015 | title = The age of the Lower Paleolithic occupation at Schöningen | journal = Journal of Human Evolution | volume = 89 | pages = 46–56 | doi = 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.06.003 | pmid = 26212768 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2015JHumE..89...46R }}</ref><ref>Richter, D. and M. Krbetschek. 2015: The age of the Lower Paleolithic occupation at Schöningen. Journal of Human Evolution 89, 46-56.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/homo-heidelbergensis-neue-wurfwaffe-aus-der-steinzeit-entdeckt-a-8c0454ed-2c82-448c-b0fa-c38e60eea69c |title=  Vogelkiller aus der Steinzeit  | publisher= SPIEGEL Akademie  | date= April 20, 2020 | author=Guido Kleinhubbert}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hutson |first1=Jarod M. |last2=Villaluenga |first2=Aritza |last3=García-Moreno |first3=Alejandro |last4=Turner |first4=Elaine |last5=Gaudzinski-Windheuser |first5=Sabine |date=November 2024 |title=Persistent predators: Zooarchaeological evidence for specialized horse hunting at Schöningen 13II-4 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=196 |pages=103590 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103590|doi-access=free |pmid=39357283 |bibcode=2024JHumE.19603590H }}</ref> likely by ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'' or early Neandarthals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Roebroeks|first1=Wil|last2=Soressi|first2=Marie|date=2016-06-07|title=Neandertals revised|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=113|issue=23|pages=6372–6379|doi=10.1073/pnas.1521269113|pmc=4988603|pmid=27274044|bibcode=2016PNAS..113.6372R |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Conard|first1=Nicholas J.|last2=Serangeli|first2=Jordi|last3=Böhner|first3=Utz|last4=Starkovich|first4=Britt M.|last5=Miller|first5=Christopher E.|last6=Urban|first6=Brigitte|last7=Van Kolfschoten|first7=Thijs|date=December 2015|title=Excavations at Schöningen and paradigm shifts in human evolution|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248415002432|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|language=en|volume=89|pages=1–17|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.003|pmid=26653207|bibcode=2015JHumE..89....1C |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* '''320 kya:''' The [[trade]] and long-distance (up to 50 miles) [[transportation]] of resources (e.g. obsidian), use of pigments, and possible making of projectile points in Kenya<ref name="NPR-593591796">{{cite news |last=Chatterjee |first=Rhitu |author-link=Rhitu Chatterjee |title=Scientists Are Amazed By Stone Age Tools They Dug Up In Kenya |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/03/15/593591796/scientists-are-amazed-by-stone-age-tools-they-dug-up-in-kenya |date=15 March 2018 |work=[[NPR]] |access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="The Atlantic-555674">{{cite news |last=Yong |first=Ed |author-link=Ed Yong |title=A Cultural Leap at the Dawn of Humanity - New finds from Kenya suggest that humans used long-distance trade networks, sophisticated tools, and symbolic pigments right from the dawn of our species. |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/03/a-deeper-origin-of-complex-human-cultures/555674/ |date=15 March 2018 |work=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=15 March 2018}}</ref><ref name="Brooks">{{Cite journal|title=Long-distance stone transport and pigment use in the earliest Middle Stone Age|journal=Science|volume=360|issue=6384|pages=90–94|year=2018|doi = 10.1126/science.aao2646|pmid=29545508|vauthors=Brooks AS, Yellen JE, Potts R, Behrensmeyer AK, Deino AL, Leslie DE, Ambrose SH, Ferguson JR, d'Errico F, Zipkin AM, Whittaker S, Post J, Veatch EG, Foecke K, Clark JB|bibcode=2018Sci...360...90B|doi-access=free}}</ref>