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c. 4500 BC |
4000 BC |
3500 BC |
3000 BC |
2500 BC |
2000 BC |
1800 BC |
1600 BC |
1400 BC |
1200 BC |
1000 BC |
800 BC |
600 BC |
400 BC |
200 BC |
100 BC |
50 BC |
0 |
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Africa |
Egypt |
Evidence of organized, permanent settlements
along the Nile focused
around agriculture. ca.
4500–3800 B.C. (Badarian Period) Although most sites of this
period are cemeteries located in the low desert of the Nile valley
proper, the Delta site of Merimde Beni Salama is the largest known in
Egypt from this time. The Nile valley sites located in Middle Egypt in
the vicinity of the modern town of Badari give the period its name. The
numerous Badarian cemeteries reveal a formal burial program that
includes constructing a tomb, positioning the body, and supplying the
deceased with equipment for an afterlife. |
|
Egypt divided into
two
kingdoms; one in the Nile valley, the other in the Delta.
3800–3650 BC (Naqada I)
Occupation increases throughout the Nile valley and cemeteries and
settlements appear in a number of places in the Delta as well. None of
the known sites is very large, although Hierakonpolis far to the south
is the largest population center known. Settlement size and distribution
are primarily understood from the well-known cemeteries of the period,
including those near the modern town of Naqada in Upper Egypt, for which
the period is named. |
ca. 3650–3300 BC (Naqada II)
Substantial change in the social organization of Predynastic society
occurs during this period, identified by the size and arrangement of
settlement and cemetery sites as well as the contents of tombs.
Some members of Naqada II society seem to have access to greater wealth,
allowing them to construct more elaborate tombs with richer contents.
Items signifying high status in later periods begin to appear, again
indicating social differentiation among the population.c. 3300 BC Egyptian
traders come in contact with
Mesopotamia
c.3150 reign of
King
Scopion
c. 3150
first
signs of writing
"Early Dynastic Period"
c. 3050-2650
c. 3050 BC
King
Narmer aka Menes
|
c. 2800-2200 BC Egypt dominates Nubia.
Egypt's purpose is to control trade in raw materials and to exploit the
rich deposits of stone and gold.
Age of the Pyramids
c. 2650 the first pyramid; The "Step Pyramid"
c. 2649–2150 BC (Old
Kingdom, Dynasties 3–6) The Old Kingdom, best known for the
pyramids of Giza and Saqqara, is one of the most dynamic and innovative
periods for Egyptian culture. Not only do the Egyptians master the art of
building in stone, but over a period of 500 years they define the essence
of their art, establishing artistic canons that will last for more than
3,000 years.
|
ca. 2150–2030 BC (First Intermediate
Period, Dynasty 8–mid-Dynasty 11) By the end of the Old Kingdom,
centralized power has weakened. During the First Intermediate Period,
Breakdown of social order; Egypt is ruled
by two competing dynasties, one based at Heracleopolis in the north, the
other based at Thebes in the south
ca. 2030–1640 BC (Middle Kingdom,
mid-Dynasty 11–Dynasty 13) The Theban king
Mentuhotep II
reunites Upper and Lower Egypt, establishing the capital at Thebes and
ushering in the Middle Kingdom.
|
ca. 1981–1802 B.C. (Dynasty 12)
Amenemhat I,
founder of Dynasty 12, moves the capital from Thebes to Itj-tawy in the
north. Egyptians trade extensively with cultures of the eastern
Mediterranean and control Lower Nubia, building a series of forts on
either side of the second cataract of the Nile. |
ca. 1640–1550 BC (Second Intermediate Period,
Dynasties 15–16 in Lower Egypt, Dynasty 17 in Upper Egypt)
During the Second Intermediate Period, Egypt is ruled
once again by competing dynasties. The north is controlled by the Hyksos,
descendants of people from western Asia who had settled in the eastern
Nile Delta. The Hyksos form an alliance with the rulers of Kerma in
Nubia against the Egyptian dynasty based in Thebes. |
c. 1540-1492 Reign of Thutmose I. First King to be
buried in the Valley of the Kings.
c. 1473-1458 Reign of 1st Queen Hatshepsut-
sometimes shown as a man
c. 1450 BC when the Egyptian kings of Dynasty 18
begin a series of campaigns against Upper Nubia. By about 1450 BC, Egypt
controls Nubia as far south as the fourth cataract. Upper and Lower Nubia
become a virtual colony of Egypt, ruled by a viceroy called the "King's
Son of Kush."
|
c. 1323 Death of King Tutankhamun
c. 1352-1336 Reign of Akhenaten
c. 1300 BC Ramses rules-- upon his death the crown went to his son
Sety I. And then to his son Ramses II (possibly the King of Egypt in the
Hebrew Exodus.)
c. 1279-1213 Reign of king Ramses II The last
of the great Egyptian Kings.
c. 1275 BC "Battle of Kadesh" (Oadesh)
between Egypt and the Hittites.
c. 1200 Egypt invaded by the "Sea Peoples"
|
ca. 1070–712 BC (Third Intermediate Period, Dynasties
21–24) This period is a time of competing dynasties and of gradual
fragmentation into yet smaller political units.
ca. 1060 BC Breakdown of the administration leads
to the first recorded strike in the village of Deir el-Medina.
.
|
ca.
743–664 B.C. (Dynasty 25)
The Kushite king Piye (also called Piankhi)
invades Upper Egypt and claims to be king of Upper and Lower Nubia. It
is actually his successor, Shabaqo, who becomes the first true pharaoh
of
Dynasty 25 (ca. 712–664 BC)
and the ruler of all of Egypt and Nubia,
the largest unified state in existence at this time. Kushite rule over
Egypt is brought to an end when the Assyrians conquer Egypt and the last
of the great Kushite pharaohs, Taharqo, is driven from Egypt back to
Napata. Although Taharqo's successor, Tanutamani, reconquers Egypt for a
brief time, Egypt's Kushite dynasty essentially ends with Taharqo's
death.
|
c. 727 The Kushite king Piankhi achieves a
temporary reunification of Egypt. c. 671 Assyrians invade
Memphis the ancient Egyptian capital
c. 664/3 Assyrians reach Thebes and assume
hegemony over Egypt.
|
c. 525 BC Persian armies invade Egypt, defeating King Psamtek III, besieging the capital at Memphis. |
332 BC Invasion by Alexander the Great and the
collapse of Persian rule. 270 BC a priest, Manetho lists the Egyptian
dynasties.
196 BC The Rosetta Stone is inscribed,
providing a key to deciphering the hieroglyphs. |
ca. 332–30 B.C. (Macedonian and
Ptolemaic Periods) Egypt, under Persian rule since 343 BC, is
conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, ushering in the Macedonian
Period. Alexander builds a new capital city, Alexandria, turned outward
toward the Mediterranean and Hellenistic world.
Upon his death in 323 BC, Egyptian rule passes
informally and then formally to one of his generals, Ptolemy, and to
Ptolemy’s descendants. In their wake, settlement of Greek and eastern
Mediterranean peoples in Egypt increases greatly. The Ptolemaic court
itself is emphatically Greek in atmosphere and practice and adopts the
god Sarapis, a Greek version of the Egyptian Osiris-Apris, as a
religious focus. The Ptolemies represent themselves as pharaohs
performing traditional rites and are prolific builders in fully
traditional pharaonic style at many temples. |
|
ca. 1550–1295 B.C.(Dynasty 18)
Although Memphis is the chief administrative center, Thebes,
cult center of the god Amun-Re and home of the dynasty, remains
important as a religious and cultural center. Influenced by the temple
of
Mentuhotep II, Hatshepsut, the
most powerful female ruler of pharaonic history, builds her unique
funerary temple in western Thebes. Akhenaten, ruling near the end of the
dynasty, breaks with tradition by establishing the first monotheistic
religion. The new religion ends with his death.
ca.
1550–1070 B.C. (New Kingdom, Dynasties 18–20)
The Theban king Ahmose I reunites
Egypt, founding Dynasty 18. A series of great warrior kings, in
particular Thutmose III, extend Egyptian influence in western Asia
throughout the Levant to the borders of the Hittite empire. Egypt also
gains control of Nubia as far south as the fourth cataract. Through
military campaigns, trade, diplomatic gifts, and tribute, Egypt attains
a level of wealth previously unknown. This wealth is a catalyst for the
third great flowering of Egyptian culture, marked by royal building
campaigns unequaled since the time of the pyramids |
ca. 712–332 BC (Late Period, Dynasties 25–30)
This period is marked by the repeated threat of foreign
conquest and actual subjugation, and by greater involvement in an
increasingly interrelated world. The Nubians and briefly the Assyrians
invade and rule Egypt between 743 and 664 BC, followed by the
Achaemenid Persians from 525 to 404 BC and again from 343 to
332 BC Somewhat surprisingly, then, the Late Period is an extremely
fruitful time both conceptually and artistically. A good deal of
consolidation and formalization of religious thought lays the foundation
for the highly rationalized system that emerges in the ensuing Ptolemaic
Period. One architectural manifestation is the development of the
mammisi, or birth house, a subordinate temple where the birth of a
juvenile god identified with the sun god and the king is celebrated.
Repeatedly, the rich artistic heritage of two millennia is explored to
create new formulations of royal and religious ideals in statuary and
relief. Other distinctive phenomena include an ongoing interest in
realistic modeling of the features of nonroyal persons and an enormous
growth in the creation of bronze statuary of divinities and divine
animals in connection with new votive practices. |
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4500 BC |
4000 BC |
3500 BC |
3000 BC |
2500 BC |
2000 BC |
1400 BC |
800 BC |
100 BC |
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Sudan |
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|
c. 3700–2800 BC A distinct culture,
designated A-Group, develops in Lower Nubia Trade with Egypt is an
important aspect of the economy. Beginning as a politically fragmented
population governed by local rulers, the A-Group people eventually seem
to be ruled by a series of powerful and very prosperous kings. |
|
c. 2800–2200 BC The A-Group culture
is driven out of Lower Nubia by the Egyptians.
c. 2500 BC As early as 2500 BC, a united kingdom seems to have
developed in Upper Nubia with its capital at the city of Kerma. |
c. 2200–1500 BC (C-Group)
As Egyptian power weakens, people known as the C-Group culture
(descendants of the A-Group) begin to resettle Lower Nubia. They farm
the narrow fertile areas beside the Nile, raise cattle, and trade with
the Egyptians during Dynasties 8–11 (ca. 2150–1981 B.C.). In Dynasty 12
(ca. 1981–1802 B.C.), Egypt reestablishes control of Lower Nubia by
building a series of forts on either side of the second cataract. These
forts are intended primarily to protect Egyptian interests against the
powerful Kerma kingdom to the south, but also serve to subjugate the
C-Group people, who seem to have alternately lived peacefully with and
waged war against their Egyptian overlords. Although much of their
material culture is Egyptianized, the C-Group people in Lower Nubia
continue to produce distinctive forms of fine decorated pottery. |
ca. 1550–1070 B.C.
Kerma loses control of Lower Nubia at the beginning of Egypt's
New Kingdom, when the Egyptian kings of
Dynasty 18 begin a series of campaigns against Upper Nubia. By about
1450 B.C., Egypt controls Nubia as far south as the fourth cataract.
Upper and Lower Nubia become a virtual colony of Egypt, ruled by a
viceroy called the "King's Son of Kush." Egyptian settlements are
established, and temples are built to Egyptian gods. The most important
center is Napata, near the sacred mountain of Jebel Barkal, just
downstream from the fourth cataract, where a temple is built to honor
the great Theban god Amun. During this period, the majority Nubian
population probably participates in the administration of the Egyptian
province of Nubia. |
In about 785 BC, the Napatan king Alara unites
Upper Nubia. For more than 500 years, the Kushite rulers are buried
beneath steep-sided pyramids in cemeteries near Napata, which gives its
name to this period of the kingdom of Kush.
By about 760 BC, King Kashta has united all of
Nubia, from the first to the sixth cataract. Due to nearly five
centuries of Egyptian domination of Upper and Lower Nubia, many aspects
of Kushite culture show distinct Egyptian influence. For example, the
Egyptian god Amun becomes the principal deity of the Kushite kings.
However, although they continually borrow from contemporary Egyptian
art, Kushite architects and artists adapt Egyptian forms and iconography
to their own purposes and infuse their works with a powerful style
distinctly their own.
ca. 743–664 B.C. (Dynasty 25) The Kushite king
Piye (also called Piankhi) invades Upper Egypt and claims to be king of
Upper and Lower Nubia. It is actually his successor, Shabaqo, who
becomes the first true pharaoh of Dynasty 25 (ca. 712–664 B.C.) and the
ruler of all of Egypt and Nubia, the largest unified state in existence
at this time. Kushite rule over Egypt is brought to an end when the
Assyrians conquer Egypt and the last of the great Kushite pharaohs,
Taharqo, is driven from Egypt back to Napata. Although Taharqo's
successor, Tanutamani, reconquers Egypt for a brief time, Egypt's
Kushite dynasty essentially ends with Taharqo's death. |
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4500
BC |
4000 BC |
3500 BC |
3000 BC |
2500 BC |
2000 BC |
1400 BC |
800 BC |
100 BC |
|
Europe |
Southern Europe |
Romans |
Before the days of
ancient
Rome's greatness, Italy was the home of a nation called Etruria, whose
people were known as the Etruscans. |
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c.1200 BC First signs of
more intensive cultivation of Etruria |
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c. 900 BC The Villanovan
Period
c. 900 BC scattered villiages along the tufa plateaux
|
c. 616 BC Etruscan Tarquin I
becomes king of Rome. c. 760 BC use of iron
suggest contact with east (Rome remains under Etruscan
influence for over a hundred years and adopts many elements of Etruscan
culture.) |
c. 550 BC The Etruscans are
threatened from Greek extension, especially that of the Phocaeans.
c. 540 BC The Phocaeans are
defeated by a fleet of Etruscans and Phoenicians
474 BC Samnite raiders
eliminate Etruscan presence in Campania |
396 BC Etruscan major city
of Veii captured by the Romans 295 BC The defeat of the
Etruscans by the Roman at the Battle of Sentinum leads to Roman
rule. The Etruscan trading cities of the north are slowly eliminated
through pressures from both Romans and Celts. |
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Minoans |
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C. 2000 Palaces appear on Crete - the city known as
Minoan.
c. 2000-1600 end of the "Old Palace
Period" of Minoan civilization
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1628 BC Volcanic eruption on the island of Thera.
Preserving the town of Acrotiri under the ash.
1600-1400 Consolidation of power by
Mycenaean war leader in Greece is sustained by raids overseas.
c. 1550 BC Evidence of Minoan traders at Avaris on the Nile Delta |
c. 1600-1425 BC New Palace Period
c. 1425 BC New wave of destruction of Cretan palaces,
result of Mycenaean conquest (?)
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1200-1100 BC Collapse of Mycenaean
civilization, invasion of Dorians from the north possible cause |
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Greeks |
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c. 2200-2000 (?) Arrival of Greek speakers in
Greece |
Crete trades with Egypt |
c. 1650 Use of "shaft graves" they
are used and reused till
|
c. 1500 BC Crete invaded by "Mycenaeans", the
first known civilization of mainland Greece. Mycenaean influence
from Italy to coast of Asia and Egypt. |
The "Sea People" began to invade all
over the Mediterranean, ultimately destroying the Mycenaean civilization. |
c. 1100-800 BC The "Dark Age" |
Geometric Period
Civilization on the rise again.
Homer writes down the epics Iliad & Odyssey
800 BC Poet Hesiod's Theogony
& Works and Days
The appearance of the Polis - "sense of
community" |
c. 776 Traditional date of the first Olympics
c. 750 BC Settlement established at Pithekoussai, the
eastern coast of Italy The beginning of a mass migration westward.
First penetration of the Black Sea.
c. 660 Traders penetrate Egypt, Temples & Sculptures
appear in Greece.
The Archaic Age
c. 600 The first coinage appears
|
c. 585 BC birth of Western Philosophy-Thales.
c. 509 Foundation of Roman
Republic
c. 490 BC Persian War & the Battle at
Marathon where the "Marathon" was born (as recorded by
Herodotus in the Histories)
c. 477 The Delian League is
founded
470 Socrates is born
in Athens.
c. 458 Athens builds the
Long Wall to separate from Sparta
The Classic Age c.
480-404 BC
c. 438 Rebuilding of the Parthenon complete
c. 428 BC Birth of Plato
|
399
BC Death of Socrates
c. 395 BC the last Olympic Game was held in Olympia
c. 384 BC Birth of Aristotle in Northern Greece.
359 BC Phillip II becomes king of
Macedon.
c. 356 BC Birth of Alexander
the Great
c. 350 BC Athens, Sparta & Thebes all unable to
maintain an imperial role in Greece.
347 BC Death of Plato
338 BC Philip of Macedon
defeats the Greeks becoming "Commander of Greeks". End of
Greek history and beginning of the
336 BC Philip of Macedon
assassinated
336-331 The
Hellenistic Age
323 BC Death of Alexander
the Great in Babylon
322 BC Death of Aristotle
in Euboea
c. 287 Birth of Archimedes, the greatest mathematician
of antiquity c. 279 Sacking of Delphi by
the Celts.
c. 229-219 Roman campaign
against the pirates of the Illyrian coast, first Roman intrusion of the
Hellenistic world |
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MesoAmerica
By 1000 BC Mesoamerica will divid into Mexico and
the Mayan cultures.
(Map) |
|
Hunters roam the landscape, subsisting on large mammals and gathering plants
and other natural resources. Incipient agriculture begins in about 5000 B.C. |
|
|
(August
13, 3114)
Mythic base date of the Maya Long Count Calendar |
C
2800 BC Ceramics of the Monagrillo complex are present in small settlements
around Parita Bay in central Panama, an area of rich coastal resources.
Monagrillo ceramics are made for many hundreds of years. |
2000
B.C., corn is one of the staple crops of Mesoamerican society and remains so
for thousands of years |
Sedentary village life is widespread and pottery is abundant. |
Villages along the Coatzacoalcos River drainage on the Gulf of Mexico
flourish based on abundant river resources and fertile soils. |
|
The
first public building in the Valley of Oaxaca is constructed at the major
regional center of San José Mogote. It is a stuccoed wattle-and-daub
structure built on a platformlike foundation
C.
1250 BC At San Lorenzo, ceramics of distinctive white, gray, and black
surfaces are produced, often the result of specialized firing techniques.
These colors come to be identified with Olmec ceramics, as do certain design
motifs, wherever they are found.
The
beginning of the period known archaeologically as the Middle Formative.
The Olmec Civilization
established large settlement known as San Lorenzo, on a fertile plain
overlooking the Chiquito River. |
Mexico:
Gulf Coast and
central Mexican sites carry on the Olmec
tradition. |
c. 900
BC The layout of
the
ceremonial heart of La Venta, a specially
oriented pattern of juxtaposed mounds and open plazas, is established. Such
layouts will be used—with regional and temporal variations—in building
sacred Mesoamerican centers for more than 2,000 years.
c. 800 BC A large earthen
pyramid is constructed at La Venta, possibly conceived of as a sacred
mountain. Burials at La Venta contain significant grave goods. Small
carefully fashioned figures, personal ornaments, and celts of green
jadeite and other greenstones are among the
mortuary offerings. |
|
c. 400 BC Two calendars, a
365-day solar calendar and a 260-day ritual calendar, appear to be in use.
Many of the large carved stone sculptures and monuments at La
Venta are damaged; the city loses political power and population, and is
gradually deserted. |
c. 350 BC Cuicuilco, now
the largest center on the high plateau of the Basin of Mexico, has
substantial public architecture, including a circular, stone-faced pyramid.
In western Mexico, deeply buried tombs at the bottom of
shafts are in use. |
c. 150
BC The Xitle
volcano erupts in the southern Basin of Mexico, overwhelming Cuicuilco and
instigating resettlement of peoples further north in the basin. |
|
C.1
Teotihuacan in the Basin of Mexico grows
rapidly as rural populations move in, possibly coerced into doing so. |
|
Mayans:
The beginning of the era known archaeologically as the Middle
Preclassic period in the Maya area. |
c 800
BC Numerous
villages exist in the tropical lowlands of the Petén region of Guatemala,
among them, Nak'be, El Mirador, and
Tikal. |
c. 600 BC The community of
Nak'be prospers. Public architectural projects are undertaken.
Ballcourts of an open-ended type are present at three
centers on the Grijalva River in Chiapas |
c. 400
BC A great building
effort is undertaken at Nak'be with the construction of large stone-faced
platforms and pyramids. A limestone slab, or stela, with a low-relief
sculpture of two dignitaries is apparently placed in association with a
stone altar, an early example of an important Maya practice. |
c. 200
BC Monumentally
scaled public buildings are raised at El Mirador. These include a
three-temple complex on a common platform, a much used architectural
arrangement in subsequent times. C 200 BC Tikal
grows larger and construction begins on a great masonry platform located on
its highest hill. Base to a number of pyramid temples, the platform and
temples will be enlarged many times. Known today as the
North Acropolis, it will be the sacred
heart of Tikal for centuries |
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|
c. 1 BC In the
Petén lowlands, a member of
Tikal's royal family is buried in a
well-provisioned vaulted tomb dug into the sacred north-south axis of the
North Acropolis, the location of numerous
subsequent kingly burials. A
greenstone mask with inlaid eyes and teeth,
possibly forming a head for the burial wrappings, is among the tomb's
contents. |
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Central America |
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The village of
La Mula-Sarigua on Parita Bay in central Panama becomes a regional center.
The greater presence of metates (grinding tables) and manos
(grinding stones) indicates the increased availability of corn as a food
crop. |
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Small villages
are present in Greater Chiriquí, a region including southern Costa Rica and
northern Panama. |
Semiprecious
green-colored stones, frequently jadeite, are worked into personal ornaments
in northern and central Costa Rica. Primarily pendants to be worn suspended
about the neck, the jades are much revered and many are used as funerary
offerings. |
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c. 1 BC
Well-made sculptural ceramics with incised details, known as Zoned Bichrome,
are present throughout much of Greater Nicoya (southwestern
Nicaragua/northwestern Costa Rica). |
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Asia |
West Asia |
Mesopotamia
(Map) |
Sumer
c. 4500-3500 BC First Urban
Settlement in Mesopotamia, including Eridu & Uruk, marking the beginning of
the civilization of Sumer. |
|
c. 3500 BC 1st Civilization at Sumer.
Southern end of Mesopotamia |
c. 3300 BC 1st form of
writing, "cuneiform" appears.
c. 3000 BC Earliest
known wheeled cart found in Mesopotamia
c. 3000 BC Discovery of bronze. |
Slavery appears |
c. 2330 BC 1st "Emperor"
Sargon of Akkade rules all for 70 years.
c. 2350 BC The earliest surviving law code, of Urukagina,
ruler of the Sumerian city of Lagesh.
c. 2212-2004 the first recorded epic appears; "Epic of
Gilgamesh"
c. 2000 BC Collapse of Sumerian civilization due to rival
cities fighting and invading tribes.
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c. 1800 Appearance of the two wheeled chariot.
c. 1760 The city of Babylon becomes the political centre. of
Mesopotamia.
excelled in astronomy & math
calendar based on the Moon's cycles
musical scale
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Hittites invade introducing
horses |
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Eastern Mediterranean |
Israel |
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1200 BC First mention of Israelites in an Egyptian
document. Israelites settle in Canaan after the disruption caused by
the "Sea People" |
c. 1000 Possible date of King David |
c. 924 Israelites split into two kingdoms,
Israel & Judah |
c. 747-722 Israel is crushed by the
Assyrians. Judah comes under Assyrian domination but survives as a
state. |
c. 605-562 the forcible transfer to
Babylon. Religious writings, Hebrew scriptures, later the Old
testament are consolidated 539 BC Destruction of the Babylonian state by
Cyrus I of Persia. Jews can return home.
|
c. 332 BC Alexander the Great destroys the Achaemenid empire and Palestine eventually becomes part of the Ptolemies'
Kingdom |
c. 198 Palestine passes from Ptolemaic to
Seleucid rule |
c. 50 BC Pompey enters Jerusalem and Palestine is
now under Roman hegemony. |
Jesus Christ is born
30 AD Crucifixion of Jesus in Jerusalem
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Iran |
Persia |
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c. 560 BC Cyrus II founded the Persian
empire, reducing the prosperous Greek cities, overthrowing Babylon thus
freeing the Jews, journeying as far south as Egypt.
c. 525 BC Persian armies invade Egypt,
defeating King Psamtek III, besieging the capital at Memphis
c. 490 BC Persian War,
Persia invades Greece |
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Oceania |
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ca. 4000–2500 B.C. Austronesian peoples spread throughout
island Southeast Asia. Austronesian languages, art, and other cultural
practices are also ancestral to the present-day cultures of Polynesia
and Micronesia. |
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By 2000 B.C.,
Melanesian peoples had lived in the southwest Pacific for over 35,000
years, but the remote islands of Oceania remained uninhabited |
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Beginning in roughly
1500 B.C., the Lapita culture, descendants of a second migration of
peoples from Southeast Asia and the Melanesians with whom they
interacted, began to expand eastward from Melanesia into the more remote
islands of the western Pacific. Characterized by their intricately
decorated pottery, the Lapita people are believed to be ancestral to the
contemporary peoples of Polynesia, Micronesia, and some regions of
Melanesia. |
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