View source for 1st millennium BC

{{Short description|Millennium between 1000 BC and 1 BC}}
{{External links|date=March 2025}}
{{Millenniumbox|-1}}
<imagemap>File:1st millennium BC.jpg|thumb|400x400px|From top left clockwise: The [[Parthenon]], a former temple in [[Athens|Athens, Greece]]; [[Aristotle]], Greek philosopher; [[Gautama Buddha]], a spiritual teacher and the founder of [[Buddhism]]; [[Wars of Alexander the Great]] last from 336 BC to 323 BC; Letters of the [[Greek alphabet]]; People working during the [[Iron Age]]; Roman dictator, [[Julius Caesar]] is assassinated by the [[Roman Senate]] in 44 BC. (Background: A mural from the [[Assyria|Assyrian Empire]] which dissolved in the 7th century BC)
rect 42 28 559 285 [[Parthenon]]
rect 626 65 923 350 [[Aristotle]]
rect 993 28 1239 387 [[Gautama Buddha]]
rect 42 372 425 616 [[Assassination of Julius Caesar]]
rect 483 388 749 502 [[Greek alphabet]]
rect 775 468 1255 698 [[Wars of Alexander the Great]]
rect 453 535 731 698 [[Iron Age]]

rect 1 1 1279 719 [[Assyrian Empire]]
</imagemap>
The '''1st millennium BC''', also known as the '''last millennium BC''', was the period of time lasting from the years [[1000 BC]] to [[1 BC]] ([[10th century BC|10th]] to [[1st century BC|1st]] centuries [[Before Christ|BC]]; in astronomy: [[Julian day|JD]] {{val|1356182.5|fmt=gaps}} – {{val|1721425.5|fmt=gaps}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://keisan.casio.com/exec/system/1227779487|title=Julian Day Number from Date Calculator|website=keisan.casio.com }}</ref>). It encompasses the [[Iron Age]] in the [[Old World]] and sees the transition from the [[Ancient Near East]] to [[classical antiquity]].

[[World population estimates|World population]] roughly doubled over the course of the millennium, from about 100 million to about 200–250 million after the birth of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] and the establishment of the [[Julio-Claudian dynasty]] led by its founder [[Augustus|Octavian]].<ref name="HYDE2011">Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011). The HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years, Global Ecology and Biogeography20(1): 73–86. {{doi|10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00587.x}} ([http://themasites.pbl.nl/tridion/en/themasites/hyde/download/index-2.html pbl.nl]).
Goldewijk et al. (2011) estimate 188 million as of AD 1, citing a literature range of 170 million (low) to 300 million (high).
Out of the estimated 188M, 116M are estimated for Asia (East, South/Southeast and Central Asia, excluding Western Asia),
44M for Europe and the Near East, 15M for Africa (including Egypt and Roman North Africa), 12M for Mesoamerica and South America. North America and Oceania were at or below one million.
Jean-Noël Biraben, "Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes", ''Population'' 34-1 (1979), 13–25 (p. 22) estimates c. 100 million at 1200 BC and c. 250 million at AD 1.[https://www.persee.fr/doc/pop_0032-4663_1979_num_34_1_18032]</ref>

==Overview==
{{see|Ancient history|Human history}}

The [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] dominates the [[Ancient Near East|Near East]] in the early centuries of the millennium, supplanted by the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in the 6th century. [[Ancient Egypt]] is in decline, and [[Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt|falls]] to the Achaemenids in 525 BC.

In Greece, [[Classical Antiquity]] begins with the colonization of [[Magna Graecia]] and peaks with the [[Wars of Alexander the Great|conquest of the Achaemenids]] and the subsequent flourishing of [[Hellenistic civilization]] (4th to 2nd centuries).

The [[Roman Republic]] [[Roman expansion in Italy|supplants]] the [[Etruscans]] and then the [[Punic Wars|Carthaginians]] (5th to 3rd centuries). The close of the millennium sees the rise of the [[Roman Empire]]. The early [[Celts|Celtic culture]] dominate Central Europe while Northern Europe is in the [[Pre-Roman Iron Age]]. In East Africa, the [[Kingdom of Kush|Nubian Empire]] and [[Aksumite Empire|Aksum]] arise.

In South Asia, the [[Vedic civilization]] gives rise to the [[Maurya Empire]]. The [[Scythians]] dominate Central Asia. In China, the [[Zhou dynasty]] rules the Chinese heartland at the beginning of the millennium. The decline of the Zhou dynasty during [[Spring and Autumn period]] and the [[Warring States period]] sees the rise of such philosophical and spiritual traditions as [[Confucianism]] and [[Taoism]]. Towards the close of the millennium, the [[Han dynasty]] extends Chinese power towards Central Asia, where it borders on [[Indo-Greek]] and [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] states. Japan is in the [[Yayoi period]]. 

The [[Olmecs|Olmec civilization]] declines, and the [[Maya civilization|Maya]] and [[Zapotec civilization|Zapotec]] civilizations emerge in Mesoamerica. The [[Chavín culture]] flourishes in Peru.

The first millennium BC is the formative period of the classical [[world religion]]s, with the development of [[Second Temple Judaism|early Judaism]] and [[Zoroastrianism]] in the [[Near East]], and [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic religion]] and [[Vedanta]], [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]] in India. [[Ancient literature|Early literature]] develops in [[Greek literature|Greek]], [[Latin literature|Latin]], [[Ancient Hebrew writings|Hebrew]], [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Chinese literature|Chinese]]. The term [[Axial Age]], coined by [[Karl Jaspers]], is intended to express the crucial importance of the period of c. the 8th to 2nd centuries BC in [[Human history|world history]].

[[World population estimates|World population]] more than doubled over the course of the millennium, from about an estimated 50–100 million to an estimated 170–300 million.
Close to 90% of world population at the end of the first millennium BC lived in the Iron Age civilizations of the Old World (Roman Empire, [[Parthian Empire]], [[Indo-Greeks|Graeco]]-[[Indo-Scythians|Indo-Scythian]] and [[Maurya Empire|Hindu]] kingdoms, [[Han dynasty|Han China]]). 
The population of the Americas was below 20 million, concentrated in [[Mesoamerica]] ([[Epi-Olmec culture]]);
that of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] was likely below 10 million. The population of Oceania was likely less than one million people.<ref name=HYDE2011/>

==Ancient history==
{{main|Ancient history}}
{{see|Iron Age|Classical Antiquity|Axial Age}}

[[Image:East-Hem 1000bc.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Map of the Eastern Hemisphere in 1000 BC.]]

===Timeline===
[[File:World in 1 CE.png|thumb|300x300px|Map of the world in 1 AD, just after the end of the 1st millennium BC.]]
<!--only give large civilizational events, there is no room to list dynastic details, individual settlements etc.-->
*[[10th century BC]]<!-- 1000 BC to 901 BC-->
**Near East: [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]
**Near East: [[Shoshenq I]] invades [[Canaan]]
**Aegean: [[Helladic]] period ends
**Sub-Saharan Africa West: [[Nok Culture]] slowly diffuse discernible ceramic sculpting, iron metallurgy and cereal farming cultures through the [[Niger Delta]] region, though debatable possible settling period and or foundation of proto [[Ile-Ife]]
*[[9th century BC]] 
**[[Chavín culture]] in Peru
**[[Third Intermediate Period of Egypt|Egypt]]: [[872 BC]]: Nile floods the Temple of Luxor
**Egypt: [[836 BC]]: Civil war in Egypt
** South Asia: [[872 BC]]: [[Jainism]] re-organized by [[Parshvanatha]]
** North Africa: [[814 BC]]: [[Carthage]] founded 
**[[Zhou dynasty|China]]: [[841 BC]]–[[828 BC]] [[Gonghe Regency]]
*[[8th century BC]] <!-- from 800 to 701-->
**[[727 BC]]: Egypt: [[Kingdom of Kush|Kushite invasion]] ([[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt|25th Dynasty]])
**[[771 BC]]: China: [[Spring and Autumn period]]
**Near East: [[727 BC]]: Death of [[Tiglath-Pileser III]], [[Babylonia]] secedes from [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyria]]
**Near East: [[722 BC]]: [[Sargon II]] takes [[Samaria]]; [[Assyrian captivity]] of the Israelites.
**Greece: [[Archaic Greece]], [[Greek alphabet]]
**Greece: [[Homer]]
**[[776 BC]]: Greece: First [[Olympiad]]
**[[753 BC]]: Europe: [[foundation of Rome]]
*[[7th century BC]][[File:Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal - king riding killing lion.jpg|thumb|Relief of King [[Ashurbanipal]] of [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyria]] hunting a [[Mesopotamian lion]], from the Northern Palace in [[Nineveh]], {{Circa|645}}-635 BC]]
**[[671 BC]]: Assyrian conquest of Egypt
**Near East: [[631 BC]]: Death of [[Ashurbanipal]], decline of the Assyrian Empire
*[[6th century BC]] <!-- from 600 to 501-->
**Egypt: [[592 BC]]: [[Psamtik II]] sacks Napata
**Sudan: [[Aspelta]] moves the Kushite capital to [[Meroe]] 
**Near East: [[539 BC]]: [[Achaemenid]] conquest of Babylon under [[Cyrus the Great]]
**South Asia: [[Śramaṇa]] movement and "second urbanisation"
**South Asia: [[Pre-sectarian Buddhism|Early Buddhism]]
**Europe: [[509 BC]]: [[Roman Republic]]
*[[5th century BC]] <!-- from 500 to 401-->
**China: [[479 BC]]: death of [[Confucius]] 
**China: [[476 BC]]: [[Warring States period]]
**China: [[486 BC]]: [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal]] construction begins
**Near East: [[Second Temple Judaism]], redaction of the [[Hebrew Bible]]
** Greece: beginning of the [[Classical Greece|classical period]] ([[Greece in the 5th century BC]]).
** Greece: [[Greco-Persian Wars]] ([[Battle of Marathon]], [[Battle of Thermopylae]])
** Greece: 440 BC: [[Herodotus]]' ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]''
** Greece: [[431 BC]]: [[Peloponnesian War]]
**Oceania: [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian expansion]] reaches Western Polynesia
*[[4th century BC]] <!-- from 400 to 301-->
**Greece: [[395 BC]]: [[Corinthian War]]
**Egypt: [[343 BC]]: [[Persian Egypt|Achaemenid conquest]][[File:World in 323 BCE.png|thumb|300px|right|Map of the world in 323 BC]]
**Greece/Asia/Egypt: 330s BC: conquests of [[Alexander the Great]], end of the Achaemenid Empire, [[Macedonian Empire]], beginning of the [[Hellenistic period]]
**South Asia: [[Mauryan Empire]]
*[[3rd century BC]] <!-- from 300 to 201-->
**China: [[Qin dynasty|Qin Unified China]]
**China: [[206 BC]]: [[Han dynasty]]
**South Asia: [[261 BC]]: [[Kalinga war]]
**Rome: [[Roman expansion in Italy]]
**Rome/Carthage: [[Punic Wars]]
*** [[264 BC]]: [[First Punic War]]
*** [[218 BC]] [[Second Punic War]]
*[[2nd century BC]] <!-- from 200 to 101-->
**Rome/Carthage: [[149 BC]] [[Third Punic War]], [[Roman province of Africa]][[File:Statue-Augustus (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Augustus|Augustus Caesar]], the first emperor of the [[Roman Empire]]]]
**Rome/Greece: [[146 BC]] [[Battle of Corinth (146 BC)|Battle of Corinth]], beginning of the [[Greece in the Roman era|Roman era]]
**South Asia: [[185 BC]]: Fall of the [[Maurya Empire]]
**China: [[Confucianism]] became the state ideology of China
*[[1st century BC]] <!-- from 100 to 1-->&nbsp;
**China: [[91 BC]]: [[Records of the Grand Historian]] finished
**Rome/Europe: 58–50 BC [[Gallic Wars]] 
**Rome: 32/30 BC: [[Final War of the Roman Republic]] ([[Battle of Actium]])
**Rome/Egypt: 31 BC: Roman conquest of Egypt
**Rome/Europe/West Asia/Africa: 27 BC: [[Roman Empire]]

===Inventions, discoveries, introductions===
{{see|Ancient technology}}
[[File:Placca pantera, da regione di krasnodar, kurgan chertomlyk, oro a sbalzo e cesellato, fine VII sec ac..JPG|thumb|[[Scythian art|Scythian]] gold plaque with panther (late 7th century BC)]]
[[File:The Parthenon in Athens.jpg|thumb|The [[Parthenon]], [[Ancient Athens|Athens]] (5th century BC)]]
[[File:Arte greca, giovane vittorioso, 300-100 ac. 02.JPG|thumb|upright|''The [[Victorious Youth]]'' (c. 310 BC), a preserved bronze statue of a Greek athlete in [[Contrapposto]] pose]]
[[File:The Wrestler (Olmec) by DeLange.jpg|upright|thumb|"[[The Wrestler (sculpture)|The Wrestler]]", an [[Olmec]] era statuette, dated roughly 1400–400&nbsp;BC]]
[[File:Human headed winged bull facing.jpg|thumb|[[Lamassu]] facing forward. Bas-relief from the king [[Sargon II]]'s palace at Dur Sharrukin in [[Assyria]] (now Khorsabad in Iraq), c. 713–716 BC. From Paul-Émile Botta's excavations in 1843–1844.]] 
*8th century BC
** [[Greek alphabet]], the first alphabet with vowels.
*7th century BC
**[[Trireme]]<!--7th century BC--><ref name=who/>
*6th century BC
**[[Diolkos|Paved trackway]]<!--600 BC--><ref name=who>{{cite web |title=Who Built it First |work=Ancient Discoveries |publisher=A&E Television Networks |year=2008 |url=http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&display_order=5&content_type_id=60600&mini_id=52979 |access-date=2009-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429202316/http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&display_order=5&content_type_id=60600&mini_id=52979 |archive-date=2009-04-29 |url-status=live }}</ref>
** [[Pythagorean theorem]]
**[[Monotheism]]<ref>Although disputed, some scholars see the emergence of monotheism proper in the context of the [[Babylonian exile]], during which the [[Israelites]] adopted aspects of [[Babylonian religion]], resulting in [[Second Temple Judaism]] by 515 BC.
[https://books.google.com/books?id=pBSJNDndGjwC&pg=PA225 No Other Gods: Emergent Monotheism in Israel]
Also credited with early monotheism is [[Zoroastrianism]], founded at roughly the same time. [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism]</ref>
*5th century BC
** [[Blast furnace]] China<ref>{{Harvnb|Temple|1986|pp=}}</ref>
** [[Atomism]]<!--440 BC-->
**[[History of crossbows|Crossbow]]<!--5th century BC--><ref name=who/>
**[[Siege engine]]<!--429 BC--><ref name=who/>
*4th century BC
**[[Pāṇini|formal grammar]]<!-- '''Pāṇini''', fl. 4th century BCE -->
**[[Kyrenia ship]]<!--4th century BC c.350BC--><ref name=who/>
*3rd century BC
**[[Lighthouse of Alexandria]]<!--290 BC--><ref name=who/>
**Malleable [[Cast iron]] China<ref>{{Harvnb|Temple|1986|pp=15}}</ref>
** [[Archimedes' principle]]
** [[Eratosthenes|Spherical Earth]]
** [[Water clock]]<!--245 BC--><ref name=who/>
** [[Qin dynasty|Qin]] built and unified various sections of the [[Great Wall of China]].
** Qin built [[Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor|Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum]] guarded by the life-sized [[Terracotta Army]].
*2nd century BC
**[[Antikythera mechanism]]

<!--inventions
6th c
**South America: Beginning of [[maize|corn]] cultivation in the Amazon flood plain<ref name = americas1000/>
**West Africa: [[Nok culture]] [[Iron metallurgy in Africa|iron smelting]]
**Mesoamerica: [[Olmec]] [[Mesoamerican ballgame|ball courts]]<ref name = americas1000/>
5th c.
**Mesoamerica: Zapotec hierogphyps at [[Monte Albán]]<ref name = americas1000/>
3rd c.

**Mesoamerica: [[Maya script|Mayan hieroglyphics]]
**Mesoamerica: [[Double spout and bridge vessel|double-spout-and-bridge bottle]]<ref name = americas1000/>
-->

===Literature===
{{main|Ancient literature}}
{{see|List_of_languages_by_first_written_accounts#First_millennium_BC}}
;Greco-Roman literature
{{main|Greek literature|Latin literature}}
Archaic period
*[[Homer]] (late 8th or early 7th c.), ''[[Iliad]]'', ''[[Odyssey]]''
*[[Hesiod]] (8th to 7th c.), ''[[Theogony]]'' and ''[[Works and Days]]''
*[[Archilochus]] (7th century), Greek poet
*[[Sappho]], (late 7th to early 6th c.), Greek poet
* [[Ibycus]]
* [[Alcaeus of Mytilene]]
* [[Aesop's Fables]]
Classical period
*[[Aeschylus]] (c. 525–455 BC), Greek playwright
*[[Herodotus]] (484–425 BC), ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]''
*[[Euripides]] (c. 480–406 BC), Greek playwright
* [[Xenophon]]: ''[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|Anabasis]]'', ''[[Cyropaedia (Xenophon)|Cyropaedia]]''
*[[Aristotle]] (384–322 BC), [[corpus Aristotelicum]]
Hellenistic to Roman period
* [[Septuagint]]
* [[Apollonius of Rhodes]]: ''[[Argonautica]]''
* [[Callimachus]] (310/305-240 B.C.), lyric poet
* [[Manetho]]: ''[[Aegyptiaca]]''
* [[Theocritus]], lyric poet
* [[Euclid]]: ''[[Euclid's Elements|Elements]]''
* [[Menander]]: ''[[Dyskolos]]''
* [[Theophrastus]]: ''[[Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus)|Enquiry into Plants]]''
* [[Old Latin]] [[Livius Andronicus]], [[Gnaeus Naevius]], [[Plautus]], [[Quintus Fabius Pictor]], [[Lucius Cincius Alimentus]] 
* Classical Latin: [[Cicero]], [[Julius Caesar]], [[Virgil]], [[Lucretius]], [[Livy]], [[Catullus]]

;Chinese literature
{{main|Chinese literature}}
*''[[I Ching]]'' (date unknown, between the 10th and 4th centuries BC)
* ''[[Book of Songs (Chinese)|Classic of Poetry]] (Shījīng)'', ''[[Shujing|Classic of Documents]] (Shūjīng)'' (authentic portions), ''[[I Ching|Classic of Changes]] (I Ching)''
* ''[[Spring and Autumn Annals]] (Chūnqiū)'' (722–481 BC, chronicles of the state of [[Lu (state)|Lu]])
* [[Confucius]]: ''[[Analects]] (Lúnyǔ)''
* ''[[Book of Rites|Classic of Rites]] (Lǐjì)''
* ''[[Zuo Zhuan|Commentaries of Zuo]] (Zuǒzhuàn)''
* [[Laozi]] (or Lao Tzu): ''[[Tao Te Ching]]''
* [[Zhuang Zhou|Zhuangzi]]: ''[[Zhuangzi (book)]]''
* [[Mencius]]: ''[[Mencius (book)|Mencius]]''

;Sanskrit literature
{{main|Sanskrit literature}}
*[[Vedic Sanskrit]]: [[Veda]]s, [[Brahmana]]s
*[[Vedanga]]
*[[Mukhya Upanishads]]
*Early layers of the [[Sanskrit epics]] (c. 3rd century BC to 4th century AD)

;Hebrew 
{{main|Ancient Hebrew writings|Hebrew Bible}}
* c. 8th to 7th c.: the [[Book of Nahum]], [[Book of Hosea]], [[Book of Amos]], [[Book of Isaiah]]
* c. 6th c.: [[Psalms]]
* c. 5th century: redaction of the [[Torah]]
* 3rd century: [[Ecclesiastes]]
* 2nd century: [[Book of Wisdom]]

;Avestan
* ''[[Yasht]]'', [[Avesta]], [[Vendidad]]

;Other (2nd to 1st century BC)
;
*[[Pali literature]]: [[Tipitaka]]
*Tamil:[[Sangam literature]]
*Aramaic: [[Book of Daniel]]

==Archaeology==
{{see|Iron Age|Pre-Columbian Americas}}{{Iron Age}}
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Culture !! Region !! Period !! Notes
|-
|[[Urnfield culture]]||Europe, Central||1300–750 BC||[[Bronze Age Europe]]
|-
|[[Atlantic Bronze Age]]||Europe, Western||1300–700 BC||[[Bronze Age Europe]]
|-
|[[Painted Grey Ware culture]]||South Asia||1200–600 BC||[[Bronze Age India]], [[Indo-Aryan migration]]
|-
|[[Nordic Bronze Age|Late Nordic Bronze Age]] || Europe, North||1100–550 BC||[[Bronze Age Europe]]
|-
|[[Villanovan culture]]||Europe, Italy||1100–700 BC||[[Iron Age Europe]]
|-
|[[Greek Dark Ages]] ||Greece||1100–800 BC||[[Dorian invasion]]
|-
|[[Early Iron Age|Iron Age II]] ||Near East||1000–586 BC||[[Ancient Near East]], [[List of archaeological periods (Levant)]]
|-
|[[Sa Huỳnh culture]]||Southeast Asia, Vietnam||1000 BC–AD 200
|-
|[[Woodland period]]||North America||1000 BC – AD 1000 ||[[List of archaeological periods (North America)]]
|-
|[[Bantu expansion]] ||Sub-Saharan Africa||1000 BC–AD 500
|-
| [[Nok culture|Middle Nok Period]] ||Sub-Saharan Africa, West||900–300 BC||[[Iron metallurgy in Africa]]
|-
|[[Novocherkassk culture]]||Europe, Eastern||900–650 BC
|-
| [[Chavín de Huantar|Chavín de Huántar]]||South America, Peru<ref name=americas1000>{{cite web | title = World Timeline of the Americas 1000 BC – AD 200 | publisher = The British Museum | year = 2005 | url = http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/americas/1000-200BC | access-date = 2009-07-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090227042132/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/americas/1000-200BC | archive-date = 2009-02-27 | url-status = dead }}</ref> || 1200–500 BC||
|-
|[[Poverty Point]] earthworks || North America, Louisiana || 1650–700 BC<ref name = americas1000/>
|-
|[[Olmecs]] ||Mesoamerica|| 1500–400 BC
|-
|[[Adena culture]]||North America, Ohio|| 1000–200 BC<ref name = americas1000/>||
|-
|[[Liaoning bronze dagger culture]]||East Asia||800–600 BC||
|-
|[[Mumun pottery period|Middle Mumun]] || East Asia, Korea||800–300 BC||
|-
| [[Etruscan civilization]]|| Europe, Italy||800–264 BC
|-
| [[Paracas culture]] ||South America, Peru||800–100 BC<ref name = americas1000/><br />
|-
| [[Hallstatt culture]] || Europe, Central ||800 BC–500 BC||[[Iron Age Europe]], [[Thraco-Cimmerian]], [[Celts]]
|-
|[[British Iron Age]]||Europe, Britain|| 700–50 BC ||[[Insular Celts]]
|-
|[[Zapotec civilization]] || Mesoamerica||700 BC – AD 700||
|- 
|[[Pazyryk culture]] || Central Asia||600–300 BC||[[Scythians]], [[Saka]], [[Pazyryk burials]]
|-
|[[Aldy-Bel culture]] || Central Asia||600–300 BC||[[Scythians]], [[Saka]]
|-
|[[La Tène culture]] || Europe, Central/Western || 500–50 BC||[[Gauls]]
|-
|[[Pre-Roman Iron Age]] || Europe, North||500–50 BC ||[[Proto-Germanic]]
|-
|[[Northern Black Polished Ware]]||South Asia||500–300 BC ||[[Vedic period]]
|-
|[[Mumun pottery period|Late Mumun]] || East Asia, Korea ||550–300 BC||
|-
|[[Urewe]] ||Sub-Saharan Africa|| 400 BC–AD 500 ||[[Iron metallurgy in Africa]]
|-
| [[Nok culture|Late Nok Period]] ||Sub-Saharan Africa, West||300–1 BC||[[Iron metallurgy in Africa]]
|-
|[[Nasca culture]] ||South America, Peru||100 BC–800 AD<ref name = americas1000/><br />
|-
|[[Calima culture]]||South America, Colombia||200 BC–400 AD
|-
|[[Hopewell tradition]] ||North America||100 BC–AD 400<ref name = americas200/>
|-
|[[Teotihuacan]]||Mesoamerica||100 BC –AD 550<ref name = americas200/>
|-
|[[Ipiutak site]]||North America, Alaska||100 BC –AD 800<ref name=americas200>{{cite web | title = World Timeline of the Americas 200 BC – AD 600 | publisher = The British Museum | year = 2005 | url = http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/americas/200BC-AD600 | access-date = 2009-07-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090227042137/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/americas/200BC-AD600 | archive-date = 2009-02-27 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
|}

==Astronomy==
{{see|List of solar eclipses in antiquity}}

;Historical solar eclipses
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
(BC)
!Date
!Eclipse
Type
!Saros 
Series
!Eclipse
Magnitude
!Gamma
!Ecliptic
Conjunction

(UT)
!Greatest 
Eclipse

(UT)
!Duration
(Min & Sec)
!Description
|-
|'''899'''
|21 Apr
|Annular
|53
|0.9591
|0.8964
|22:32:15
|22:21:56
|00:03:04
|China's 'Double-Dawn' Eclipse [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEhistory.html] [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEplot/SE-0898Apr21A.pdf]
|-
|'''763'''
|15 Jun
|Total
|44
|1.0596
|0.2715
|08:11:13
|08:14:01
|00:05:00
|[[Assyrian Eclipse]] [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEhistory.html#-0762] [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEplot/SE-0762Jun15T.pdf]
|-
|'''648'''
|6 Apr
|Total
|38
|1.0689
|0.6898
|08:24:05
|08:31:03
|00:05:02
|Archilochus' Eclipse [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEhistory.html#-0647] [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEplot/SE-0647Apr06T.pdf]
|-
|'''585'''
|28 May
|Total
|57
|1.0798
|0.3201
|14:25:41
|14:22:26
|00:06:04
|[[Eclipse of Thales|Thales Eclipse]] ([[Battle of the Eclipse|Medes vs. Lydians]]), firstly recorded in Herodotus History. [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEhistory.html#-0584] [https://www.wired.com/2008/05/may-28-585-bc-predicted-solar-eclipse-stops-battle/] [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEplot/SE-0584May28T.pdf]
|-
|'''557'''
|19 May
|Total
|48
|1.0258
|0.3145
|12:49:02
|12:52:26
|00:02:22
|The Siege of Larisa, firstly recorded by Xenophon. [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEplot/SE-0556May19T.pdf]
|-
|'''480'''
|2 Oct
|Annular
|65
|0.9324
|0.4951
|11:56:54
|11:51:01
|00:07:57
|Xerxes' Eclipse. recorded by Herodotus History. [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEplot/SE-0479Oct02A.pdf]
|-
|'''431'''
|3 Aug
|Annular
|48
|0.9843
|0.8388
|14:45:34
|14:54:52
|00:01:05
|Peloponnesian War. [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEhistory.html#-0430] [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEplot/SE-0430Aug03A.pdf]
|-
|'''424'''
|21 Mar
|Annular
|42
|0.9430
|0.9433
|07:43:30
|07:54:29
|00:04:39
|8th Year of Peloponnesian War. [http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhistory/SEplot/SE-0423Mar21A.pdf]
|}

==Centuries and decades==

{| cellpadding="3" border="0"
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[10th century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[990s BC]] || align="right" | [[980s BC]]
| align="right" | [[970s BC]]
| align="right" | [[960s BC]] || align="right" | [[950s BC]]
| align="right" | [[940s BC]]
| align="right" | [[930s BC]] || align="right" | [[920s BC]]
| align="right" | [[910s BC]] || align="right" | [[909–900 BC|900s BC]]
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[9th century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[890s BC]] || align="right" | [[880s BC]]
| align="right" | [[870s BC]]
| align="right" | [[860s BC]] || align="right" | [[850s BC]]
| align="right" | [[840s BC]]
| align="right" | [[830s BC]] || align="right" | [[820s BC]]
| align="right" | [[810s BC]] || align="right" | [[809–800 BC|800s BC]]
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[8th century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[790s BC]] || align="right" | [[780s BC]]
| align="right" | [[770s BC]]
| align="right" | [[760s BC]] || align="right" | [[750s BC]]
| align="right" | [[740s BC]]
| align="right" | [[730s BC]] || align="right" | [[720s BC]]
| align="right" | [[710s BC]] || align="right" | [[709–700 BC|700s BC]]
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[7th century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[690s BC]] || align="right" | [[680s BC]]
| align="right" | [[670s BC]]
| align="right" | [[660s BC]] || align="right" | [[650s BC]]
| align="right" | [[640s BC]]
| align="right" | [[630s BC]] || align="right" | [[620s BC]]
| align="right" | [[610s BC]] || align="right" | [[609–600 BC|600s BC]]
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[6th century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[590s BC]] || align="right" | [[580s BC]]
| align="right" | [[570s BC]]
| align="right" | [[560s BC]] || align="right" | [[550s BC]]
| align="right" | [[540s BC]]
| align="right" | [[530s BC]] || align="right" | [[520s BC]]
| align="right" | [[510s BC]] || align="right" | [[509–500 BC|500s BC]]
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[5th century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[490s BC]] || align="right" | [[480s BC]]
| align="right" | [[470s BC]]
| align="right" | [[460s BC]] || align="right" | [[450s BC]]
| align="right" | [[440s BC]]
| align="right" | [[430s BC]] || align="right" | [[420s BC]]
| align="right" | [[410s BC]] || align="right" | [[409–400 BC|400s BC]]
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[4th century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[390s BC]] || align="right" | [[380s BC]]
| align="right" | [[370s BC]]
| align="right" | [[360s BC]] || align="right" | [[350s BC]]
| align="right" | [[340s BC]]
| align="right" | [[330s BC]] || align="right" | [[320s BC]]
| align="right" | [[310s BC]] || align="right" | [[309–300 BC|300s BC]]
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[3rd century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[290s BC]] || align="right" | [[280s BC]]
| align="right" | [[270s BC]]
| align="right" | [[260s BC]] || align="right" | [[250s BC]]
| align="right" | [[240s BC]]
| align="right" | [[230s BC]] || align="right" | [[220s BC]]
| align="right" | [[210s BC]] || align="right" | [[209–200 BC|200s BC]]
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[2nd century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[190s BC]] || align="right" | [[180s BC]]
| align="right" | [[170s BC]]
| align="right" | [[160s BC]] || align="right" | [[150s BC]]
| align="right" | [[140s BC]]
| align="right" | [[130s BC]] || align="right" | [[120s BC]]
| align="right" | [[110s BC]] || align="right" | [[109–100 BC|100s BC]]
|-----
| align="right" | '''[[1st century BC]]'''
| align="right" | [[90s BC]] || align="right" | [[80s BC]]
| align="right" | [[70s BC]]
| align="right" | [[60s BC]] || align="right" | [[50s BC]]
| align="right" | [[40s BC]]
| align="right" | [[30s BC]] || align="right" | [[20s BC]]
| align="right" | [[10s BC]] || align="right" | [[0s BC]]
|}

==References==
{{commons category}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{cite book
|title=The Genius of China: 3000 years of science, discovery and invention
|last=Temple
|first= Robert
|year= 1986|publisher = Simon and Schuster
|location=New York 
}} Based on the works of [[Joseph Needham]]
* {{citation |last=Zimmer |first=Heinrich |author-link=Heinrich Zimmer |title=Philosophy of India |date=1952 |editor=Joseph Campbell |editor-link=Joseph Campbell |publisher=[[Routledge]] & Kegan Paul Ltd |location=[[London]] |url=https://archive.org/details/Philosophy.of.India.by.Heinrich.Zimmer |quote=Not in copyright }}

{{Millennia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1st Millennium Bc}}
[[Category:1st millennium BC| ]]
[[Category:Millennia|-99]]