c. 2600000 BCE - c. 12000 BCE
The Pleistocene epoch, ranging from c. 2,6 million years ago until c. 12,000 years ago. It is characterised by repeated cycles of glacials and interglacials.
c. 2600000 BCE - c. 12000 BCE
The Palaeolithic (or Old Stone Age) period, ranging from c. 2,6 million years ago until c. 12,000 years ago.
c. 550000 BCE - c. 765000 BCE
Estimated time of divergence between the branch that would develop into Neanderthals on the one hand and Denisovans on the other, and the branch that would lead to Homo sapiens.
c. 44000 BCE - c. 54000 BCE
Estimated time at which Denisovans interbred with the ancestors of present-day Melanesians, presumably in Southeast Asia.
c. 12000 BCE - c. 9000 BCE
The Mesolithic (or Middle Stone Age), lasting from the end of the last Ice Age until the start of agriculture, between c. 9000-c. 4000 BCE.
c. 9000 BCE - c. 3300 BCE
The Neolithic (or New Stone Age), lasting from the start of agriculture between c. 9000-c. 4000 BCE until the beginning of bronze use c. 3300 BCE.
c. 3300 BCE - c. 1200 BCE
The Bronze Age, lasting from c. 3300 BCE- c. 1200 BCE in the Near East and South Asia and c. 600 BCE in Europe.
