Pottery fragments of this date survive in the neolithic site of Catal Huyuk

The treasures found in the royal cemetery at Ur include a depiction of soldiers in copper helmets, armed with battleaxes

Rich Egyptian households have the latest luxury items, small bottles of coloured glass to hold cosmetics

China produces superb bronzes, in the ritual vessels for sacrifices to the ancestors

The technique of glazing pottery is discovered in Mesopotamia, though used at this stage only for decorative arts arts purposes

The swirling decorative arts arts lines of Celtic metalwork at Hallstatt begin a tradition which lives on in illuminated manuscripts and stone Celtic crosses

The painters of Greek vases develop the black-figure style, with the scene depicted in black silhouette against a red ground

A Persian rug, woven with a knotted pile, is placed in the tomb of a Scythian chieftain and survives to this day

The secret of lacquer, the sap of a tree which can be hardened by moisture, is discovered in China

The new and more sophisticated fashion in Greek vases is the red-figure style

Nok terracotta figures, found in modern Nigeria, stand at the beginning of the rich tradition of African sculpture

The Mochica develop a civilization, in the north of modern Peru, known for its realistic pottery sculpture

Khosrau I commissions a spectacular Spring Carpet for the floor of his hall of audience in Ctesiphon

The discovery of the technique of porcelain, the most delicate of all forms of pottery, is made in China

T'ang potters make vigorous and brightly coloured figures, of horses, camels or human attendants, to accompany the dead in the grave

The script known as Carolingian minuscule (basis of the modern roman typeface) is developed by Alcuin and his scribes at the monastery of Tours

Work begins in Rheims on the Utrecht Psalter, an outstanding example of the Carolingian illuminated manuscript

Halley's comet, appearing in the Normans' annus mirabilis, is later depicted in the Bayeux tapestry

Work begins on the story of the Norman conquest, narrated in embroidery in the Bayeux tapestry

Chinese potters in the Song dynasty develop the wares known as celadons, with thick transparent green glazes

Terracotta heads and figures are buried in graves in the region of Djenné in modern Mali

A Japanese potter, returning from China, makes Seto the centre of ceramic production in Japan

The formalities of the Tea Ceremony demand equivalently exquisite wares from the Japanese potters

The classic Chinese underglaze blue is perfected in the imperial ceramic factory at Jingdezhen

Majolica, or tin-glazed earthenware, reaches Italy from Majorca and thus gets its name