All of Human History

← Back to the timeline

Stone Age

2.6 million BCE

1 recorded milestone at this point in the record.

c. 2.6 million BCE – 1.7 million BCE

Technology

Africa

Oldowan tool industry

A systematic tradition of choppers, scrapers and hammerstones associated with Homo habilis.

Why it mattered

The first true technological tradition, transmitted across generations.

See all Technology milestones

Sign in to amend this page or add a milestone — every edit is signed and kept in the record.

Nearby in the record

c. 3.3 million BCETechnology

Earliest stone tools

East Africa

c. 2.0 million BCEScience

Homo habilis and the enlarging brain

East Africa

c. 1.8 million BCESociety

Homo erectus disperses out of Africa

Africa and Eurasia

c. 1.7 million BCETechnology

Acheulean handaxe

Africa

c. 1.5 million BCEAgriculture

Systematic butchery with stone flakes

East Africa

c. 1.0 million BCE – 400,000 BCEEnergy

Controlled use of fire

Africa and Levant