What happened in the 3rd millennium BC

3000–2001 BC

82 events　World 24, North America 2, Europe 9, USSR / Russia 1, Asia 13, Middle East 28, Latin America 2, Africa 3

Highlights of the 3rd millennium BC

c. 3000 BCAfricaNubian A-Group Culture comes to an end.
WorldNear East civilizations enter Bronze Age around 3000 BC.
North AmericaGermination of the Bristlecone pine tree "Methuselah" about 2700 BC, one of the oldest known trees still living now.
EuropeCompletion of first phase of Stonehenge monument in England.
AsiaStepwell: Earliest clear evidence of the origins of the stepwell is found in the Indus Valley Civilisation's archaeological site at Mohenjodaro in Pakistan.
Middle EastEarliest Trojan culture.

c. 3000 BCFirst evidence of gold being used in the Middle East.
c. 3000 BCNubian A-Group, Ta-Seeti "kingdom" came to an end, possibly due to raids by Egypt.
Near East civilizations enter Bronze Age around 3000 BC.
Building of the Great Pyramid of Giza (26th century BC).
Completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Founding of Europe's oldest civilization, the Minoan Civilization in 3000 BC.
The Sintashta-Petrovka-Arkaim culture emerges from the Catacomb culture from about 2200 BC, likely locus of Proto-Indo-Iranian.
Yamnaya culture, Catacomb culture, likely loci of Indo-European Satemization.
Early Beaker culture.
Megalithic, Corded Ware culture and the Beaker flourish in Europe.
Corded Ware culture (also Battle-axe culture, or Single Grave culture).
Globular Amphora culture.
Domestication of the horse with the coming of Indo-Europeans in central Eurasia.
Gaudo culture.
Lower Xiajiadian culture

Germination of the Bristlecone pine tree "Methuselah" about 2700 BC, one of the oldest known trees still living now.
Old Copper Complex

c. 2800 BCHarp Player, from Keros, Cyclades, was made. It is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
c. 2600 BCFounding of the Chalcolithic Iberian civilizations of Los Millares and Zambujal.
Completion of first phase of Stonehenge monument in England.
c. 3200 BC/3100 BC: Helladic culture and Cycladic culture both emerge in Greece.
Baden culture.
Butmir culture.
c. 2500 BCExcavation and development of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni at Paola, Malta, a subterranean temple complex subsequently used as a necropolis.
c. 2500 BCTwo figures of women, from the Cyclades, are made; they are now at Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens.
Metals are used in Northern Europe.

The world's last surviving mammoth population, on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean, goes extinct, sometime between 2500 and 2000 BC.

c. 2879 BCRise of the Xích Quỷ Kingdom and the Hồng Bàng dynasty in northern Viet Nam and southern China.
2650 BCReservoirs, script, metals and pottery used in the city of Dholavira in Indus Valley Civilization.
2600 BCUnified Indus Valley Civilisation.
Stepwell: Earliest clear evidence of the origins of the stepwell is found in the Indus Valley Civilisation's archaeological site at Mohenjodaro in Pakistan.
Ornamental buttons—made from seashell—were used in the Indus Valley civilisation for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE.
The oldest documented evidence of the practice of meditation are wall arts in the Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
Toilet platforms above drains, in the proximity of wells, are found in several houses of the cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
Beginning of the period of the mythical Sage Kings in China, also known as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
c. 4th millennium BC–5th century BC: Old Dilmun period.
Shijiahe culture
Baodun culture
Chinese record a comet.
c. 2070 BCThe first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography--Xia dynasty begins in China.

c. 3000 BCUnification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
c. 3000 BCPotter's wheel appears in Mesopotamia.
3000 BCTin is in use in Mesopotamia soon after this time.
c. 2900 BCEarly Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)
c. 2890 BCSecond Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Hotepsekhemwy.
c. 2613 BCFourth Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Sneferu.
Earliest Trojan culture.
Indoor plumbing and sewage in the Indus Valley Civilization., from the Sumerian city-state of Ur, c. 2600]]
Syria: Foundation of the city of Mari (29th century BC).
Iran: Creation of the Kingdom of Elam.
Dynasty of Lagash in Sumer.
c. 2498 BCFifth Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Userkaf.
c. 2334 BCAkkadian Empire
2334 BCSargon of Akkad conquers Mesopotamia, establishing the Akkadian Empire.
c. 2130 BCTenth Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Meryhathor.