This is the earliest period of human history, when people used stone tools and lived as hunter-gatherers.
What is the Paleolithic Era
This Chinese invention, carried west along the Silk Road, replaced animal skins and clay tablets as the main writing material.
What is paper
Under this leader, the Mongols united much of Asia and created the largest land empire in history.
Who is Genghis Khan
This Portuguese explorer’s voyage around the Cape of Good Hope opened up direct sea trade routes between Europe and Asia.
Who is Vasco da Gama
This religion spread along the Silk Road from India into China, Korea, and Japan, often carried by monks and traders.
What is Buddhism
The development of farming and the domestication of animals during this time period is often called the "Neolithic Revolution.
What is the Neolithic Era
Developed in China and spreading through the Silk Road, this explosive mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal revolutionized warfare.
What is gunpowder
The Mongols made the Silk Road safer by protecting merchants and travelers during this period of peace and stability.
What is the Pax Mongolica
This Spanish-sponsored explorer’s crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe, proving the vastness of Earth’s oceans.
Who is Ferdinand Magellan
This monotheistic religion spread across the Middle East, North Africa, and into Spain and South Asia through conquest and trade.
What is Islam
This important discovery allowed early humans to cook food, stay warm, and protect themselves from predators.
What is fire
This navigational tool, which always points north, was traded along the Silk Road and made long-distance sea travel possible.
What is the compass
This famous European traveler reached China during Mongol rule and wrote about his journeys along the Silk Road.
Who is Marco Polo
This European country established a powerful sea-based empire in the Americas, gaining immense wealth from silver and sugar colonies.
What is Spain
Missionaries helped spread this religion throughout the Roman Empire, where it eventually became the official faith.
What is Christianity
Before writing systems were invented, this is how prehistoric people recorded stories, ideas, and events.
What are cave paintings
Originally invented in China, this method of printing using carved blocks spread knowledge faster along Silk Road routes.
What is woodblock printing
The Mongols encouraged the exchange of goods, ideas, and technologies, spreading things like gunpowder and printing from East to West.
What is cultural diffusion on the Silk Road
Known for their dominance in trade, this European nation built a vast maritime empire including colonies in Indonesia, the Cape Colony, and the Caribbean.
What is the Netherlands
This religion, with roots in ancient Israel, influenced Christianity and Islam but spread mainly through diaspora communities.
What is Judaism
These tools, first made from chipped stone, later improved with materials like bronze and iron, marking the shift from prehistory to history.
What are stone and metal tools
This luxury fabric, once kept secret by China, became so valuable that the very trade route it traveled on was named after it.
What is silk
Along with trade goods, this deadly disease also traveled the Silk Road under Mongol control, devastating Europe in the 14th century.
What is the Black Death
This English sea-based empire grew powerful in the 16th–18th centuries, relying on its navy and colonies across North America, Africa, and Asia.
What is the British Empire
The caste system and Vedic traditions helped shape and maintain this religion in India, even as other faiths spread around it.
What is Hinduism