2.6 million years ago – 1 million years ahead
Technology Through Deep Time
From early stone tools to hypothetical stellar megastructures, this is a deep-time technology map. Up to ~2000 AD is historical; everything after that becomes increasingly speculative, especially beyond the next century.
Technology Image Gallery
Visual snapshots of some of the technologies mentioned below. Filenames assume an images/
folder in this repository – you can swap in your own artwork or photos as you like.
Technology Timeline: Deep Past → Near Future → Far Future
Grouped by eras, then decades, centuries, and longer intervals as the timeline stretches out. ★ marks speculative content (especially beyond the early 21st century).
2.6 million – 10,000 BC · Paleolithic Technologies
Early stone tools, fire, and the foundations of culture
- c. 2.6 million years ago – Earliest known stone tools (Oldowan) used by hominin species in Africa: simple flakes and cores for cutting and pounding.
- c. 1.8–1.5 million years ago – Acheulean handaxes and more standardized toolmaking; spread of Homo erectus out of Africa.
- c. 800,000–400,000 years ago – Controlled use of fire: cooking, warmth, predator deterrence, and social gathering around hearths.
- c. 200,000–50,000 years ago – Emergence of Homo sapiens; more complex tools, clothing, and ornaments; probable development of fully modern language.
- c. 50,000–10,000 BC – “Behavioral modernity”: composite tools (hafted spearheads), long-distance trade of obsidian and shells, cave art, ritual objects.
10,000 – 3,000 BC · Neolithic & Agricultural Technologies
Farming, permanent settlements, and early engineering
- c. 10,000–8,000 BC – Domestication of plants (wheat, barley, legumes) and animals (sheep, goats, cattle); stone sickles, grinding stones, simple irrigation.
- c. 8,000–5,000 BC – Widespread pottery for storage and cooking; weaving and textiles; early plows pulled by humans and animals.
- c. 5,000–4,000 BC – Large-scale irrigation canals in Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley; first large granaries and proto-bureaucratic recordkeeping (tokens, tallies).
- c. 4,000–3,000 BC – Wheel and axle for carts and pottery; sailboats on rivers; metallurgy of copper and early bronze; emergence of proto-writing systems.
3,000 BC – 500 AD · Bronze & Iron Age Engineering
Metals, writing, large infrastructures, and classical science
- c. 3,000–2,000 BC – Cuneiform and hieroglyphic writing; large-scale stone construction (pyramids, ziggurats); standardized weights and measures.
- c. 2,000–1,000 BC – Advanced bronze metallurgy; chariots; improvements in shipbuilding; iron smelting begins late in this period.
- c. 1,200–500 BC – Iron tools and weapons spread; road networks and caravans expand overland trade; early water-management systems and qanats.
- c. 500 BC – 500 AD – Roman roads, aqueducts, concrete, and large bridges; Hellenistic and Roman mechanical devices (gears, water clocks, early steam toys); significant mathematical, astronomical, and medical texts in Greece, India, China.
500 – 1,500 AD · Medieval & Post-Classical Technologies
Gunpowder, printing, and new agricultural and mechanical tools
- c. 500–1,000 – Heavy plow and three-field crop rotation in Europe; stirrup and improved saddles; watermills and windmills spread for grinding grain and pumping water.
- c. 800–1,200 – Advances in Islamic world: algebra, optics, hospitals, and refined astronomical instruments; papermaking spreads from China westward.
- c. 1,000–1,300 – Magnetic compass, improved ship designs (lateen sails), and navigational techniques enable longer sea voyages.
- c. 1,100–1,300 – Widespread use of mechanical clocks in Europe; more sophisticated castle and siege technologies.
- c. 1,200–1,400 – Gunpowder weaponry develops in China and later Europe; early cannons and hand-held firearms.
- c. 1,450 – Gutenberg-style movable-type printing press in Europe revolutionizes the copying and dissemination of texts.
1,500 – 1,800 AD · Early Modern Scientific & Industrial Foundations
Scientific method, navigation, and early industrial machinery
- 16th century – Improvements in ocean-going ships, navigation, and cartography support global exploration and colonial empires.
- 17th century – Scientific Revolution: telescope, microscope, systematic experimentation, and Newtonian physics reshape understanding of nature.
- 18th century – Early steam engines (Newcomen, Watt) power pumps and machinery; mechanization of textile production begins the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
- Late 18th century – First small-scale chemical industries; improvements in iron production (coke smelting, puddling) enable stronger machines and bridges.
1,800 – 1,900 AD · Industrial Age Technologies
Steam, railways, telegraphs, and electrification
- Early–mid 19th century – Railways, steamships, and mechanized factories transform transportation and production; telegraph enables near-instant long-distance communication.
- Mid–late 19th century – Widespread gas lighting, then electric lighting; telephone and phonograph; advances in steelmaking (Bessemer, open-hearth).
- Late 19th century – Internal combustion engines; automobiles and early trucks; large electrical power grids and electric motors reshape industry and cities.
- Late 19th century – Photography, cinema prototypes, and improved printing enable mass media and new cultural forms.
1,900 – 2,000 AD · 20th Century Technological Explosion
Electronics, aviation, computing, and spaceflight
- 1903 – Powered flight (Wright brothers); aviation rapidly advances to global air travel by mid-century.
- Early–mid 20th century – Mass production (assembly line), radio, television, antibiotics, plastics, and nuclear fission power and weapons.
- 1957–1969 – Space Age: first artificial satellite (Sputnik), human spaceflight, and Apollo Moon landings; rocketry and satellites become central to communication and defense.
- 1960s–1980s – Integrated circuits, microprocessors, and early personal computers; ARPANET and early packet-switched networks.
- 1980s–1990s – Personal computers become widespread; mobile phones and global internet expand; GPS, fiber optics, and digital media reshape daily life.
2000–2009 · Early 21st Century (Historical)
Web 2.0, mobile computing, and early social networks
- Broadband internet and Wi-Fi become common; rise of search engines and online platforms reshapes information access.
- Smartphones emerge (e.g., iPhone, Android), integrating phone, camera, GPS, and apps into a single device.
- Early social networks and user-generated content platforms (“Web 2.0”) change how people create and share media.
2010–2019 · Cloud, AI revival, and platform ecosystems (Historical)
Smartphone saturation and large-scale cloud services
- Cloud computing and large-scale data centers underpin most consumer and enterprise services.
- Widespread use of smartphones globally; mobile-first apps dominate communication, commerce, and entertainment.
- Deep learning and large neural networks reboot interest in AI, improving vision, speech, and translation systems.
2020–2029 · AI, biotech, and energy transitions (Historical & ongoing)
Pandemic acceleration of digital tools and AI at scale
- COVID-19 pandemic drives rapid adoption of remote work, telemedicine, and online education platforms.
- AI systems (large language models, foundation models) become widely deployed in productivity, coding, and creative tools.
- Early deployment of new energy technologies (renewables, grid-scale storage) and experimentation with advanced nuclear designs.
2030–2039 · ★ Hypothetical
Applied AI, robotics, and large-scale climate adaptation
- ★ Highly capable but narrow AI systems are embedded in most work processes: co-pilots for science, engineering, governance, and education.
- ★ Robotics move from factories and warehouses into logistics, agriculture, and some household tasks; human–robot collaboration becomes routine in many sectors.
- ★ Major urban and coastal climate-adaptation projects (sea walls, water management, re-greening) deploy advanced materials and sensors.
2040–2049 · ★ Hypothetical
Bio-digital integration and advanced energy systems
- ★ More precise gene and cell therapies treat or manage many inherited and chronic diseases, supported by AI-guided drug design.
- ★ High-efficiency fission, advanced geothermal, and large-scale renewables reduce reliance on fossil fuels in many regions.
- ★ Brain–computer interfaces and neural prosthetics see limited but impactful medical and specialist use.
2050–2059 · ★ Hypothetical
Ubiquitous autonomy and planetary digital twins
- ★ Autonomous vehicles, drones, and robotic systems handle much freight transport, inspection, and hazardous work.
- ★ “Digital twins” of cities, infrastructure, and ecosystems support planning, disaster response, and long-term resource management.
- ★ Space industry matures: frequent launches, in-orbit manufacturing experiments, and more regular human presence in cislunar space.
2060–2069 · ★ Hypothetical
High-integration human–AI collaboration
- ★ Most professional work is done within human–AI teams; AI systems handle complex simulations, code, and design, with humans setting goals and values.
- ★ Advanced materials and manufacturing enable modular, repairable infrastructure and long-lived consumer devices.
- ★ Early interplanetary infrastructure (transport, communications) supports more permanent installations on the Moon and possibly Mars.
2070–2079 · ★ Hypothetical
Global-scale coordination tools
- ★ Planet-level monitoring systems integrate climate, biosphere, and economic data for near-real-time decision support.
- ★ Advanced agricultural technologies (vertical farms, precision ecosystems) stabilize food supply in many regions.
- ★ Widespread use of modular fusion or equivalent high-density energy sources in some regions becomes plausible, though not guaranteed.
2080–2089 · ★ Hypothetical
Long-lifespan health and cognitive tools
- ★ Longevity technologies (senolytics, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine) extend healthy lifespan for some populations.
- ★ Personalized cognitive support systems help individuals manage complex knowledge and life decisions.
- ★ Space-based solar power or similar orbital infrastructure contributes non-trivially to global energy supply.
2090–2099 · ★ Hypothetical
Closing the first post-digital century
- ★ Many technologies from the early 2000s (keyboards, screens, legacy networks) have become niche or archival; interfaces are largely ambient, voice/gesture, and neural for some users.
- ★ Humanity manages a mixed portfolio of Earth-based and space-based infrastructure with continuous AI‐supported oversight.
- ★ Debates intensify about post-human futures, rights for synthetic or augmented intelligences, and long-term governance of powerful technologies.
2100–2199 · ★ 22nd Century
Interplanetary civilization seeds
- ★ Permanent, self-sustaining habitats on the Moon, in orbit, and possibly on Mars or other bodies.
- ★ Mature closed-loop life-support and recycling systems make long-duration space habitation more robust.
- ★ Very advanced AI governance and alignment systems are required to manage dense techno-socio-ecological networks.
2200–2299 · ★ 23rd Century
High-energy and advanced propulsion
- ★ Widespread deployment of fusion or equivalent high-density energy sources, if physically and economically viable.
- ★ High-performance propulsion (fusion, beamed sails, or similar) enables fast travel within the Solar System and first interstellar probes.
- ★ Mega-engineering projects (asteroid mining, large orbital habitats) become central to resource supply.
2300–2399 · ★ 24th Century
Megastructures and information density
- ★ Very large orbital habitats, swarms of solar collectors, and dense communication networks fill inner Solar System orbits.
- ★ Matter and energy are controlled with extremely fine precision at micro and macro scales (advanced nanotechnology and macro-engineering).
- ★ Civilizational “computation budgets” grow toward the physical limits of planet-scale or even star-adjacent computing.
2400–2499 · ★ 25th Century
Solar System-scale infrastructure
- ★ Coordinated networks of habitats, industry, and data across most major Solar System bodies.
- ★ High-fidelity simulation environments blur lines between physical and virtual domains for many activities.
- ★ Long-term projects (over centuries) to shape or stabilize planetary climates within the Solar System are considered.
2500–2599 · ★ 26th Century
Potential early stellar engineering steps
- ★ Attempted control of small fractions of the Sun’s output via vast collector swarms or similar structures.
- ★ Interstellar probes and potentially slow crewed vessels reach nearby stars, if sociopolitical and technical factors allow.
- ★ Extremely advanced machine intelligences collaborate with humans and post-humans on multi-century infrastructure plans.
2600–2699 · ★ 27th Century
Deep-time planning and archival
- ★ Large-scale archival projects aim to preserve knowledge and biology for millions of years (high-stability storage, off-world vaults).
- ★ Complex feedback systems manage interactions between biological ecosystems and artificial systems across many worlds.
- ★ Ethical and governance tools for very long-lived entities and institutions are continuously revised.
2700–2799 · ★ 28th Century
Interstellar network beginnings
- ★ If successful, a sparse interstellar network of probes, relays, or outposts forms around several nearby stars.
- ★ Communication latency becomes a central architectural constraint for culture and governance over light-year scales.
- ★ Local star systems become semi-autonomous techno-ecological “polities” with shared ancestry.
2800–2899 · ★ 29th Century
Optimization toward physical limits
- ★ In some regions, computation approaches thermodynamic and physical limits for given masses and energy flows.
- ★ Matter is rearranged at stellar or planetary scale with high precision for computation, habitat, or art.
- ★ Decisions about growth versus stability become central: expand, consolidate, or deliberately slow technological acceleration.
2900–2999 · ★ 30th Century
Long-lived techno-civilizational equilibria
- ★ Some civilizations may stabilize into low-risk, high-knowledge steady states; others may fragment, transform, or fade.
- ★ Redundancy across star systems and storage media makes total technological collapse less likely but still possible.
- ★ The notion of “centuries” becomes a short planning horizon; millennial-scale engineering becomes normal.
3000–3999 AD · ★ 4th Millennium
Multi-system technological civilizations
- ★ If it persists, a technological civilization may occupy multiple star systems with sophisticated coordination tools.
- ★ Large fractions of available matter and energy are devoted to computation, communication, and controlled habitats.
4000–4999 AD · ★ 5th Millennium
Meta-technology: managing change itself
- ★ The highest-leverage “technology” may be institutions and norms that shape how new technologies are discovered, deployed, or constrained.
- ★ Civilizations that survive this long likely evolve robust mechanisms to prevent self-destruction by runaway tools.
5000–5999 AD · ★ 6th Millennium
Environmental and stellar timescales
- ★ Tools operate comfortably on geological and stellar timescales: moving ice, oceans, even small moons or asteroids over tens of thousands of years.
- ★ Cultural, biological, and synthetic lineages may be deeply interwoven and highly diverse.
6000–6999 AD · ★ 7th Millennium
Unknown equilibria
- ★ It becomes very hard to say which specific technologies exist; broad capabilities likely include near-total control of local matter/energy and extremely rich inner worlds.
- ★ The distinction between “tool” and “environment” may blur: entire ecosystems and star systems can be consciously shaped.
7000–7999 AD · ★ 8th Millennium
Cosmic archiving and aesthetics
- ★ Long-lived civilizations may devote enormous effort to art, knowledge, and preservation, not just expansion.
- ★ Planetary surfaces, rings, or entire nebulae may be subtly shaped as artworks or data structures.
8000–8999 AD · ★ 9th Millennium
Interplay of many lineages
- ★ If multiple independent technological lineages exist, their interactions (trade, conflict, or isolation) become a central “technology-of-technologies.”
- ★ Communication constraints across light-years still bound how tightly systems can couple.
9000–9999 AD · ★ 10th Millennium
Preparing for longer cosmic eras
- ★ Surviving techno-civilizations plan for tens of thousands to millions of years, considering stellar evolution and long-term cosmic risks.
- ★ Technology is indistinguishable from “natural” processes at many scales; intentional design and emergent dynamics are tightly interwoven.
10,000–20,000 AD · ★ +10,000 years
Deep stabilization or transformation
- ★ Either long-lived technological civilizations stabilize into enduring forms, or most succumb to collapse, transformation, or transcendence.
- ★ Surviving infrastructures are designed to be robust against geological and cosmic perturbations.
20,000–30,000 AD · ★ +20,000 years
Stellar neighborhood gardening
- ★ If expansion continues, nearby stars and planetary systems are carefully engineered as habitats, data centers, or conservation zones.
- ★ Timescales of projects may routinely span tens of thousands of years.
30,000–40,000 AD · ★ +30,000 years
Macro-ecological engineering
- ★ Large-scale manipulation of planetary orbits, rotation rates, or atmospheres is technically feasible if desired.
- ★ The concept of “technology” starts to mean entire sculpted regions of space-time and matter.
40,000–50,000 AD · ★ +40,000 years
Persistent information structures
- ★ Extremely redundant information systems are built to survive even if active civilizations wax and wane.
- ★ Artifacts may be designed to be legible to very different kinds of minds over huge timespans.
50,000–60,000 AD · ★ +50,000 years
Long dusk of specific technologies
- ★ Many early digital technologies (our current computers, networks) exist only as emulated curiosities within vastly more advanced substrates.
- ★ Whatever persists has passed through countless cycles of refactoring, consolidation, and cultural reinterpretation.
60,000–70,000 AD · ★ +60,000 years
Continuity and drift
- ★ Some technological traditions maintain recognizable continuity; others diverge into forms that would be incomprehensible to 21st-century observers.
- ★ The boundary between biological, synthetic, and informational entities is extremely fluid.
70,000–80,000 AD · ★ +70,000 years
Large-scale experimentation
- ★ Civilizations (if extant) might run experiments on entire star systems, planets, or simulated universes to explore physics and complexity.
- ★ Toolsets likely include manipulation of extreme environments (black holes, neutron stars) if accessible and safe.
80,000–90,000 AD · ★ +80,000 years
Preparing for stellar evolution phases
- ★ Long-term strategies may address eventual changes in stellar output, galactic dynamics, or cosmic radiation backgrounds.
- ★ Technology becomes, in effect, the management of position and state within a changing universe.
90,000–100,000 AD · ★ +90,000–100,000 years
First full 100,000-year technological arc
- ★ From our perspective, almost everything is unknown; the most robust “technology” is likely the capacity to adapt through radical change.
- ★ Surviving lineages, if any, have mastered not just tools, but the governance of tools over deep time.
100,000–200,000 AD · ★ +100,000–200,000 years
Macroscopic cosmic engineering (if still active)
- ★ Civilizations that remain technological may now operate comfortably on 100,000-year project cycles, reshaping regions of the galaxy.
- ★ Or, technological activity may have quieted into low-energy, highly stable forms that are hard to detect.
200,000–300,000 AD · ★ +200,000–300,000 years
Branches and extinctions
- ★ Some branches of technological lineages may have gone extinct; others may have diverged into forms that don’t resemble “civilization” at all.
- ★ Long-term artifacts—huge archives, stellar structures—might outlive their creators.
300,000–400,000 AD · ★ +300,000–400,000 years
Galactic-scale questions
- ★ If many technological civilizations ever existed, their traces, interactions, or absences become part of the “technology landscape.”
- ★ Tools may include methods to avoid interference, to hide, or to signal across vast times and distances.
400,000–500,000 AD · ★ +400,000–500,000 years
Meta-civilizational technologies
- ★ The highest-level “technologies” might be frameworks for multiple civilizations to coexist, merge, or respect one another’s light-cones.
- ★ Or, only a few isolated lineages remain, tending their own engineered niches.
500,000–600,000 AD · ★ +500,000–600,000 years
Survival against rare catastrophes
- ★ Technologies might focus on resilience against rare but devastating cosmic events (supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, large-scale instabilities).
- ★ Distributed, redundant designs mean no single failure can erase all knowledge or capacity.
600,000–700,000 AD · ★ +600,000–700,000 years
Long-term cultural drift
- ★ What remains recognizable is not specific devices, but patterns: networks of communication, energy flows, and adaptive behavior.
- ★ Some regions may deliberately limit technological complexity to avoid risks, adopting “minimalist” high-tech.
700,000–800,000 AD · ★ +700,000–800,000 years
Unknown unknowns
- ★ Discoveries about physics or reality itself may have fundamentally changed what “technology” can be.
- ★ Our current imagination is probably inadequate to describe the dominant tools of this era, if any exist.
800,000–900,000 AD · ★ +800,000–900,000 years
Preparing for the million-year mark
- ★ Technologies are evaluated in million-year risk frameworks; anything likely to cause irreversible harm over that span is excluded or quarantined.
- ★ Stability, subtlety, and reversibility become key design values.
900,000–1,000,000 AD · ★ +900,000–1,000,000 years
One million years of tools
- ★ If any descendant of our current technological civilization still exists, it will have passed through transformations we can barely sketch.
- ★ The deepest “technology” may simply be: the ability to persist, adapt, and care about the far future in a changing universe.