Deep Time (S-2012)

Deep time refers to geologic time and the huge changes which the planet Craftera has gone through to eventually sustain life and kickstart human history. Since deep time spans billions of years of unrecorded history, most of the evidence is derived from fields such as archaeology, paleontology and geology. This evidence has been gathered by different organizations throughout history, most notably by the Library and by the International Geological Society. As a result, a timeline has been theorized, spanning all the way from the creation of Craftera to the beginning of human history.

## Timeline

### Birth of Craftera (~4 bn. years ago)

Based on the research of Neo Boreopolean scientist Ioannis Delhopoulos, we know the process of Craftera's planetary birth involved large amounts of the element known as Voidium. Voidium can have two different charges; positive and negative. Oppositely charged Voidium particles will repel each other. When certain materials are caught in between two oppositely charged Voidium particles, they will form a dense material called bedrock. This process allowed for the creation of Craftera as a planet.

Since its inception, the solar system was filled with Voidium. This Voidium was typically spread across rings at different distances from the sun. Each ring was either positively or negatively charged. Whenever two rings with opposite charges merged, a new planet would be formed. Around 4 billion years ago, an unknown event, possible a comet passing through one of the rings or a burst of solar energy, caused two rings with opposite charges to merge. During this collision, denser elements clumped together and formed Craftera's core, surrounded by a layer of negatively charged Voidium. On top of this layer of Voidium, less dense materials formed a layer of bedrock. On this first layer of bedrock, other materials clumped together and formed a rough surface. By this point, the size of the core and mantle was large enough to create a considerable gravitational field. This gravitational field kept the positively charged Voidium in orbit and eventually condensed it enough to form a second mantle around the core. Finally, any remaining negatively charged Voidium floated on top of the positively charged Voidium and created a 'bed' for a new layer of rock which would form the outer crust of Craftera. In summary, Craftera exists of a dense core surrounded by a layer of Voidium-, on top of which rests a mantle of dense materials (the Nether) surrounded by another layer of Voidium+/-. The crust (the Overworld), finally, rests on top of this layer of Voidium.

The mantle caught in between the two layers of Voidium experienced a lot of tension, turning in to heat. As a result, the rock sediments often melted into lava. During colder periods, the lesser temperatures would solidify parts of the lava, establishing islands of netherrack. Thus, this layer in Craftera's mantle eventually became the Nether.

### Evolution of early life (~3,7 bn. - 750 mil. years ago)

Around 3.7 billion years ago, Craftera cooled down significantly. It is theorised that a shift in its orbit around the sun was the cause behind this. As a result of this cooldown, the H2O in the atmosphere condensed and formed the oceans and seas. In this new environment, organic life as we know it began as little microbes. These microbes got most of their nutrition from their surroundings, but scientists theorise that around 3.4 billion years ago some of the earliest life forms began using energy from the sun to turn CO2 into oxygen through photosynthesis. This evolution caused a surge in the oxygen levels on Craftera, causing an extinction level event in the early ecosystem. Yet, life found a way and survived. In the Nether, in more hostile environments, life also found a way to evolve. Instead of photosynthesis, life in the Nether still relied more on nutrition found in the soil. Around 2 billion years ago, the first signs of multicellular life appeared in the fossil record under the form of primitive algae. Over the next few billion years, these life forms would remain primitive, but give rise to the first sea vegetation. In the Nether, the dominant life form quickly became fungi, thriving in the low-light environment. By 750 million years ago, the first animals, known as the clade of the Limidae, ancestors to modern day slimes, had appeared in the Overworld’s seas and oceans. Similarly in the Nether, the ancestors to modern day magma cubes evolved.

### The Carabion Period (750 - 400 mil. years ago)

The Carabion Period is named after the most dominant lifeform of that period; the clade of Carabians, to which modern day Guardians belong. Some species within the clade of the Limidae began to evolve hard shells to protect their body against predators. By 650 million years ago, these had evolved into an entirely different clade from which the Guardians and all fish would evolve; the Carabians. A different clade, known as the Mollusca, also evolved from the Limidae around that same time and gave rise to the first squids and nautili in the ocean. In the Nether, Mollusca started to evolve large air sacks, which gave them the ability to float, still visible in the modern day Ghasts and Blazes. About 550 million years ago, the first coral reefs evolved in the tropical regions of Craftera and were inhabited by various species of ancient coral, sea pickles and sponges. During the Carabion Period, the oceans were a very lush environment, whereas the land was still a very desolate landscape. In the Nether, quite the opposite was true, with large fungi taking over the few areas of land and the lava lakes being too inhospitable for life.

### The Arthropodan Period (400 – 175 mil. years ago)

The Arthropodan Period is named after the most dominant lifeform of that period; arthropods. Arthropods are closely related to the Mollusca, in the sense that both diverged from a common ancestor. It is during the Arthropodan Period that life on land first emerged in the Overworld. Marine arthropods, now all extinct, had already evolved to lay eggs on land, where they would be safe from predators until they hatched. Around 300 million years ago, some of these marine arthropods adapted to fully live on land to escape predators. More and more plants now also evolved to grow on land, where there was even more sunlight available than on the bottom of the sea. Early biomes were similar to the mushroom biomes we know today. Arthropods grew to large sizes, which we can still see today in Spiders. However, in the wake of the arthropods’ invasion of the land, their predators also made the (semi-)permanent move to land and evolved into amphibians, such as the ancestors of the modern day Axolotl and Warden. Arthropods and amphibians would often compete with each other, regularly shifting predator-prey relations.

### The Megapanidan Period (175 – 55 mil. years ago)

Over time, the amphibians settled more and more permanently on land and outcompeted their arthropod rivals, reducing their average size, resulting in the evolution of early ancestors of modern day bees and silver fish. Some species of amphibians gradually evolved into a new clade, the Synapsids. In the Nether, a similar evolution occurred whereby some members of the Mollusca family gradually lost their air sacks and adapted to life in the lava lakes, over time these species evolved a vertebrae and hardened skin to combat the heat. Thus they formed a new clade, the Lavambulids. The Striders are an example of a species of Lavambulid that endured until today. The Synapsids and the Lavambulids of the Megapanidan Period grew to enormous sizes due to an abundance of food during this time period. Near the end of the Megapanidan Period, the first mammals also evolved. They remained small in size and were mostly scavengers. During this time period, reptiles and birds, part of the clade of Sauropsids, also began to flourish, mostly in the sky and in the oceans. The first turtles evolved and the ancestors to modern day Phantoms roamed the skies. However, 55 million years ago, an extinction event caused by an increase in volcanic activity in the Nether killed off almost all life on Craftera. The Synapsids of the Overworld went extinct, leaving Craftera to mammals, reptiles and birds.

### The Axion Period (55 mil. years ago - present)

The Axion Period is the current geological period and is characterised by the rise of mammals as the dominant life form on Crafterra. During the Axion Period mammals evolved from the small critters they were during the Megapanidan Period, to the diverse and sometimes large creatures we know today. Cows, pigs, horses, cats, wolfs etc. all evolved in the last 55 million years following the extinction event that ended the reign of the Synapsids. Perhaps more importantly, during the Axion period, villagerkind evolved. The earliest ancestors to villagers go back to around 2.8 million years ago. Between 400 000 and 250 000 years ago, the earliest modern villagers roamed Craftera. For a long time, villagers were hunter gatherers and had no knowledge of agriculture. By 10 000 BA they started planting and harvesting crops, primarily wheat, thus starting the Agricultural Revolution (see Prehistory).