All of Human History
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Stone Age

3.3 million BCE

1 recorded milestone at this point in the record.

c. 3.3 million BCE
Technology
East Africa

Earliest stone tools

Sharp-edged flakes and cores knapped from river cobbles at Lomekwi, predating the genus Homo.

Why it mattered

The first evidence that hominids reshaped the physical world rather than merely inhabiting it.

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Nearby in the record

c. 2.6 million BCE – 1.7 million BCETechnology

Oldowan tool industry

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