1.1 Earth’s History

To get a feel for the timescales of the development of man and pottery, it is worth having a few benchmarks for reference. Three hundred million years ago the landmass that became Europe was located at the equator and was covered in a lush tropical forest of 30 metre high fern trees, laying down many tens of metres of decaying vegetable matter. The separate land masses, the continental plates, float on, and are driven by currents in the partially molten rock which makes up most of the earth's mantle and core. About 250 million years ago the plates joined together to form the super continent Pangaea. That part becoming Europe was far from the oceans and became a desert covered in sand. About 200 million years ago Pangaea started to split apart creating new continents, and the sea flooded across Europe and remained for tens of millions of years. As a result of all the marine animals living and dying over this period, a thick layer of shells and coral built up to eventually become limestone. Later, sand and mud were swept in covering the original layers. The vegetation and sand were subsequently compressed into coal and sandstone (10m of decaying vegetation becomes 1m of coal). Various shallow seas came and evaporated, leaving significant layers of salt beneath the present surface. Pangaea continued to break up so that 100 million years ago there was an identifiable continent that was to become North America and Eurasia, roamed upon by dinosaurs, and relentlessly moving north. By sixty million years ago North America and Eurasia had parted company, creating the Atlantic Ocean between them. At this time the sea level was 70m higher than today. Temperatures were 5 degrees centigrade higher and there were alligators living at the North Pole.

Geological Clock