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| 4402346474 | Homo sapiens sapiens | modern humans, first appeared in East Africa 200,000-100,000 years ago | 0 | |
| 4402586452 | Paleolithic Period | 2.5 million-10,000 years ago (8000 BCE), also Stone Age because people used stone tools and weapons | 1 | |
| 4402591715 | kinship group | several related families that moved together in search of food in early human hunter-forager society, often nearly self-sufficient | 2 | |
| 4402597273 | clan | larger group of relatives made up of multiple kinship groups (therefore not isolated) | 3 | |
| 4402601233 | tribe | multiple clans combined, individuals don't all have to be related, formed for group hunting or mutual defense, led by chiefs and priests | 4 | |
| 4402613324 | Neolithic Revolution | around 10,000 years ago, climate warming up from Ice Age, also "Agricultural Revolution", happened at different times for different parts of the world | 5 | |
| 4402629878 | nomadic pastoralism | way of life of leading herds of animals from one grazing land to another, first emerged in grasslands of Africa and Eurasia, wanted reliable food source but could harm environment | 6 | |
| 4402648634 | specialization of labor | the process of allowing people to focus on limited tasks | 7 | |
| 4402651735 | social stratification | some people acumulate wealth (ex jewelry or bigger homes), private property increasingly important, wealthy or power to control surplus form an elite, came with changes in food production | 8 | |
| 4402661286 | Jericho | one of humankind's first cities, built on west bank of Jordan River, oldest evidence around 9000 BCE | 9 | |
| 4402664452 | Catal Huyuk | ancient city, present-day Turkey, founded 7500 BCE along (now-dried) river, well-preserved remains | 10 | |
| 4402679081 | priests (and priestesses) | class developed to conduct religious ceremonies for favor or nature spirits (first in Neolithic Era) | 11 | |
| 4402698919 | textiles | items made of cloth, innovation first of Neolithic Era | 12 | |
| 4402706061 | metallurgy | the science of the study of metals | 13 | |
| 4402711884 | bronze | copper found in pure state in ground in Neolithic era, melted tin and copper together to make a stronger metal, started Bronze Age | 14 | |
| 4402714730 | Bronze Age | period after discovery of bronze, generally 3300-2300 BCE | 15 | |
| 4402718737 | civilization | large society with cities and powerful states, foundation created by Neolithic Revolution | 16 | |
| 4402722605 | core and foundational | (of civilizations) having developed ways of life, such as language, religious beliefs, and economic practices, that heavily influence successor civilizations in their regions | 17 | |
| 4402732609 | Tigris and Euphrates | rivers that flow south (from modern-day Turkey, through modern-day Iran), empty into Persian Gulf | 18 | |
| 4402736051 | Mesopotamia | area between Tigris and Euphrates rivers, region "cradle of civilization" | 19 | |
| 4402738660 | Fertile Crescent | area overlapping with Mesopotamia, including area to west along Mediterranean coast | 20 | |
| 4402743407 | Sumerians | nomadic pastoralists, migrated into Mesopotamia sometime before 5000 BCE | 21 | |
| 4402746554 | Sumer | civilization created by Sumerians, first complex governments arose, city-states independent with own government | 22 | |
| 4402750151 | Uruk | largest city in Sumer, population of 50,000 by 2700 BCE | 23 | |
| 4402756618 | kings | military rulers (first in Sumer, became more important than priests) | 24 | |
| 4402764979 | ziggurats | large stepped pyramids built by Sumerians, monumental religious architecture | 25 | |
| 4402767978 | division of labor | enabled by agricultural surplus, enabled Sumerians to engage in work other than producing food | 26 | |
| 4402776139 | cuneiform | world's first writing system, created by Sumerians | 27 | |
| 4402777621 | scribes | (first in Sumer) separate class of people skilled at cuneiform, kept records, later wrote histories and myths | 28 | |
| 4402783665 | The Epic of Gilgamesh | perhaps oldest written story on earth, produced during Sumer's power, in cuneiform | 29 | |
| 4402787277 | Babylonians | Persian invaders, took control of Mesopotamia around 1900 BCE | 30 | |
| 4402797112 | Hammurabi | Babylonians' most powerful king, ruled until 1750 BCE, famous for code of laws | 31 | |
| 4402800770 | Code of Hammurabi | created by King Hammurabi of Babylonian Empire, 282 laws carved in stone, first instance of written and displayed laws, built on concept that punishment should fit the crime | 32 | |
| 4402807650 | astrology | predicting the future by studying movements of stars and planets, important in Babylonian society | 33 | |
| 4402818423 | Phoenicians | occupied parts of (present-day) Lebanon, Israel, Jordan around 3000 BCE, established wide trade network across Mediterranean, peak around 1200-1100 BCE | 34 | |
| 4402825433 | Carthage | Phoenician colony on coast of North Africa, significant outpost of empire | 35 | |
| 4402815944 | alphabetic script | system of symbols (letters) that represent sounds of speech, developed by Phoenicians, alternative to cuneiform, helped trade and later modified by Greeks and Romans | 36 | |
| 4402835369 | Hebrews | lived in region of Canaan (present-day Israel), ancestors of Jews | 37 | |
| 4402842081 | Israelites and Jews | descendants of Hebrews | 38 | |
| 4402843944 | Abraham | founded Canaan in approx. 2000 BCE according to Hebrew scripture, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all trace religious heritage to him | 39 | |
| 4402848887 | Moses | led Hebrews out of Egypt around 1300 BCE, introduced Ten Commandments | 40 | |
| 4402850791 | Ten Commandments | code of conduct introduced by Moses, became influential in Christianity | 41 | |
| 4405284538 | Jewish Diaspora | the spreading of Jews throughout the Mediterranean world and the Middle East- started with the division of the Hebrews into two empires, conquered by Babylonians and Assyrians, Israelites enslaved and fled | 42 | |
| 4405296033 | Sahara | desert in northern Africa | 43 | |
| 4405297609 | Kalahari | desert in southern Africa | 44 | |
| 4405297610 | Nile River | begins in interior of Africa, flows north to Mediterranean Sea, rich, fertile soil | 45 | |
| 4405305244 | desertification | creation of desert-like conditions, as in North Africa due to declining rainfall starting around 5000 BCE | 46 | |
| 4405309071 | King Menes | united kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3100 BCE, established capital at city of Memphis | 47 | |
| 4405316358 | Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom | three long periods of stability in ancient Egypt- 2660-2160 BCE, 2040-1786 BCE, and 1570-1070 BCE | 48 | |
| 4405325481 | theocrats | rulers holding both religious and political power | 49 | |
| 4405328636 | Hyksos | pastoral nomadic people, invaded Middle Kingdom Egypt, used superior chariots and bows and arrows to defeat Egyptians | 50 | |
| 4405333789 | Akhenaton | pharaoh, tried to change Egypt's religion around 1350 BCE to worship only sun god Aten, but old religion was restored after his death | 51 | |
| 4405345585 | Ramses the Great | powerful pharaoh, ruled starting around 1290 BCE, expanded Egyptian empire into Southwest Asia during 67 years of power, made peace with threatening Hittites (successors not able to) | 52 | |
| 4405355204 | Hittites | threat to Egyptian empire, had military advantage with some iron tools and weapons | 53 | |
| 4405370845 | heiroglyphics | form of picture-writing used in Nile Valley by about 3000 BCE, written on papyrus (instead of clay tablets in Sumer) | 54 | |
| 4405376260 | Book of the Dead | paper book Egyptians put in coffins of dead pharaohs and some nobles, told the story of the dead person | 55 | |
| 4405381139 | Kush | kingdom Nubia reemerged as in about 2500 BCE after having fallen into decline earlier | 56 | |
| 4405387469 | Axum | civilization that conquered Kush in 340s CE | 57 | |
| 4405393096 | Indus River Valley (civilizations) | core and foundational, 2500-2000 BCE, established by Dravidians | 58 | |
| 4405396585 | Dravidians | indigenous peoples of the Indian subcontinent, established sophisticated Indus River Valley civilizations | 59 | |
| 4405398828 | Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro | Indus River Valley civilizations established by Dravidians 2500-2000 BCE, used written pictograph language | 60 | |
| 4405403355 | Environmental degradation | probably caused gradual decline and eventual disappearance of Harappan and Mohenjo-Daro civilizations | 61 | |
| 4405406291 | Aryans | Indo-European-speaking peoples originally from Central Asia, traveled from Persia through Hindu Kush mountians beginning in 1500 BCE, brought first horses into India | 62 | |
| 4405413744 | clans (Aryan organization) | male chief, ruled with advice from committee of members, Aryans had no central government | 63 | |
| 4405416853 | barter | a system by which one thing is exchanged for another | 64 | |
| 4405416855 | Sanskrit | sacred language of Aryans, brought to south Asia, first oral stories but 1200-1000 BCE writing system developed | 65 | |
| 4405422285 | Hindi | language eventually evolved from Aryans' common spoken tongue | 66 | |
| 4405424464 | Indo-European language | Sanskrit, also Latin (have similarities) | 67 | |
| 4405429679 | Vedas | collection of Aryan religious hymns, poems, and songs | 68 | |
| 4405432628 | Rig-Veda | most famous Aryan Veda, reveals conflicts between Dravidian and Aryan peoples, outlined proper brahmin behavior | 69 | |
| 4405434358 | brahmin | proper priestly behavior, initially in Aryan tradition | 70 | |
| 4405438551 | Vedic Age | 800-400 BCE, marked by growing Aryan awareness of Dravidian beliefs | 71 | |
| 4405441426 | Upanishads | collection of religious thought resulting from Aryan and Dravidian interaction, includes religious concepts brahma, dharma, karma, and moksha, foundational text for religious beliefs that later became Hinduism | 72 | |
| 4405447696 | Huang He and Chiang Jiang | major rivers in eastern China, Yellow and Yangtze respectively, Yellow river named due to yellow color of loess soil | 73 | |
| 4405491833 | Xia Dynasty | Around 2100 BCE, Yu brought order to Huang He region, passed power to son Qi to found dynasty, lasted approx. 400 years | 74 | |
| 4405496325 | Shang Dynasty | approx 1750 BCE, Tang overthrew Xia king and took power, dynasty ruled for next 600 years | 75 | |
| 4405569527 | ancestor veneration | tradition of china of worshiping and making offerings to ancestors, began during Shang Dynasty | 76 | |
| 4405600299 | pictographs | graphic symbols each representing an idea (ex. written script of Shang Dynasty) | 77 | |
| 4405611846 | Zhou dynasty | 1045 BCE, military man Wu raised his own army to challenge weakened Shang kings, established this dynasty, network of regional rulers w/ mutual defense relationships creates foundation of feudalism | 78 | |
| 4405616005 | (China's first) Golden Age | first 200 years of Zhou rule, (general) period in a society of relative peace, prosperity, and innovation | 79 | |
| 4405620978 | Mandate of Heaven | idea that a just ruler's power was bestowed by the gods | 80 | |
| 4405633058 | Mesoamerica | Central America and present-day Mexico | 81 | |
| 4405634406 | Chavin civilization | around 1000-200 BCE, along coast of present-day Peru, built elaborate temple made of granite and limestone obtained through trade | 82 | |
| 4405639806 | Olmec | foundation/core of several advanced civilizations in Mesoamerica, flourished in east and central Mexico around 1200-400 BCE | 83 | |
| 4405645874 | glyphs | pictures and symbols of real objects, used by Olmecs | 84 | |
| 4405647443 | Oceania | vast region in Pacific ocean including New Guinea, Australia, and islands, hunter-foragers arrived here about 60,000 years ago | 85 | |
| 4405653435 | Austronesian-speaking people | probably originated in southern China, moved to Taiwan and Philippines, migrated to New Guinea around 5000-2500 BCE, introduced agriculture | 86 | |
| 4405657064 | aboriginals | in Australia, remained hunter-foragers despite introduction of agriculture by arriving Austronesian-speaking migrants | 87 | |
| 4405660411 | Polynesia | islands including Samoa, Hawaii, Easter Island, New Zealand, Austronesians came with new canoes that could go vast distances | 88 | |
| 4405664385 | Easter Island | people settled here divided into clans, each with a chief, and one chief ruling all clans, constructed large stone statues representing ancestor-gods | 89 |
