Great inventions

Upper Paleolithic to Early Mesolithic[edit]
50 ka has been regarded by some as the beginning of behavioral modernity, defining the Upper Paleolithic period, which lasted nearly 40,000 years (though some research dates the beginning of behavioral modernity earlier to the Middle Paleolithic). This is characterized by the widespread observation of religious rites, artistic expression and the appearance of tools made for purely intellectual or artistic pursuits.

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  49-30 ka: Ground stone tools – fragments of an axe in Australia date to 49-45 ka, more appear in Japan closer to 30 ka, and elsewhere closer to the Neolithic.^[40][41]
  
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  47 ka: The oldest-known mines in the world are from Swaziland, and extracted hematite for the production of the red pigment ochre.^[42][43]
  
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  45 ka: Shoes, as evidenced by changes in foot bone morphology in Eurasia^[44] Bark sandals), dated to 10 to 9 ka were found in Fort Rock Cave in the US state of Oregon in 1938.^[45] Oldest leather shoe (Areni-1 shoe), 5.5 ka.^[46]
  
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  44–42 ka: Tally sticks (see Lebombo bone) in Swaziland^[47]
  
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  43.7 ka: Cave painting in Indonesia^[48][49]
  
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  37 ka: Mortar and pestle in Southwest Asia^[50]
  
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  36 ka: Weaving – Indirect evidence from Czechia,^[51] Georgia^[52] and Moravia.^[53] The earliest actual piece of woven cloth was found in Çatalhöyük, Turkey.^[54][55]
  
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  35 ka: Flute in Germany^[56]
  
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  33-10 ka: Star chart in France^[57] and Spain^[58]
  
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  28 ka: Rope^[59]
  
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  26 ka: Ceramics in Europe^[60]
  
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  23 ka: Domestication of the dog in Siberia.^[61]
  
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  19 ka: Bullroarer in Ukraine^[62]
  
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  16 ka: Pottery in China^[63]
  
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  14.5 ka: Bread in Jordan^[64][65]
  

Agricultural and proto-agricultural eras[edit]
The end of the Last Glacial Period ("ice age") and the beginning of the Holocene around 11.7 ka coincide with the Agricultural Revolution, marking the beginning of the agricultural era, which persisted until the industrial revolution.