Bronze and Iron AgesIdeas & Belief Writing (cuneiform) c. 3,200 BCETurning point Sumerian scribes develop cuneiform from accounting marks. Law, history, literature and science become possible. ▲ MattersSaveShareTrace roots Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire → Habitual fire and cooking → Homo sapiens appears → Complex language → Natufian villages → Oldest known bread → Agriculture begins → Irrigation → Uruk and the first cities → Cylinder seals → Writing (cuneiform) Community notesLoading notes… Learn more ranked by votesDocumentbritannica.comCuneiform (Britannica) ↗Editor's pickBookAndrew RobinsonThe Story of Writing ↗Editor's pickVideoSearch on YouTubecuneiform history of writing Irving Finkel ↗Editor's pick