Human begin fishing for first time
Isotopic analysis of the skeletal remains of Tianyuan man, a 40,000-year-old modern human from eastern Asia, has shown that he regularly consumed freshwater fish.
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Human invent tally marks, their first numeral systems
The oldest tally sticks date to between 35,000 and 25,000 years ago, in the form of notched bones found in the context of the European Aurignacian to Gravettian and in Africa’s Late Stone Age.
Humans create art for the first time, possibly in Indonesia
The Griffith University professor Maxime Aubert and his team were able to determine that the Sulawesi paintings are, at minimum, 39,900 years old.
Humans first arrive in New Guinea
The human presence on the island dates back at least 40,000 years, to the oldest homo sapiens migrations out of Africa.
Humans in East Timor begin fishing in the open sea
The world’s oldest fish hook has been unearthed at a site in East Timor, alongside evidence that modern humans were catching fish from the open ocean as far back as 42,000 years ago.
Humans reach and begin settling Tasmania
Evidence indicates the presence of Aborigines in Tasmania about 40,000 years ago. Rising sea levels cut Tasmania off from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago and by the time of European contact, the Aboriginal people in Tasmania had nine major nations, or ethnic groups
Lion-man of the Hohlenstein-Stadel, the first known example of figurative art, is made
The Löwenmensch figurine or Lion-man of the Hohlenstein-Stadel is a prehistoric ivory sculpture that was discovered in the Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave in 1939.
Ritual cremation practiced for first time in modern-day Australia
Known only as Mungo Man, an individual who walked the earth some 42,000 years ago provides us with what is believed to be the earliest example of cremation in human history.
Australo-Melanesians become the first humans to settle in Southeast Asia
By around 30,000 years ago, Australo-Melanesians were present in all regions of Southeast Asia. In most lands they were eventually displaced from the coastal lowlands and pushed to the uplands and hinterlands by later immigrants.
Humans settle on Borneo
Archaeological evidence suggests that human beings arrived in Sarawak – overland – at least 40,000 years ago.