# 4th millennium BC

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Millennium between 4000 BC and 3001 BC

Millennia 5th millennium BC 4th millennium BC 3rd millennium BC Centuries 40th century BC 39th century BC 38th century BC 37th century BC 36th century BC 35th century BC 34th century BC 33rd century BC 32nd century BC 31st century BC v t e

From top left clockwise: The Temple of [Ġgantija](/source/%C4%A0gantija), one of the oldest freestanding structures in the world; [Warka Vase](/source/Warka_Vase); [Bronocice pot](/source/Bronocice_pot) with one of the earliest known depictions of a wheeled vehicle; [Kish tablet](/source/Kish_tablet), an example for [proto-writing](/source/Proto-writing); Pharaoh [Narmer](/source/Narmer) is credited with uniting Upper and Lower Egypt and is depicted as such in the [Narmer Palette](/source/Narmer_Palette).

The **4th millennium BC** spanned the years 4000 BC to 3001 BC. Some of the major changes in human culture during this time included the beginning of the [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) and the invention of [writing](/source/Writing), which played a major role in starting [recorded history](/source/Recorded_history).

[Monte d'Accoddi](/source/Monte_d'Accoddi) is an archaeological site in northern [Sardinia](/source/Sardinia), [Italy](/source/Italy), located in the territory of [Sassari](/source/Sassari) near [Porto Torres](/source/Porto_Torres). 4th millennium BC.

The [city states](/source/Copper_Age_state_societies) of [Sumer](/source/Sumer) and the (Predynastic) Kingdom of [Egypt](/source/Predynastic_Egypt) were established and grew to prominence. [Agriculture](/source/Agriculture) spread widely across [Eurasia](/source/Eurasia).

[World population](/source/World_population_estimates) growth relaxed after the burst that came about from the [Neolithic Revolution](/source/Neolithic_Revolution). World population was largely stable in this time at roughly 50 million, growing at an average of 0.027% per year.[1]

## Culture

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Neolithic cultures ↑ Mesolithic Near East Heavy Neolithic Shepherd Neolithic Trihedral Neolithic Pre-Pottery A B Qaraoun Khiamian Al-Magar Tahunian Yarmukian Halaf Halaf-Ubaid Ubaid Wadi Rabah Faiyum A Tasian Merimde El Omari Maadi-Buto Badarian Naqada I Europe Arzachena Boian Butmir Cardium Cernavodă Coțofeni Cucuteni–Trypillia Danilo Dudești Gorneşti Gumelnița–Kodžadermen-Karanovo VI Hamangia Kakanj Khirokitia Linear Pottery Malta Temples Ozieri Petreşti San Ciriaco Shulaveri–Shomu Sesklo Sopot Tisza Tiszapolgár Usatove Varna Vinča Vučedol Transylvania Southeastern Europe China Peiligang Pengtoushan Beixin Cishan Dadiwan Houli Xinglongwa Xinle Zhaobaogou Hemudu Daxi Majiabang Yangshao Hongshan Dawenkou Songze Liangzhu Majiayao Qujialing Longshan Baodun Shijiahe Yueshi Tibet South Asia Lahuradewa Mehrgarh Gulf of Khambhat Bhirrana Rakhigarhi Kalibangan Chopani Mando Jhukar Daimabad Chirand Koldihwa Burzahom Mundigak Brahmagiri Other locations Jeulmun Jōmon Capsian Savanna Other topics Neolithic Revolution (farming) Animal husbandry Pottery Metallurgy Wheel Circular ditches Henge Megalith Religion Decline ↓ Chalcolithic v t e

[Sumerian](/source/Sumer) priest-king from [Uruk](/source/Uruk), Mesopotamia, circa 3300–3000 BC

**Near East**

Main article: [Ancient Near East](/source/Ancient_Near_East)

- [Mesopotamia](/source/Mesopotamia) - 4100–3100 BC – the [Uruk period](/source/Uruk_period), with emerging [Sumerian](/source/Sumer) hegemony during the Uruk Expansion and development of [Proto-cuneiform](/source/Proto-cuneiform) [writing](/source/History_of_writing); [base-60](/source/Base-60) [mathematics](/source/Mathematics), [astronomy](/source/Astronomy) and [astrology](/source/Astrology), [civil law](/source/Legal_system), complex [hydrology](/source/Hydrology), the [sailboat](/source/Sailboat), [potter's wheel](/source/Potter's_wheel) and [wheel](/source/Wheel); the [Chalcolithic](/source/Chalcolithic) proceeds into the [Early Bronze Age](/source/Early_Bronze_Age). - [3500](/source/3500_BC)–[2340 BC](/source/2340_BC) – [Sumer](/source/Sumer): [wheeled carts](/source/Carts), [potter's wheel](/source/Potter's_wheel), White Temple [ziggurat](/source/Ziggurat), bronze [tools](/source/Tool) and [weapons](/source/Weapons).[2] - First to Fourth dynasty of [Kish](/source/Kish_(Sumer)) in [Mesopotamia](/source/Mesopotamia). - Sumerian temple of [Inanna](/source/Inanna) at [Eridu](/source/Eridu) erected. - Temple at [Al-Ubaid](/source/Al_Ubaidi) and tomb of [Mes-Kalam-Dug](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mes-Kalam-Dug&action=edit&redlink=1) built near [Ur](/source/Ur), [Chaldea](/source/Chaldea). - [3000 BC](/source/3000_BC) – [Tin](/source/Tin) is in use in Mesopotamia soon after this time.[3][*[page needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources)*] - The [cuneiform](/source/Cuneiform) script proper emerges from pictographic proto-writing in the later 4th millennium. Mesopotamia's "proto-literate" period spans the 35th to 32nd centuries BC. The first documents unequivocally written in the Sumerian language date to the 31st century BC, found at [Jemdet Nasr](/source/Jemdet_Nasr). - [Kura-Araxes culture](/source/Kura%E2%80%93Araxes_culture) expands Southwards towards Sumer. - Possible reigns of [Lugalbanda](/source/Lugalbanda) and [Enmerkar](/source/Enmerkar) prior to 3250 BC. - Long distanced trade with polities in modern-day Afghanistan. - [Dams](/source/Dam), [canals](/source/Canal), [stone sculptures](/source/Stone_sculpture) using [inclined plane](/source/Inclined_plane) and [lever](/source/Lever) in Sumer. - [Urkesh](/source/Urkesh) (northern Syria) founded during the fourth millennium BC possibly by the [Hurrians](/source/Hurrians). - The [Courtyard](/source/Courtyard) is introduced to Mesopotamia.[4]

- Persian plateau - 4000 BC – [Susa](/source/Susa) is a center of [pottery](/source/Pottery) production. - c. 4000 BC – [Beaker](/source/Beaker_(archaeology)) from [Susa](/source/Susa) (modern [Shush, Iran](/source/Shush%2C_Iran)) is made. It is now at [Musée du Louvre](/source/Mus%C3%A9e_du_Louvre), Paris. - [Proto-Elamite](/source/Proto-Elamite) from 3200 BC.

- Anatolia and Caucasus - c. 3700 BC to 3000 BC – The [Maykop culture](/source/Maykop_culture) of the [Caucasus](/source/Caucasus), contemporary to the [Kurgan culture](/source/Kurgan_hypothesis), is a candidate for the origin of [Bronze](/source/Bronze) production and thus the [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age).

[Shengavit Settlement](/source/Shengavit_Settlement), c. 3300 BC

- - 3400–2000 BC – [Kura-Araxes](/source/Kura-Araxes_culture): earliest evidence found on the [Ararat plain](/source/Ararat_Plain).

Pharaoh [Scorpion II](/source/Scorpion_II) on the [Scorpion Macehead](/source/Scorpion_Macehead), c. 3200 BC

- Egypt - 4000–3000 BC – [Naqada](/source/Naqada) culture on the [Nile](/source/Nile). First hieroglyphs appear thus far around 3500 BC as found on labels in a ruler's tomb at [Abydos](/source/Abydos%2C_Egypt). - [Predynastic pharaohs](/source/Predynastic_Egypt) [Tiu](/source/Tiu_(pharaoh)), [Thesh](/source/Thesh), [Hsekiu](/source/Hsekiu), [Wazner](/source/Wazner), [Ro](/source/Ro_(pharaoh)), [Serket](/source/King_Scorpion), [Narmer](/source/Narmer). - [3500](/source/3500_BC)–[3400 BC](/source/3400_BC) – [Jar](/source/Jar) with boat designs, from [Hierakonpolis](/source/Hierakonpolis) (today in the [Brooklyn Museum](/source/Brooklyn_Museum)) is created. [Predynastic Egypt](/source/Predynastic_Egypt). - c. [3150 BC](/source/3150_BC) – [Predynastic](/source/Predynastic_Egypt) period ended in [Ancient Egypt](/source/Ancient_Egypt). [Early Dynastic](/source/Early_Dynastic_Period_of_Egypt) ([Archaic](/source/Early_Dynastic_Period_of_Egypt)) period started (according to French [Egyptologist](/source/Egyptologist) [Nicolas Grimal](/source/Nicolas_Grimal)). The period includes 1st and 2nd Dynasties. - c. 3100 BC – [Narmer Palette](/source/Narmer_Palette). - [Sails](/source/Sail) used in the [Nile](/source/Nile). - [Mastabas](/source/Mastaba), the predecessors of the [Egyptian pyramids](/source/Egyptian_pyramids). - [Harps](/source/Harp) and [flutes](/source/Flute) played in Egypt. - [Lyres](/source/Lyre) and double clarinets ([arghul](/source/Arghul), [mijwiz](/source/Mijwiz)) played in Egypt. - Earliest known [numerals](/source/Numeral_system) in Egypt.

**Europe**

Main article: [Neolithic Europe](/source/Neolithic_Europe)

Bronze Age spread of [Yamnaya](/source/Yamnaya_culture) [steppe pastoralist](/source/Western_Steppe_Herders) ancestry into two subcontinents—Europe and South Asia—from c. 3300 to 1500 BC.[5]

- [Crete](/source/Crete): Rise of [Minoan civilization](/source/Minoan_civilization). - c. 4000 BC – First Neolithic settlers in the island of [Thera](/source/Santorini) ([Santorini](/source/Santorini)), Greece, migrating probably from [Minoan](/source/Minoan_civilization) [Crete](/source/Crete).

- [Pontic–Caspian steppe](/source/Pontic%E2%80%93Caspian_steppe) - 3500–2300 BC – The [Yamna culture](/source/Yamna_culture) ("Kurgan culture"), succeeding the [Sredny Stog culture](/source/Sredny_Stog_culture) on the [Pontic–Caspian steppe](/source/Pontic%E2%80%93Caspian_steppe) in the Caucasus and Central Asia. This culture is believed to have been the locus of the [Proto-Indo-Europeans](/source/Proto-Indo-Europeans), and thus the [Urheimat](/source/Urheimat), or point of origin, of the [Proto Indo-European language](/source/Proto_Indo-European_language), according to the [Kurgan hypothesis](/source/Kurgan_hypothesis). - 5500–2750 BC – The [Cucuteni–Trypillia culture](/source/Cucuteni%E2%80%93Trypillia_culture) has cities with 15,000 citizens, eastern Europe. - [Kurgan culture](/source/Kurgan_culture) of what is now [Southern Russia](/source/Southern_Federal_District) and [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine); possibly the first [domestication of the horse](/source/Domestication_of_the_horse).

- Balkans - c. [3500 BC](/source/3500_BC) – Figures of a man and a woman, from [Cernavodă](/source/Cernavod%C4%83), [Romania](/source/Romania), are made. They are now at [National Historical Museum](/source/National_Museum_of_Romanian_History), [Bucharest](/source/Bucharest). - c. [3138 BC](/source/3138_BC) [Ljubljana Marshes Wheel](/source/Ljubljana_Marshes_Wheel) is a wooden [wheel](/source/Wheel) that was found in the [Ljubljana Marsh](/source/Ljubljana_Marsh) in [Slovenia](/source/Slovenia).[6] Radiocarbon dating showed that it is approximately 5,150 years old, which makes it the oldest wooden wheel yet discovered.

- c. 4000–2000 BC – People and animals, a detail of rock-shelter painting in [Cogul](/source/El_Cogul) ([Roca dels Moros](/source/Roca_dels_Moros)), [Lleida](/source/Lleida), Spain, are painted. It is now at [Archaeology Museum of Catalonia](/source/Archaeology_Museum_of_Catalonia), [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona).

- [Arzachena](/source/Arzachena_culture) and [Ozieri cultures](/source/Ozieri_culture).

- [Malta](/source/Malta) The [Ġgantija](/source/%C4%A0gantija) temples are the earliest of the [Megalithic Temples of Malta](/source/Megalithic_Temples_of_Malta) - [3600 BC](/source/3600_BC) – Construction of the [Ġgantija](/source/%C4%A0gantija) megalithic temple complex on the [Island of Gozo](/source/Gozo): the world's oldest extant unburied free-standing structures, and the world's oldest religious structures. (See [Göbekli Tepe](/source/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe) for older, buried religious structures.) - [3600](/source/3600_BC)–[3200 BC](/source/3200_BC) – Construction of the first temple within the [Mnajdra](/source/Mnajdra) solar temple complex, containing "furniture" such as stone benches and tables, that set it apart from other European megalith constructions. - [Great Neolithic Plague](/source/Neolithic_decline) occurs from circa 5450 BC to circa 2700 BC. This ensures for the large scaled expansions of the later early bronze age. - [3600](/source/3600_BC)–[3000 BC](/source/3000_BC) – Construction of the [Ta' Ħaġrat](/source/Ta'_%C4%A6a%C4%A1rat_Temples) and [Kordin III](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kordin_III&action=edit&redlink=1) temples. - [3250](/source/3200_BC)–[3000 BC](/source/3000_BC) – Construction of three megalithic temples at [Tarxien](/source/Tarxien). - [3200](/source/32nd_century_BC)–[2500 BC](/source/2500_BC) – Construction of the [Ħaġar Qim](/source/%C4%A6a%C4%A1ar_Qim) megalithic temple complex, featuring both solar and lunar alignments.

- Northern Europe

- 4000–2700 BC – The [Funnelbeaker culture](/source/Scandinavian_prehistory), Scandinavia, originated in southern parts of Europe and slowly advanced up through today's [Uppland](/source/Uppland). - [3300](/source/3300_BC)–[2900 BC](/source/2900_BC) – Construction of the [Newgrange](/source/Newgrange) solar [observatory](/source/Observatory)/passage tomb in Ireland. Tustrup-dysserne, the largest [passage grave](/source/Passage_grave) in Eastern [Jutland](/source/Jutland), is an example of [Funnelbeaker culture](/source/Funnelbeaker_culture) circa 3200 BC - c. [3100](/source/3100_BC)–[2600 BC](/source/2600_BC) – [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic) settlement at [Skara Brae](/source/Skara_Brae) in the [Orkney Islands](/source/Orkney_Islands), [Scotland](/source/Scotland), is inhabited. - Construction in England of the [Sweet Track](/source/Sweet_Track), the world's first known engineered roadway. - [Garth tsunami](/source/Garth_tsunami) in the [Northern Isles](/source/Northern_Isles). - c. [3100 BC](/source/3100_BC) – The earliest phase of the [Stonehenge](/source/Stonehenge) monument (a circular earth bank and ditch). - The [Céide Fields](/source/C%C3%A9ide_Fields) are developed, the first signs of the eventual complete [deforestation](/source/Deforestation) of [Ireland](/source/Ireland).

- c. [3300 BC](/source/3300_BC) – [Ötzi the Iceman](/source/%C3%96tzi_the_Iceman) dies near the present-day border between Austria and Italy, only to be discovered in 1991 buried in a [glacier](/source/Glacier) of the [Ötztal Alps](/source/%C3%96tztal_Alps). His [cause of death](/source/Cause_of_death) is believed to be [homicide](/source/Homicide).

**Central Asia**

- - 3500–2500 BC – [Afanasevo](/source/Afanasevo_culture): Siberia, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan—late copper and early Bronze Age. - c. 4000 BC – [Horses are domesticated](/source/Domestication_of_the_horse) in the western [Eurasian Steppes](/source/Eurasian_Steppes) in what is now northern [Kazakhstan](/source/Kazakhstan) (see the [Botai culture](/source/Botai_culture)). - [Bactria Margiana civilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bactria_Margiana_civilization&action=edit&redlink=1) (circa 3000 BC) alongside trade routes connection with Proto-dynastic Egypt.

**East Asia**

- Neolithic Chinese settlements. They produced silk and pottery (chiefly the [Yangshao](/source/Yangshao_culture) and the [Longshan cultures](/source/Longshan_culture)), wore hemp clothing, and domesticated pigs and dogs.

- 4000–[2500 BC](/source/2500_BC) – Vietnamese Bronze Age culture. The [Đồng Đậu Culture](/source/%C4%90%E1%BB%93ng_%C4%90%E1%BA%ADu_Culture), produced many wealthy bronze objects.

Fertility figurine from [Mehrgarh](/source/Mehrgarh), [Indus Valley](/source/Indus_Valley), c. 3000 BC

**Indian Subcontinent**

- [Mehrgarh](/source/Mehrgarh) III–VI

- [3500 BC](/source/3500_BC) [Metalcasting](/source/Lost_wax) began in the [Mohenjodaro](/source/Mohenjodaro) area.

- [3300 BC](/source/3300_BC) – [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) starts in [Indus Valley](/source/Indus_Valley_civilization) ([Harappa](/source/Harappa)). - [Drainage](/source/Drainage) and [Sewage collection and disposal](/source/Sewage_collection_and_disposal)

**Americas**

- c. [3600 BC](/source/3600_BC) – In [Colombia](/source/Colombia), first [rupestrian](/source/Rupestrian_art) art [Chiribiquete](/source/Chiribiquete_National_Park#Rock_art) ([Caquetá](/source/Caquet%C3%A1_Department)).

- c. 3000 BC – First [pottery](/source/Pottery) in [Colombia](/source/Colombia) at [Puerto Hormiga](/source/Puerto_Hormiga_archaeological_site) ([Magdalena](/source/Magdalena_Department)), considered one of the first attempts of pottery of the [New World](/source/New_World). First settlement at [Puerto Badel](/source/Bol%C3%ADvar_Department#History) ([Bolívar](/source/Bol%C3%ADvar_Department)).

- c. [3600 BC](/source/3600_BC) – Evidence of maize domestication appear in the Valley of [Tehuacán](/source/Tehuac%C3%A1n).

- [Norte Chico civilization](/source/Norte_Chico_civilization) in Northern [Peru](/source/Peru) starts.

**Australia**

- c. 3000 BC – The [Sydney rock engravings](/source/Sydney_rock_engravings) in present-day ([Sydney](/source/Sydney), [Australia](/source/Australia)).[7]

**Sub-Saharan Africa**

Sub-Saharan Africa remains in the [Paleolithic period](/source/Later_Stone_Age), except for the earliest neolithization of the [Sahel](/source/Sahel) following the [desiccation of the Sahara in c. 3500 BC](/source/African_humid_period#End).[8][9] As the grasslands of the Sahara began drying after 3900 BC, herders spread into the Nile Valley and into eastern Africa ([Eburan 5](/source/Eburran_industry), [Elmenteitan](/source/Elmenteitan)). The desiccation of the Sahara and the associated neolithisation of West Africa is also cited as a possible cause for the [dispersal](/source/Bantu_expansion) of the [Niger-Congo](/source/Niger-Congo) linguistic phylum.[8][9]

## Environment

Preceded by the Pleistocene Holocene Epoch ICS stages/ages (official) Greenlandian (11.7*–8.236* ka) Northgrippian (8.236–4.2† ka) Meghalayan (4.2 ka–present) Blytt–Sernander stages/ages Preboreal (10.3†–9† ka) Boreal (9–7.5† ka) Atlantic (7.5–5† ka) Subboreal (5–2.5† ka) Subatlantic (2.5 ka–present) *Relative to year 2000 (b2k). †Relative to year 1950 (BP/Before "Present"). v t e

Main article: [Atlantic (period)](/source/Atlantic_(period))

Based on studies by [glaciologist](/source/Glaciologist) [Lonnie Thompson](/source/Lonnie_Thompson), professor at [Ohio State University](/source/Ohio_State_University) and researcher with the [Byrd Polar Research Center](/source/Byrd_Polar_Research_Center), a number of indicators shows there was a global change in climate 5,200 years ago, probably due to a drop in solar energy output.[10]

- The [Older Peron](/source/Older_Peron) transgression was a period identified in 1961[11] happening between 6,000 and 4,600 years [BP](/source/Before_Present) when sea levels were 3 to 5 metres higher than today.[12]

- Plants buried in the [Quelccaya Ice Cap](/source/Quelccaya_Ice_Cap) in the Peruvian Andes demonstrate the climate had shifted suddenly and severely to capture the plants and preserve them until now.[13]

- c. [3750 BC](/source/3750_BC) – The last North American [mammoths](/source/Mammoth), on [Saint Paul Island](/source/Saint_Paul_Island_(Alaska)), [Alaska](/source/Alaska), go extinct.

- Tree rings from Ireland and England show this was their driest period.[14]

- Ice core records showing the ratio of two oxygen isotopes retrieved from the ice fields atop Africa's [Mount Kilimanjaro](/source/Mount_Kilimanjaro), a proxy for atmospheric temperature at the time snow fell.[14]

- Major changes in plant pollen uncovered from lakebed cores in South America.[14]

- Record lowest levels of [methane](/source/Methane) retrieved from ice cores from [Greenland](/source/Greenland) and [Antarctica](/source/Antarctica).[14]

- End of the [Neolithic Subpluvial](/source/Neolithic_Subpluvial), start of [desertification](/source/Desertification) of [Sahara](/source/Sahara) ([35th century BC](/source/35th_century_BC)). North Africa shifts from a habitable region to a barren desert.[14]

- c. [3150 BC](/source/3150_BC) – a lesser [Tollmann's hypothetical bolide](/source/Tollmann's_hypothetical_bolide) event may have occurred.

- 3051 BC – [The oldest currently (2025) living](/source/Methuselah_(pine_tree)) non-clonal organism germinated in the present-day Grove of the Ancients, Inyo County, California.[15]

## Calendars and chronology

- **4000 BC** – [Epoch](/source/Epoch_(reference_date)) of the [Masonic](/source/Freemasonry) calendar's [Anno Lucis](/source/Anno_Lucis) era.

- **3929 BC** – Creation according to [John Lightfoot](/source/John_Lightfoot) based on the Old Testament of the Bible, and often associated with the [Ussher chronology](/source/Ussher_chronology#Lightfoot's_Creation).

- **3761 BC** – Since the Middle Ages (12th century), the [Hebrew calendar](/source/Hebrew_calendar) has been based on rabbinic calculations of the year of creation from the Hebrew [Masoretic Text](/source/Masoretic_Text) of the bible. This calendar is used within Jewish communities for religious and other purposes. The calendar's epoch, corresponding to the calculated date of the world's creation, is equivalent to sunset on the Julian proleptic calendar date 6 October 3761 BC.[16]

- **3114 BC** – One version of the [Mayan calendar](/source/Mayan_calendar), known as the [Mesoamerican Long Count](/source/Mesoamerican_Long_Count), uses the epoch of 11 or 13 August 3114 BC. The Maya Long Count calendar was first used approximately 236 BC (see [Mesoamerican Long Count calendar#Earliest Long Counts](/source/Mesoamerican_Long_Count_calendar#Earliest_Long_Counts).

- **3102 BC** – According to calculations of [Aryabhata](/source/Aryabhata) (6th century), the [Hindu](/source/Hinduism) [Kali Yuga](/source/Kali_Yuga) began at midnight on 18 February 3102 BC.

- **3102 BC** – [Aryabhata](/source/Aryabhata) dates the events of the [Mahabharata](/source/Mahabharata) to around 3102 BC. Other estimates range from the late 4th to the mid-2nd millennium BC.

## Centuries

- [40th century BC](/source/40th_century_BC)

- [39th century BC](/source/39th_century_BC)

- [38th century BC](/source/38th_century_BC)

- [37th century BC](/source/37th_century_BC)

- [36th century BC](/source/36th_century_BC)

- [35th century BC](/source/35th_century_BC)

- [34th century BC](/source/34th_century_BC)

- [33rd century BC](/source/33rd_century_BC)

- [32nd century BC](/source/32nd_century_BC)

- [31st century BC](/source/31st_century_BC)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Jean-Noël Biraben (1979). "Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes". *Population*. **34** (1): 13–25. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/1531855](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1531855). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [1531855](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1531855). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [143406315](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:143406315)., estimates 40 million at 5000 BC and 100 million at 1600 BC, for an average growth rate of 0.027% p.a. over the Chalcolithic to Middle Bronze Age.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Federico Lara Peinado, Universidad Complutense de Madrid: "La Civilización Sumeria". *Historia* 16, 1999.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Roberts, J: *History of the World*. Penguin, 1994.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [*Dictionary of the Ancient Near East*](https://books.google.com/books?id=KdlhaAfK1sYC&dq=Houses+in+Ancient+Sumeria&pg=PA148). University of Pennsylvania Press. 2000. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780812235579](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780812235579).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Steppe migrant thugs pacified by Stone Age farming women"](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170404084429.htm). *[ScienceDaily](/source/ScienceDaily)*. Faculty of Science – University of Copenhagen. 4 April 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Slovenia_6-0)** Gasser, Aleksander (March 2003). ["World's Oldest Wheel Found in Slovenia"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160826021129/http://www.ukom.gov.si/en/media_room/background_information/culture/worlds_oldest_wheel_found_in_slovenia/). Government Communication Office of the Republic of Slovenia. Archived from [the original](http://www.ukom.gov.si/en/media_room/background_information/culture/worlds_oldest_wheel_found_in_slovenia/) on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2015-03-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Australia's top 7 Aboriginal rock art sites](http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2016/03/top-7-aboriginal-rock-art-sites/), *Australian Geographic*

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Manning_2014_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Manning_2014_8-1) Manning, Katie; Timpson, Adrian (2014). ["The demographic response to Holocene climate change in the Sahara"](http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1450029/1/1-s2.0-S0277379114002728-main.pdf) (PDF). *Quaternary Science Reviews*. **101**: 28–35. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2014QSRv..101...28M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014QSRv..101...28M). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.07.003](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.quascirev.2014.07.003). [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1450029/1/1-s2.0-S0277379114002728-main.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Kopytoff_1989_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Kopytoff_1989_9-1) Igor Kopytoff, *The African Frontier: The Reproduction of Traditional African Societies* (1989), 9–10 (cited after [Igbo Language Roots and (Pre)-History](http://amightytree.org/niger-congo-languages-and-history/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190717224506/http://amightytree.org/niger-congo-languages-and-history/) 2019-07-17 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), *A Mighty Tree*, 2011).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Major Climate Change Occurred 5,200 Years Ago: Evidence Suggests That History Could Repeat Itself"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080115112153/http://www.news-about-space.org/story/2409.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.news-about-space.org/story/2409.html) on 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2004-12-17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Fairbridge_1961_11-0)** Fairbridge, Rhodes W. (1961). "Eustatic Changes in Sea Level". *Physics and Chemistry of the Earth*. **4**: 99–185. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1961PCE.....4...99F](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1961PCE.....4...99F). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/0079-1946(61)90004-0](https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0079-1946%2861%2990004-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Murray-Wallace, Colin; Woodroffe, Colin (2014). [*Quaternary Sea-Level Changes: A Global Perspective*](https://books.google.com/books?id=l13BAgAAQBAJ&q=%22Older+Peron%22&pg=PA328). Cambridge University Press. p. 338. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781139867153](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781139867153).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Thompson, L. G.; Mosley-Thompson, E.; Brecher, H.; Davis, M.; León, B.; Les, D.; Lin, P. -N.; Mashiotta, T.; Mountain, K. (2006). ["Inaugural Article: Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484420). *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*. **103** (28): 10536–10543. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2006PNAS..10310536T](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006PNAS..10310536T). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1073/pnas.0603900103](https://doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.0603900103). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [1484420](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484420). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [16815970](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16815970).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Science_Daily_2004-12-04_14-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Science_Daily_2004-12-04_14-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Science_Daily_2004-12-04_14-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Science_Daily_2004-12-04_14-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Science_Daily_2004-12-04_14-4) ["Major Climate Change Occurred 5,200 Years Ago: Evidence Suggests That History Could Repeat Itself"](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041219142907.htm). *[Science Daily](/source/Science_Daily)*. Retrieved 19 December 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Anguiano, Dani (April 2025). ["California wildfire threatening forest home of world's oldest tree"](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/01/california-wildfire-oldest-tree). *The Guardian*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [Dershowitz, Nachum](/source/Nachum_Dershowitz); [Reingold, Edward M.](/source/Edward_M._Reingold) (1997). [*Calendrical Calculations*](/source/Calendrical_Calculations) (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 11. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-56474-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-56474-8).

v t e Millennia CE / AD 1st 2nd 3rd 4th and later BCE / BC 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th and earlier

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [4th millennium BC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_millennium_BC) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_millennium_BC?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.