7,000 BCE Invention of fired clay pottery. Humans developed polished stone tools, domesticated plants and animals, and formed settled communities. 5,000 BCE Chinese started construction on the Grand Canal, with work to continue for 2,000 years. 4,800 B.C.E. Residents of Nabta Basin of Egypt construct stone calendar circles which target due north and the summer solstice. 4,000 B.C.E. Wheel invented in Mesopotamia.
Bronze casting begins in area of modern Iraq.
3,500 BCE to 1,200 BCE Bronze Age. Humans developed urban centers. The search for raw materials for smelting of copper and tin into bronze spawned exploration and colonization. 3,500 BCE Bread invented in Egypt. 3,100 BCE Egyptians begin record-keeping incident to administrative government.