# Human History how long have we on earth?,



## lwhitehead (Sep 4, 2014)

Hi I want to know how long we bin on Earth and when recorded history started from current year,




LW


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## aj47 (Sep 4, 2014)

a) about a million years b) about six thousand years.   These figures are what I remember.  If you want to know for sure, google is your friend.

Recorded history means written history so you can't go back further than writing was invented.


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## LeeC (Sep 4, 2014)

A) "We" in our current life form only about 200,000 years. A  blink of the eye in evolutionary history.


B) At most, somewhere around 3000 years varying by cultures.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_history_of_life
The earliest identified organisms were minute and relatively featureless, and their fossils look like small rods, which are very difficult to tell apart from structures that arise through abiotic physical processes. The oldest undisputed evidence of life on Earth, interpreted as fossilized bacteria, dates to 3 Ga.[37][contradictory] Other finds in rocks dated to about 3.5 Ga have been interpreted as bacteria,[38] with geochemical evidence also seeming to show the presence of life 3.8 Ga.[39] However these analyses were closely scrutinized, and non-biological processes were found which could produce all of the "signatures of life" that had been reported.[40][41] While this does not prove that the structures found had a non-biological origin, they cannot be taken as clear evidence for the presence of life. Geochemical signatures from rocks deposited 3.4 Ga have been interpreted as evidence for life,[37][42] although these statements have not been thoroughly examined by critics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human
Early hominids, such as the australopithecines who had more apelike brains and skulls, are less often thought of or referred to as "human" than hominids of the genus Homo[5] some of whom used fire, occupied much of Eurasia, and gave rise to [6][7] anatomically modern Homo sapiens in Africa about 200,000 years ago where they began to exhibit evidence of behavioral modernity around 50,000 years ago and migrated out in successive waves to occupy[8] all but the smallest, driest, and coldest lands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory
The occurrence of written materials (and so the beginning of local "historic times") varies generally to cultures classified within either the late Bronze Age or within the Iron Age. Historians increasingly do not restrict themselves to evidence from written records and are coming to rely more upon evidence from the natural and social sciences, thereby blurring the distinction between the terms "history" and "prehistory".[6][7][8]


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## aj47 (Sep 4, 2014)

I should have asked if you meant life or humans.


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## Terry D (Sep 4, 2014)

Life -- 1 billion years ago

Hominids (as being different from great apes) -- 4.2 million years ago

Homo sapiens sapiens -- 200,000 years ago


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## lwhitehead (Sep 4, 2014)

Well I need to know for Kavi series, I need to figure timwframes from 27th century.


 LW


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## Morkonan (Sep 7, 2014)

lwhitehead said:


> Hi I want to know how long we bin on Earth and when recorded history started from current year,
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I'm not exactly sure what you're asking.

"Life" 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_evolutionary_history_of_life

Basically, about 3.7 billion years, give or take. Life on Earth evolved as soon as it was practically able for it to evolve.

"Humans"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_evolution

(Although, there could be a margin of error for the actual rise of Homo Sapiens that is very large, comparatively speaking.)

It's very important to note that what we term "Human" has several components. One of them is simple genetics - Homo Sapiens. However, there are two other ways of looking at the term "Human." The are "anatomically modern humans" and "behaviorally modern humans." Behaviorally modern humans, those that started forming cultures and began domesticating animals, organized farming, and likely formed complex symbolic languages as well as individual specialization in certain tasks, did not arise until around 10,000 to 50,000 years ago. (Debatable, btw.) In essence, "we" as "anatomically modern" humans have likely existed for 250,000 years or so, give or take. But, it wasn't until the last 10,000 to 50,000 years that "behaviorally modern" humans have existed. (50,000 years might be a stretch, but there is evidence for it.) And, trying to figure out the mystery of how and why we made the leap from an existence we were comfortable with for several hundred-thousand years to the sort of life we experience today as evidenced 10,000-50,000 years ago is one that someone, somewhere, is going to win a Nobel for... Many place importance on the development of complex language as being the necessary ingredient. Some think it might be certain sexual practices. Some think that the development of organized religion or similar practices could have provided the necessary cultural and social foundations. Some think it was aliens... 

It's also worth noting that, though small groups of behaviorally modern humans likely migrated in earlier times, 10,000 years ago a mass migration of behaviorally modern humans left Africa and exploded upon the world. I believe that why that happened or was enabled to happen is also a matter of strenuous debate. "How" it happened, thanks to advances in genetics, is less debatable. Considering known mutation rates and DNA analysis, we can "trace" these migrations in the human record of the DNA of their descendents.


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## count58 (Sep 10, 2014)

Several billions of years ago ... there was no life but endangered species.
Species back then had to feed on plants or insects.
And it was survival.
Over time, breeding took place until what we have now the current generations.
You can check out the library for unique information.:eagerness:


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## Diatsu (Sep 10, 2014)

I hear that humans were born about 30 million years ago, but this was before the shape you know now, while we were small micro organisms. But that's only if you believe in evolution, if your a believer of creationism, than I have no clue.


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## Deleted member 56686 (Sep 10, 2014)

Diatsu said:


> I hear that humans were born about 30 million years ago, but this was before the shape you know now, while we were small micro organisms. But that's only if you believe in evolution, if your a believer of creationism, than I have no clue.



Creationists believe earth was built in about a week somewhere around six thousand years ago. I think that's how it goes anyway.


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## Diatsu (Sep 10, 2014)

mrmustard615 said:


> Creationists believe earth was built in about a week somewhere around six thousand years ago. I think that's how it goes anyway.


I suppose it depends, as I know some creationists believe everything scientists do, only that the Big Bang was started by Devine interference, who already knew how everything would plan out.


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## Guy Faukes (Sep 10, 2014)

Diatsu said:


> I suppose it depends, as I know some creationists believe everything scientists do, only that the Big Bang was started by Devine interference, who already knew how everything would plan out.



I would like these Creationists to be more vocal.


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## tabasco5 (Sep 12, 2014)

Nobody knows.


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## tabasco5 (Sep 12, 2014)

Guy Faukes said:


> I would like these Creationists to be more vocal.



Vocal about what?


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## lwhitehead (Oct 15, 2014)

Human History that what I'm after?,


LW


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## Cran (Oct 15, 2014)

lwhitehead said:


> Human History that what I'm after?,
> 
> 
> LW


Even then, unless you are hoping for a Genesis point, pinpointing a beginning is the most difficult because we are still piecing together and unlearning some earlier misconceptions; the most common being the idea that all modern humans come from a single evolutionary line, that each identifiable type of early homonid is a stage in a single progression. 

Forensic and geo-dating applications have indicated that the hominid family divided many times, with related but distinct types existing concurrently, sometimes in isolation, sometimes interbreeding. So, the beginning of human history is still a bit murky, but getting clearer as we keep investigating. 

Early mass migrations and notable changes in behaviour generally coincide with changes in global glaciation shifts - the most recent being the last glacial retreat, or what we commonly call the End of the Ice Age which covers the time from ~9000 years ago to ~12000 years ago (at different latitudes). 

Although there are plenty of cave paintings and hand-made objects which predate the last glaciation, the milestones that indicate shifts towards modern cultures tend to be restricted to those found since the last glacial retreat: early evidence of deliberate agriculture around 9000 years ago in the Americas and 7000 years ago in Africa and the Middle East; evidence of deliberate record-keeping around 6500 years ago; earliest post-glacial permanent settlements around the same time, although seasonal (semi-nomadic) settlements trace back to previous interglacials. 

Basically, we are talking about Neolithic times (variously called period, era, epoch, or age), and it progressed at different rates and in different orders of milestone achievements in different parts of the world.


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