Timeline of Rome

Roman History Until 3050 BC

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This text offers a concise prehistoric timeline of Italy, from dinosaur fossils and early hominids to volcanic eruptions, Neolithic settlements, and the rise of megalithic temples.

PREHISTORY

I. Lower Paleolithic (c. 1,300,000 – 150,000 BC)

  • c. 1,300,000 BC
    Fossils of Scipionyx samniticus near Benevento (discovered in the 1980s). This small Maniraptor (related to Velociraptor) lived on a sandy, scrub-covered island in the early Cretaceous, surrounded by warm shallow lagoons.
  • c. 1,000,000 BC
    Lower Paleolithic site at Pineta di Isernia (linked to Homo erectus, also called Homo Aeserniensis). Evidence continues until c. 730,000 BC.
  • c. 800,000 BC
    Remains of Homo erectus (Homo cepranensis) discovered near Ceprano (southern Latium). The skull cap is dated between 900,000 and 750,000 years old.
  • c. 700,000 BC
    • Humans (Homo Aeserniensis) at Pineta di Isernia become the world’s earliest known users of fire.
    • Further evidence of Homo erectus in Calabria.
  • c. 500,000 BC
    • Lower Paleolithic sites in Abruzzi (Teramano, Maiella), Basilicata (Venosa), Puglia (Gargano), and Campania (Capri).
    • Evidence of early humans living in caves along the coast of the Cilento in southern Campania.
    • Human remains (female skulls) found in Agrigento area date to this period.
    • Around this time, Mt. Etna (Sicily) begins to form.
  • c. 350,000 BC
    World’s oldest known human footprints left in the volcanic ash of the Roccamonfina volcano (Campania).
  • c. 150,000 BC
    Volcanic island of Alicudi (Aeolian Islands) forms.

II. Middle Paleolithic (c. 150,000 – 40,000 BC)

  • c. 70,000 BC
    Homo camaerotensis (Neanderthals) in the vicinity of Camerota (SA) in the Cilento area of Campania (to c. 35,000 BC).
  • c. 60,000 BC
    Evidence of Middle Paleolithic Neanderthal presence on the Italian mainland:
    • Sites on the Salento coast (Grotta Romanelli) and on the Gargano coast.

III. Late (Upper) Paleolithic (c. 40,000 – 10,000 BC)

  • c. 28,000 BC
    Volcanic activity ends on Alicudi Island.
  • c. 20,000 BC
    Earliest evidence of Homo sapiens on Sicily.
  • c. 11,000 BC
    A Paleolithic burial in San Teodoro Cave (Sicily) includes a female pelvis with an embedded arrowhead—possible evidence of violence during this era.
  • c. 10,000 BC
    Cave paintings on Levanzo (small island off western Sicily), lasting to c. 8700 BC.

IV. Transition to the Mesolithic (c. 9500 – 7000 BC)

  • c. 9500 BC
    “Romito 2,” a teenage male dwarf (4 ft tall) found in a cave in Calabria. Possibly cared for by his community (his remains were found with an elderly woman, maybe his mother).
  • c. 8000 BC
    • Tool-makers at Grotta dell’Uzzo in Sicily (until c. 7000 BC).
    • Upper Paleolithic wall-art in the Addaura Caves (Mt. Pellegrino, Sicily) shows what might be an initiation or circumcision ritual (until c. 7000 BC).
    • End of the last Ice Age; climate warms.
    • Neolithic culture begins replacing Paleolithic.
    • Elsewhere: Permanent brick buildings appear at Jericho.
  • c. 7980 BC (± 500 years)
    Eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
  • c. 7900 BC
    Volcanic eruption on Lipari Island.
  • c. 7590 BC (± 50 years)
    Another eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
  • c. 7550 BC
    Eruption on Ischia.
  • c. 7500 BC
    Elsewhere: Settlement of Çatalhöyük emerges in Anatolia.
  • c. 7370 BC
    Elsewhere: Walled town of Jericho ends.
  • c. 7050 BC
    Possible volcanic eruption on Pantelleria Island.

V. Early Neolithic (c. 7000 – 6000 BC)

  • c. 7000 BC
    • Neolithic settlers arrive on Malta from Sicily.
    • Elsewhere: Pottery-making begins in the Middle East.
    • Ceramic industry established on Crete.
    • Settlement of Lepenski Vir arises in the central Balkans, marking the start of Old European Culture, which featured:
      • Pre-Indo-European peoples
      • Matrilineal system, earth-goddess religion
      • Possible ancestors of the prehistoric Sikans, Elymians, and maybe the Etruscans
  • c. 6650 BC (± 100 years)
    Eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
  • c. 6550 BC
    Possible eruption on Vulcano Island.
  • c. 6490 BC
    Another eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
  • c. 6350 BC
    Eruption on Vulcano Island.
  • c. 6300 BC (± 50 years)
    Eruption of the Campi Flegrei.
  • c. 6190 BC (± 200 years)
    Eruption of Mt. Etna.
  • c. 6130 BC
    Eruption on Pantelleria Island.

VI. Later Neolithic (c. 6000 – 4500 BC)

  • c. 6000 BC
    • Arrival of the Sikans on Sicily (some sources date this to 1500 BC). Their principal settlement was at Sant’Angelo Muxaro.
    • A large landslide on Mt. Etna plunges into the sea, creating an enormous tsunami, which impacted southern Italy, western Greece, North Africa, and eastern Mediterranean shores over several hours.
    • Elsewhere: Decorative wall-painting begins at Çatalhöyük.
    • Elsewhere: Cycladic culture arises in the Aegean Sea.
    • Elsewhere: Copper Age (Chalcolithic/Enolithic) begins in the Middle East. Earliest known wine in prehistoric Persia.
  • c. 5960 BC
    Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
  • c. 5950 BC
    Neolithic settlement at Capo Alfiere (near modern Crotone, Calabria).
  • c. 5610 BC
    Eruption on Pantelleria Island.
  • c. 5600 BC
    Elsewhere: Warm, dry climate helps form the Sahara Desert. Ancestors of ancient Egyptians move into the Nile valley/delta.
  • c. 5140 BC (± 150 years)
    Eruption of Mt. Etna.
  • c. 5000 BC
    • Obsidian trade begins on Lipari, extending to western North Africa.
    • Agriculture spreads throughout Europe from the Middle East.
    • Cultivation of wheat on the Italian peninsula.
    • Neolithic Ghar Dalam farming culture on Malta, likely from Sikan immigrants of central Sicily (to c. 4500 BC).
  • c. 4500 BC
    Neolithic agricultural communities near Catignano and Ripoli in the Abruzzi.

VII. Toward the Copper Age and Early Bronze Age (c. 4150 – 3000 BC)

  • c. 4150 BC (± 150 years)
    Eruption of Mt. Etna.
  • c. 4100 BC
    Renewed immigration to Malta from Sicily (to c. 3500 BC).
  • c. 4050 BC
    Eruption on Ischia.
  • c. 3650 BC
    Eruption on Stromboli.
  • c. 3640 BC
    Eruption on Pantelleria Island.
  • c. 3600 BC
    Construction of the megalithic Ġgantija temples on Gozo (Malta), dedicated to an Earth Mother goddess. Considered the world’s oldest free-standing and oldest religious structures.
  • c. 3580 BC
    Eruption on Ischia; possible eruption of Vesuvius.
  • c. 3550 BC
    Eruption on Vulcano Island.
  • c. 3510 BC (± 150 years)
    Eruption of Mt. Etna.
  • c. 3500 BC
    • Piano Conte culture in southern Italy and Sicily (to 3000 BC).
    • Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius destroys a Bronze Age settlement on the later site of Pompeii. Remains of burned wood and emmer wheat found by excavations in 2005.
    • Possible earlier Neolithic settlement at Pompeii as well.
    • Bronze Age development near the future site of Naples (Neapolis).
    • Earliest known human settlement on Ischia.
    • First permanent villages in Calabria.
  • c. 3390 BC (± 50 years)
    Eruption of Mt. Etna.
  • c. 3300 BC
    Elsewhere: Rise of the Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization.
  • c. 3200 BC
    • Formation of the Campi Flegrei caldera (15 km west-southwest of Naples).
    • Tarxien phase begins on Malta (to c. 2500 BC). Hagar Qim temple built on Malta, aligned to solar and lunar movements.
  • c. 3150 BC
    Elsewhere: Egypt is unified under Narmer (First Dynasty). Hieroglyphic writing begins around this period (alt. date c. 3100 BC).
  • c. 3100 BC
    Elsewhere: Earliest phases of Stonehenge in Britain.
  • c. 3050 BC
    • Eruption on Ischia; possible eruption on Stromboli.
    • Mt. Etna erupts (± 150 years).
    • Stentinello Culture in Sicily.
    • Earliest use of copper on Sicily.