15th millennium BC

The 15th millennium BC spanned the years 15,000 BC to 14,001 BC. This millennium is during the Upper Paleolithic period. It is impossible to precisely date events that happened during this millennium, and all dates associated with this millennium are estimates mostly based on geological analysis, anthropological analysis, and radiometric dating. Around 15,000 BC, human innovation surged in areas like hunting, farming, and tool creation. People used spear-throwers and flint-bladed sickles, while expressive cave paintings captured rituals and wildlife. Communities constructed shelters from mammoth bones, shaped early pottery, and depicted mythical beings. Artistic traditions flourished, including bone carvings and symbolic lighting tools. As sea levels rose, landscapes shifted and regions became isolated. Agriculture took root, dogs were likely tamed, and decorative glass beads emerged—marking a period rich in ingenuity and adaptation. The 15th millennium BCE falls at the end of the last Ice Age.

Earth

• Corresponding with the waning phase of the last Ice Age.^[1]
• The widespread emergence of glass beads in Egypt and Mesopotamia.^[2]
• Early humans progressively invented tools and techniques for trapping animals. The earliest spears were crafted from wood, with tips toughened by burning. By 15,000 BC, hunters employed wooden and bone spear-launchers to enhance force and distance. These devices were frequently adorned with carvings of creatures.^[3]
• Harvesting sickles, first developed around 15,000 years ago, had wooden handles and flint blades. Their basic design remained largely unchanged for thousands of years across different cultures.^[4]
• Early humans created cave art around 15,000 years ago, reflecting hunting rituals and climate.^[5]

Europe

• Development of magdalenian civilisations (development of craftsmanship based on bone materials and the quality of furniture and wall art).^[6]
• Paintings in the network of Lascaux caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France.^[7]
• Early humans drew hybrid creatures like the “dancing sorcerer,” (Cave of the Trois-Frères) in Ariège in French, later imagining gods like Medusa—marking a shift in seeing humans as distinct from animals.^[8]
• A prehistoric settlement in Mezhirich included shelters constructed from mammoth skeletons, coverings made of beast skins, fire pits containing burnt debris, and floors tinted with ocher hues—demonstrating primitive creativity and collective habitation.^[9]
• Development of Gravettian civilisations in Italy and Eastern Europe.
• Peak of rock art in Europe.
• Pink sandstone lamp from Lascaux, used like a candle; unique markings link it to cave artists from 17,000 years ago.^[10]
• By 22,000 BC Ice sheets extended beyond the southern coast of Ireland; but by 14,000 BC the glaciers had retreated so that only an ice bridge remained between Ireland and Scotland.^[11][12]

Dwelling made with mammoth bones. Reconstruction based on the example of Mezhirich. Exhibit in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan.

Americas

• Probable presence of humans at the Cactus Hill site in Virginia, where stone artefacts and possibly hearths dating to before the Clovis culture have been found.^[13]
• Around 14,500 BC, rising ocean levels submerged land bridges, isolating Siberia and transforming Beringia into a region that would eventually be incorporated into present-day Alaska.^[14]
• Around 16,000 years ago, Caddo County featured cool, wet pine woodlands with diverse megafauna. Nearby, Kiowa County’s Cooperton site revealed 17,000-year-old mammoth remains.^[15]

Africa

• Farming may have emerged in sub-Saharan Africa as far back as the 15,000s BCE.^[16]

Asia

• Osipovka culture's portable art shows early face motifs from the 15th millennium BC in east of Russia, influencing later Neolithic traditions. Kondon culture emphasized animal imagery, with limited continuation of face motifs.^[17]
• Pottery in Japan may have originated earlier, as Japan’s Jomon hunter-gatherers crafted the world’s oldest known ceramics around 14,500 BC.^[18]
• The earliest applications of paint served purely ornamental purposes. Consequently, pigment lacking any adhesive agent—composed mainly of iron oxide was employed in prehistoric cave art around the 15,000s BC in parts of Asia.^[19]
• Probable domestication of the dog in Middle East.
• Since 15,000 BC, rising sea levels and river sediment have reshaped the Persian Gulf’s coastline; modern borders now overlay it.^[20]
• The earliest known genetic marker for blond hair has been identified in Ancient North Eurasian individuals discovered at the Afontova Gora archaeological site in Siberia.^[21]
• Discovery of pottery and pottery-making activities in regions of southern China.^[22]
• Radiocarbon evidence from the archaeological sites of Shanidar Cave and Palegawra in Iraqi Kurdistan suggests that the Zarzian culture had established itself as early as 15,000 BC. Scholars generally believe this cultural phase persisted until the emergence of Neolithic lifeways around 8,000 BC before present.^[23]