Editing Timeline of historic inventions (section)

===Upper Paleolithic to Early Mesolithic===
50 kya was long regarded as the beginning of [[behavioral modernity]], which defined the Upper Paleolithic period. The Upper Paleolithic lasted nearly 40,000 years, while research continues to push the beginnings of behavioral modernity earlier into the Middle Paleolithic. Behavioral modernity is characterized by the widespread observation of religious rites, artistic expression and the appearance of tools made for purely intellectual or artistic pursuits.
* '''49 kya – 30 kya:''' [[Ground stone]] tools – fragments of an axe in Australia date to 49–45 ka, more appear in Japan closer to 30 ka, and elsewhere closer to the Neolithic.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-05-11/worlds-oldest-known-ground-edge-stone-axe-fragments-found/7401728|title=World's oldest known ground-edge stone axe fragments found in WA|date=11 May 2016|newspaper=ABC News|access-date=3 April 2018}}</ref><ref>"Prehistoric Japan, New perspectives on insular East Asia", Keiji Imamura, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, {{ISBN|0-8248-1853-9}}</ref>
* '''47 kya:''' The oldest-known mines in the world are from Eswatini, and extracted hematite for the production of the red pigment [[ochre]].<ref>Swaziland Natural Trust Commission, "Cultural Resources – Malolotja Archaeology, Lion Cavern", Retrieved 27 August 2007, {{cite web|url=http://www.sntc.org.sz/cultural/malarch.asp |title=Swaziland National Trust Commission – Cultural Resources – Malolotja Archaeology, Lion Cavern |access-date=5 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221001/http://www.sntc.org.sz/cultural/malarch.asp |archive-date=3 March 2016}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web | publisher=Peace Parks Foundation | title=Major Features: Cultural Importance | url=http://www.peaceparks.org/story.php?mid=168&pid=148 | access-date=2024-08-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207102130/http://www.peaceparks.org/story.php?mid=168&pid=148 | archive-date=2008-12-07}}</ref>
* '''45 kya – 9 kya:''' Earliest evidence of [[shoe]]s, suggested by changes in foot bone morphology in China by [[Tianyuan man]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2007.12.002 |title=Anatomical evidence for the antiquity of human footwear: Tianyuan and Sunghir |year=2008 |last1=Trinkaus |first1=Erik |last2=Shang |first2=Hong |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |volume=35 |issue=7 |pages=1928–1933 |bibcode=2008JArSc..35.1928T }}</ref> The earliest physical shoes found so far are bark [[sandal]]s dated to 10 to 9 kya in [[Fort Rock Cave]], [[United States]].<ref name="Connolly_Tom">{{cite web|last=Connolly|first=Tom|title=The World's Oldest Shoes|url=http://pages.uoregon.edu/connolly/FRsandals.htm|publisher=[[University of Oregon]]|access-date=22 July 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722013744/http://pages.uoregon.edu/connolly/FRsandals.htm|archive-date=22 July 2012}}</ref> The oldest known leather shoe dated to 5.5 kya was found in excellent condition in the [[Areni-1 cave]] located in the [[Vayots Dzor]] province of [[Armenia]].<ref name="National Geographic">{{cite news |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/06/09/worlds-oldest-leather-shoe-found-in-armenia-2/ |title=World's Oldest Leather Shoe Found—Stunningly Preserved |last=Dindar |first=Shereen |work=National Post |location=Canada  |date=June 9, 2010 |access-date=June 11, 2010}}</ref>
* '''44 kya – 42 kya:''' [[Tally stick]]s (see [[Lebombo bone]]) in [[Eswatini]]<ref>It is called a notched bone, illustrated in Fig. 1, ''12'' {{cite journal| title=Early evidence of San material culture represented by organic artifacts from Border Cave, South Africa | doi=10.1073/pnas.1204213109 | pmid=22847420 | volume=109| issue=33 | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences| pages=13214–13219| bibcode=2012PNAS..10913214D| pmc=3421171| year=2012 | last1=d'Errico | first1=F. | last2=Backwell | first2=L. | last3=Villa | first3=P. | last4=Degano | first4=I. | last5=Lucejko | first5=J. J. | last6=Bamford | first6=M. K. | last7=Higham | first7=T. F. G. | last8=Colombini | first8=M. P. | last9=Beaumont | first9=P. B.| doi-access=free }}</ref>
* '''42 kya:''' [[Flute]] in Germany<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-05-24 |title=Earliest music instruments found |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-18196349 |access-date=2023-11-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Higham |first1=Thomas |last2=Basell |first2=Laura |last3=Jacobi |first3=Roger |last4=Wood |first4=Rachel |last5=Ramsey |first5=Christopher Bronk |last6=Conard |first6=Nicholas J. |date=2012-06-01 |title=Τesting models for the beginnings of the Aurignacian and the advent of figurative art and music: The radiocarbon chronology of Geißenklösterle |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248412000425 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=62 |issue=6 |pages=664–676 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.03.003 |pmid=22575323 |bibcode=2012JHumE..62..664H |issn=0047-2484|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* '''37 kya:''' [[Mortar and pestle]] in [[Southwest Asia]]<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/paleo_0153-9345_1991_num_17_1_4537|title=The Origins and development of ground stone assemblages in Late Pleistocene Southwest Asia|first=K.|last=Wright|date=15 March 1991|journal=Paléorient|volume=17|issue=1|pages=19–45|via=www.persee.fr|doi=10.3406/paleo.1991.4537}}</ref>
* '''32-28 kya:''' [[Rope]] and [[String (structure)|Cords]] for "hafting stone tools, weaving [[baskets]], or sewing garments," according to Elis Kvavadze et al.<ref>{{cite journal|title=30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers|first1=Eliso|last1=Kvavadze|first2=Ofer|last2=Bar-Yosef|first3=Anna|last3=Belfer-Cohen|first4=Elisabetta|last4=Boaretto|first5=Nino|last5=Jakeli|first6=Zinovi|last6=Matskevich|first7=Tengiz|last7=Meshveliani|date=11 September 2009|journal=Science|volume=325|issue=5946|pages=1359|doi=10.1126/science.1175404|pmid=19745144|bibcode=2009Sci...325.1359K|s2cid=206520793|url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4270521|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Small|first=Meredith F.|title=String theory: the tradition of spinning raw fibers dates back 28,000 years (At The Museum)|journal=Natural History|volume=111|issue=3|date=April 2002|page=14(2)}}</ref>
* '''31 kya:''' [[Amputation]] and [[surgery]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.science.org/content/article/world-s-oldest-amputation-foot-removed-31-000-years-ago-without-modern-antibiotics-or | title=World's oldest amputation: Foot removed 31,000 years ago—without modern antibiotics or painkillers | first=Michael | last=Price | website=www.science.org | access-date=2024-08-15}}</ref> [[Medicine]] in a meaningful sense likely predates the human-chimpanzee split, as, for example, herbal medicine has been observed in other primates.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68942123 | title=Wounded orangutan seen using plant as medicine | date=2 May 2024 }}</ref>
* '''28 kya:''' [[Ceramics]] (direct evidence) and [[weaving]] (impressions left in the ceramics) in [[Moravia]]<ref>"The occupants used flint knives, made bone tools and modelled in baked clay – on which they left their fingerprints, along with imprints of reindeer hair and textiles." {{cite web|url=http://www.donsmaps.com/dolnivi.html |title=Dolni Vestonice and Pavlov sites |publisher=Donsmaps.com |access-date=26 April 2016}}</ref><ref>"Several imprints of human fingers, animal hair and textile structures were incidentally produced as well" {{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/875886|title=Pavlov VI: an Upper Palaeolithic living unit|last1=Svoboda|first1=Jiří|last2=Králík|first2=Miroslav|last3=Čulíková|first3=Věra|last4=Hladilová|first4=Šárka|last5=Novák|first5=Martin|first6=Miriam|last6=NývltováFišáková|last7=Nývlt|first7=Daniel|last8=Zelinková|first8=Michaela|journal=Antiquity|volume=83|issue=320|pages=282–295|access-date=26 March 2018|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00098434|year=2009|s2cid=56326310|url-access=registration}}</ref> (Czech Republic) and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. (The oldest piece of woven cloth found so far was in Çatalhöyük, Turkey and dated to about 9,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/centuries-old-fabric-found-in-catalhoyuk-61883|title=Centuries-old fabric found in Çatalhöyük|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=4 February 2014 |access-date=26 March 2018}}</ref>)
* '''24 kya:''' [[Venus of Dolní Věstonice|Oldest known ceramic sculpture]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vandiver |first1=Pamela B. |last2=Soffer |first2=Olga |last3=Klima |first3=Bohuslav |last4=Svoboda |first4=JiŘi |date=1989-11-24 |title=The Origins of Ceramic Technology at Dolni Věstonice, Czechoslovakia |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.246.4933.1002 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=246 |issue=4933 |pages=1002–1008 |doi=10.1126/science.246.4933.1002 |pmid=17806391 |bibcode=1989Sci...246.1002V |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* '''23 kya:''' [[Domestication of the dog]] in [[Siberia]].<ref name=Perri2021>{{cite journal|doi=10.1073/pnas.2010083118|title=Dog domestication and the dual dispersal of people and dogs into the Americas|year=2021|last1=Perri|first1=Angela R.|last2=Feuerborn|first2=Tatiana R.|last3=Frantz|first3=Laurent A. F.|last4=Larson|first4=Greger|last5=Malhi|first5=Ripan S.|last6=Meltzer|first6=David J.|last7=Witt|first7=Kelsey E.|journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]]|volume=118|issue=6|pages=e2010083118|pmid=33495362|pmc=8017920|bibcode=2021PNAS..11810083P |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e31cc7b2-7912-47ac-89f5-ebc883f31160|quote=Advances in the isolation and sequencing of ancient DNA [... suggest] that dogs were domesticated in Siberia by ~23,000 y ago, possibly while both people and wolves were isolated during the harsh climate of the Last Glacial Maximum.|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* '''22 – 17 kya''' [[Bullroarer]]<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.02.021 | doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.02.021 | title=A functional investigation of southern Cape Later Stone Age artefacts resembling aerophones | date=2019 | last1=Kumbani | first1=Joshua | last2=Bradfield | first2=Justin | last3=Rusch | first3=Neil | last4=Wurz | first4=Sarah | journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports | volume=24 | pages=693–711 | bibcode=2019JArSR..24..693K | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>"In total, Dauvois describes or illustrates seven likely bullroarers associated with Solutrean and Magdalenian contexts" {{citation|last=Morely|first=Iain|title="The Evolutionary Origins and Archaeology of Music"|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247936496}}</ref><ref>Dauvois, M. (1989) Son et Musique Paléolithiques, Les Dossiers D'Archéologie Vol. 142, p. 2-11.</ref>
* '''22 kya:''' [[Fish hook]] in [[Okinawa Island]], modern day Japan.<ref name="Price2016">{{cite news|author=Michael Price|title=World's oldest fish hook found on Okinawa|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/world-s-oldest-fishhook-found-okinawa|date=16 September 2016|publisher=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|access-date=6 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37402183|title=World's oldest fish hooks found in Japanese island cave|work=BBC News|date=18 September 2016|access-date=18 September 2016}}</ref>
* '''21 – 3.7 kya:''' [[Star chart]] in [[France]],<ref>{{cite arXiv
  | last=Sparavigna | first=Amelia
  | title=The Pleiades: the celestial herd of ancient timekeepers
  | date=October 2008
  | eprint=0810.1592v1
  | class=physics.hist-ph
  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 | first=Jack | last=Lucentini
 | title=Dr. Michael A. Rappenglueck sees maps of the night sky, and images of shamanistic ritual teeming with cosmological meaning
 | publisher=space.
 | url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/cave_paintings_000810.html
 | access-date=29 September 2009}}</ref> and later [[Spain]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/871930.stm|title=BBC News - SCI/TECH - Ice Age star map discovered|website=BBC News|access-date=13 April 2018}}</ref> [[Kashmir]],<ref>{{Cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224170314/https://www.tifr.res.in/~archaeo/papers/Prehistoric%20astronomy/Oldest%20Supernova%20record%20in%20Kashmir.pdf | archive-date=2018-12-24 | url=https://www.tifr.res.in/~archaeo/papers/Prehistoric%20astronomy/Oldest%20Supernova%20record%20in%20Kashmir.pdf | title=Oldest sky-chart with Supernova record}}</ref> Germany,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.landesmuseum-vorgeschichte.de/en/nebra-sky-disc.html |title=Nebra Sky Disc|website=Halle State Museum of Prehistory}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://the-past.com/feature/the-nebra-sky-disc-decoding-a-prehistoric-vision-of-the-cosmos/|title=The Nebra Sky Disc: decoding a prehistoric vision of the cosmos|website=The-Past.com|date=May 2022}}</ref> and Egypt.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last=von Spaeth | first=Ove
 | title=Dating the Oldest Egyptian Star Map
 | journal=Centaurus
 | date=2000 | volume=42
 | issue=3
 | url=http://www.moses-egypt.net/star-map/senmut1-mapdate_en.asp
 | access-date=2007-10-21 | doi=10.1034/j.1600-0498.2000.420301.x|bibcode= 2000Cent...42..159V | pages=159–179| url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* '''20 – 16 kya:''' [[Pottery]] in [[China]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/06/pottery-found-in-from-china-cave-confirmed-as-worlds-oldest/1|title=Pottery found in China cave confirmed as world's oldest|author=Stanglin, Douglas|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=2012-06-29}}</ref><ref name="Science">{{cite journal|title=Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|date=June 29, 2012|volume=336|issue=6089|pages=1696–1700|doi=10.1126/science.1218643|bibcode = 2012Sci...336.1696W|pmid=22745428|last1=Wu|first1=X|last2=Zhang|first2=C|last3=Goldberg|first3=P|last4=Cohen|first4=D|last5=Pan|first5=Y|last6=Arpin|first6=T|last7=Bar-Yosef|first7=O|s2cid=37666548 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/06/chinese_pottery_may_be_earlies.html "Chinese pottery may be earliest discovered"]. [[Associated Press]]. 1 June 2009</ref>
* '''17.5 kya:''' [[Spear-thrower]] (atlatl), found in France.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Peregrine|first1=Peter N.|author-link1=Peter N. Peregrine|first2=Melvin|last2=Ember|author-link2=Melvin Ember|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Prehistory|volume=4|article=Europe|publisher = Springer | year = 2001|isbn = 978-0-306-46258-0|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uOzejz5zUTQC&q=Combe+Sauniere+atlatl&pg=PA349}}</ref>
* '''14.5 kya:''' [[Bread]] in Jordan<ref name="Briggs2018">{{cite web |last1=Briggs |first1=Helen |title=Prehistoric bake-off: Recipe for oldest bread revealed |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44846874 |publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=17 July 2018 |date=17 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="Arranz-Otaegui Gonzalez Carretero Ramsey Fuller p=201801071">{{cite journal | last1=Arranz-Otaegui | first1=Amaia | last2=Gonzalez Carretero | first2=Lara | last3=Ramsey | first3=Monica N. | last4=Fuller | first4=Dorian Q. | last5=Richter | first5=Tobias | title=Archaeobotanical evidence reveals the origins of bread 14,400 years ago in northeastern Jordan | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=115 | issue=31 | pages=7925–7930 | date=16 July 2018 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1801071115 | pmid=30012614 | pmc=6077754| bibcode=2018PNAS..115.7925A | doi-access=free }}</ref>
* '''12 kya:''' [[Spindle whorl]], also the oldest [[wheel]]-like tool, at [[Nahal Ein Gev II]] (Israel)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yashuv |first1=Talia |last2=Grosman |first2=Leore |date=2024-11-13 |title=12,000-year-old spindle whorls and the innovation of wheeled rotational technologies |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=19 |issue=11 |pages=e0312007 |doi= 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007|doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=11559986 |pmid=39536041|bibcode=2024PLoSO..1912007Y }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lesté-Lasserre |first=Christa |date=2024-11-13 |title=12,000-year-old stones may be oldest example of wheel-like tools |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2456238-12000-year-old-stones-may-be-oldest-example-of-wheel-like-tools/ |access-date=2024-11-16 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}</ref>