Semitic tribes move up from the Arabian peninsula, through Sinai into Palestine and Syria

The Canaanites establish themselves in the region around what is now Jerusalem

Bantu-speaking tribes begin to spread through Africa, from their original homelands south of the Sahara

Africa south of the equatorial forests is largely inhabited by the Khoisan, of whom the San and the Hottentots are the modern survivors

The Beaker people arrive in Britain, bringing several desirable commodities - including horses, alcohol and bronze

Abraham leaves Ur and moves with his tribe and flocks towards Canaan

Over many centuries Indo-European tribes (Greeks, Germans, Balts, Italics, Celts) move into new territories throughout western Europe

The biblical account suggests that around this period the Hebrews are a captive tribe in Egypt

The Maya are believed to have lived in the same region from about 1500 BC to the present day - America's longest example of continuity

The Slavs settle in the regions of eastern Europe and western Russia

Indo-European tribes, known collectively as Aryans, enter India from the northwest

Indo-European tribes, speaking Baltic languages, settle in the regions of modern Lithuania and Latvia

Seafarers reach and colonize Fiji, lying between Melanesia and Polynesia

Moses is with the Hebrew tribes in Sinai, after the exodus from Egypt

Mysterious raiders from the sea cause chaos throughout the eastern Mediterranean, from Greece to Palestine and Egypt

The Philistines settle in the region which, as Palestine, will become known by their name

The Sinhalese, after moving south through India, cross into Sri Lanka

The Lapps, hunters of reindeer, have Scandinavia to themselves before the arrival of Germanic tribes

The Celts, moving west from central Europe, settle in France and northern Spain

The Celts move across the Channel into Britain, soon becoming the dominant ethnic group in the island

Seafarers reach and colonize the Pacific island of Samoa

The Yuezhi, defeated by the Xiongnu, move west - before eventually descending into Bactria and northwest India

The Roman general Gaius Marius defeats the Teutones, a German tribe which has made deep inroads into southern Gaul

A German tribe, the Cimbri, press into northern Italy until they are defeated at Vercellae and driven out of the peninsula

The Xiongnu split into two hordes, one of them submitting to China and the other moving west