Humans spent the vast majority of their existence as hunter-gatherers. Here’s a timeline of key eras and events:
Hunter-Gatherer Era: Humans practiced hunting and gathering for at least 90% of their history, from the emergence of early humans around 1.8 million years ago until approximately 10,000–12,000 years ago. For Homo sapiens specifically (~200,000–300,000 years), they lived almost exclusively as hunter-gatherers for about 188,000–290,000 years1234.
Start of Farming (Agriculture): The transition to farming (the Neolithic Revolution) began roughly 12,000–11,000 years ago, with the earliest agriculture appearing first in the Fertile Crescent and spreading over centuries to other parts of the world. Farming was gradually adopted—it did not replace hunting and gathering overnight5678.
Industrial Age: The Industrial Revolution started around 1760 in Great Britain. This era marked the transition from agrarian economies to large-scale industrial manufacturing and continued into the late 19th and 20th centuries, defining a new age of technological and social change9101112.
Present Era: The most accepted terms for our current era are the "Modern Era" and the "Information Age." The Modern Era typically refers to the period from about 1750 CE to the present, which includes the Industrial Age. The Information Age (or Digital Age) refers to the most recent decades, characterized by rapid advances in digital and communication technology13141516.
In summary:
Humans were hunter-gatherers for hundreds of thousands of years, began farming around 12,000 years ago, entered the industrial age about 265 years ago, and currently live in what historians call the Modern Era or the Information Age.