Human

===Medieval===
{{Main|Post-classical history}}
[[File:Cleric-Knight-Workman.jpg|Medieval French [[Illuminated manuscript|manuscript illustration]] of the three [[Social class|classes]] of medieval society from the 13th-century {{lang|fr|Li Livres dou Santé}}|thumb|right|upright]]
Following the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] in 476, Europe entered the [[Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Marx W, Haunschild R, Bornmann L |date=2018|title=Climate and the Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire: A Bibliometric View on an Interdisciplinary Approach to Answer a Most Classic Historical Question|journal=Climate|language=en|volume=6|issue=4|page=90|doi=10.3390/cli6040090|bibcode=2018Clim....6...90M |doi-access=free}}</ref> During this period, [[Christianity]] and the [[Catholic Church|Church]] would provide centralized authority and education.<ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book|veditors=Brooke JH, Numbers RL|title=Science and Religion Around the World|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-532819-6|page=72|url={{GBurl|id=W6HPW1TodZwC|p=71}}|access-date=30 July 2022}}</ref> In the Middle East, [[Islam]] became the prominent religion and expanded into North Africa. It led to an [[Islamic Golden Age]], inspiring achievements in [[architecture]], the revival of old advances in science and technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life.<ref name="Renima-2016">{{cite book | vauthors = Renima A, Tiliouine H, Estes RJ | title = The State of Social Progress of Islamic Societies| chapter = The Islamic Golden Age: A Story of the Triumph of the Islamic Civilization|date=2016 |pages=25–52| veditors = Tiliouine H, Estes RJ |series=International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life|place=Cham|publisher=Springer International Publishing|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-24774-8_2|isbn=978-3-319-24774-8 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Harper Atlas of World History| vauthors = Vidal-Nanquet P |publisher=Harper & Row Publishers|year=1987|page=76}}</ref> The [[Christendom|Christian]] and [[Islamic world]]s would eventually clash, with the [[Kingdom of England]], the [[Kingdom of France]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] declaring a series of [[crusades|holy wars]] to regain control of the [[Holy Land]] from [[Muslim]]s.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Asbridge T |title=The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2012|isbn=978-1-84983-770-5|chapter=Introduction: The world of the crusades}}</ref>

In the Americas, complex [[Mississippian culture|Mississippian societies]] would arise starting around 800 CE,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url= https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-707|author= Adam King|title= Mississippian Period: Overview|encyclopedia= New Georgia Encyclopedia|date= 2002|access-date= 15 November 2009|archive-date= 19 August 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090819042104/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-707|url-status= dead}}</ref> while further south, the [[Aztecs]] and [[Incas]] would become the dominant powers.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Conrad G, Demarest AA |title=Religion and Empire: The Dynamics of Aztec and Inca Expansionism|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1984|isbn=0-521-31896-3|page=2}}</ref> The [[Mongol Empire]] would conquer much of [[Eurasia]] in the 13th and 14th centuries.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = May T |title=The Mongol Conquests in World History| publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2013|isbn=978-1-86189-971-2 |page=7}}</ref> Over this same time period, the [[Mali Empire]] in Africa grew to be the largest empire on the continent, stretching from [[Senegambia]] to [[Ivory Coast]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|vauthors=Canós-Donnay S|title=The Empire of Mali|date=25 February 2019|url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-266|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.266|isbn=978-0-19-027773-4|access-date=7 May 2021|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020034919/https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-266|url-status=live}}</ref> Oceania would see the rise of the [[Tuʻi Tonga Empire]] which expanded across many islands in the South Pacific.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Canela SA, Graves MW |title=The Tongan Maritime Expansion: A Case in the Evolutionary Ecology of Social Complexity|journal=Asian Perspectives|volume=37|issue=2|pages=135–164|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46734826}}</ref>