5th millennium BC

The 5th millennium BC sees the spread of agriculture from the Middle East throughout southern and central Europe. Urban cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia flourish, developing the wheel. Copper ornaments become more common, marking the Chalcolithic. Animal husbandry spreads throughout Eurasia, reaching China. World population grows slightly throughout the millennium, maybe from 5 to 7 million people.

Events

4860 BC - Mount Mazama in Oregon collapses, forming a caldera that later fills with water and becomes Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States.
4713 BC - The epoch (origin) of the Julian Period described by Joseph Justus Scaliger occurred on January 1, the astronomical Julian day number zero.
4300 BC - Theta Boötis became the nearest visible star to the celestial north pole. It remained the closest until 3942 BC when it was replaced by Thuban.
4121 BC - Eduard Meyer's date for the creation of the Egyptian calendar, based on his calculations of the Sothic cycle.
4004 BC - The universe is created at nightfall preceding October 23 according to the Ussher-Lightfoot chronology of Archbishop James Ussher of Armagh.

Cultures

c. 4800 - 4600 BC; arrangements of circular ditches are built in Central Europe
c. 4500 BC – Civilization of Susa and Kish in Mesopotamia and Khuzestan (see Sialk)
Cucuteni culture in Central Europe
the chalcolithic Sredny Stog, Samara and early Maykop cultures, candidates for the early Proto-Indo-Europeans

Periods

c. 4570–4250 BC – Merimde culture on the Nile
c. 4400–4000 BC – Badari culture on the Nile

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

from ca. 5000 BC: development of proto-writing systems, possibly ideographic: Vinca script, Tartaria tablets.
ca. 4500 BC – Introduction of the plough in Europe
Domestication of the Water Buffalo in China
Development of beer brewing
Development of the wheel in Mesopotamia and Europe

Millennia | 5th millennium BC

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Events

Cultures

Periods

Inventions, discoveries, introductions