The Prehistory of Asia is a rich tapestry that extends across millions of years of human evolution and cultural development. Asia was one of the first regions inhabited by hominins, the distant ancestors of modern homo sapiens, along with our deceased sibling species. Many other species of human, such as homo heidelbergensis thrived on the land before our species evolved.
The ancient people of Asia the moment that modern humans first left Africa. We left Africa in waves, but it is generally accepted that we first began to permanently populate the rest of the world around 70,000 years ago, Asia very likely being our first stop. While the prehistory of Asia technically includes the entirety of the geological history of the landmass of Asia itself, back to Pangea, the forming of the Earth and the Birth of the Sun, in this chapter we are paying attention specifically to the prehistory of modern humans.
The Prehistory of Asia Over Time
Archaeological evidence suggests that Asia was one of the earliest regions inhabited by hominins, with significant discoveries shedding light on early human migration patterns and adaptation to diverse environments. Sites such as , where fossils of Homo erectus fossils have been found, at sites like Zhoukoudian in China and the Levant in the Middle East — which is also the Fertile Crescent, Near East, and Southwest Asia — all provide crucial insights into the origins of human settlement in Asia during the Paleolithic period (2.6 million – 10,000 years ago).
Across Neolithic Asia (roughly 10,000 – 2,000 BCE) settled agricultural societies began to emerge by around 10,000 BCE, whose sedentary ways focused on farming the land and raising domesticated animals as their predominant way of life. A dramatic shift in the level of culture, which evolved into the development of complex civilizations, and the emergence of the first true cities of the world with the dawn of history around 3000 BCE.
Sumer, in Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent appears to be the oldest of the high civilizations, defined by its ancient cities of Uruk and Ur. Writing was first invented at Uruk, the city of Inanna, along with law, medicine, astronomy, and organized religion. This evolution occurred under the pyramids of Egypt a few hundred kilometers away at around the same time.
The Indus Valley Civilization in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, is another example of this type of society, characterized by its advanced urban planning and sophisticated drainage systems, with an early form of script that remains undeciphered. The early Shaang Dynasty in China arose shortly after (which was preceded by the somewhat mythical Xin Dynasty) developing writing also, and over the course of this new historical period, developed into illustrious states and powerful empires across Asia.
The End of Prehistoric Asia
Finally, after thousands of years spent as farmers and herdsmen from the Neolithic Revolution in the Fertile Crescent, the first great cities begin to emerge across Asia. The oldest known city in the world, Uruk, emerged in the land of the Mesopotamian nation we call Sumer around 3000 BCE, with significant roots going back to the mid-fifth millennium BCE, along with glorious cities of Ancient Egypt at around the same time.
These cultural revolutions in Sumer, Ancient Egypt, Ancient China, the Indus Valley Civilization of the Vedic Peoples in northern India, and the Minoans of Crete in Europe all at around the same time, mark the end of the prehistoric period for all humanity. Each of these peoples developed writing, leaving us history for the first time, the true end of prehistory. With the exception of the Minoans from the Greek island Crete and the Ancient Egyptians from the northeastern corner of Africa, all of these revolutions occurred in Asia.
This shift into the new historical age takes place in Asia in the Bronze Age (3,000 – 1,200 BCE) during which time Asia and Europe — together Eurasia — develop technologically and culturally advanced, literary societies. The Bronze Age gives way to the Iron Age (1,200 BCE – 500 CE) of Asia, where we see the emergence of powerful empires and states in the lands of their ancestors: including the Persian Empire of Iran, the Babylonians of Mesopotamia, the Maurya Empire in India, and the Han Dynasty in China. These civilizations played a pivotal role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural landscape of Asia, leaving a lasting legacy that continues to influence the region to this day.