Prehistory

This page covers the Prehistory of the Daybreak universe, since the early history of the galaxy to the reign of the Forerunners, their war against the Flood and the firing of the Halos, and the tens of millennia preceding the rise of the Covenant. Following this, Covenant history and Human history cover the timelines of those respective civilizations. Due to the scarcity of reliable primary sources on this era, most of the dates listed are approximations.

To view all of the era pages, see Timeline.

The Ancients (? — 97,445 BCE)
The civilization identified by the Covenant as the Sculptors, after their only remnants, is active in the galaxy. The Sculptors would leave behind a collection of peculiar objects seemingly carved from asteroids and planetoids; these objects do not have any apparent technological function, so they are commonly assumed to be a form of abstract artwork.
 * c. 100-200 million BCE (?)

A civilization known as the Orb-builders is active in the galaxy. Not much is known about them, their possible relation to the Forerunners, or lack thereof; only a handful of enormous, orb-shaped megastructures carven with intricate patterns found throughout the Orion Arm. As the materials or architectural style of these structures do not correspond to those used by the Forerunners, there is debate whether they are related.
 * c. 4 million BCE

The earliest ruins known to be associated with the Forerunners are dated to this time period.
 * c. 170,000 BCE

The localized civilization later known as the Ehrlon is active on a handful of star systems in what is now known by the Covenant as the Niphos Barrens. They would later disappear due to an unknown cataclysm, leaving only ruins behind.
 * c. 120,000 BCE

A Forerunner pioneer group first encounters the Flood on the frontier world designated G 617 g, beginning a centuries-long struggle against the parasitic meta-organism.
 * c. 97,745 BCE

The Halo Event: the Forerunners enact the Mass Sterilization Protocol, activating the Halo Array and wiping out all sentient life in the galaxy. Life successfully indexed by the Forerunners at the Ark is subsequently reseeded over the following centuries as part of the Conservation Measure. How many Forerunners survive, or what becomes of them, is shrouded in mystery.
 * 97,445 BCE

The Long Dark (97,445 BCE — 5000 BCE)
The time after the firing of Halo was known to the Covenant as the Long Dark, as it remains largely shrouded in mystery with only scattered hints to be found as to the civilizations that arose then. However, it should be noted that this term is drenched in Covenant bias, and notably misleading as it evokes a sense of inactivity, which was far from the case. While research into preserved Covenant historical records is pending, it is known that multiple civilizations arose in the galaxy at this time. Evidence of this can be seen in Forerunner reliquaries looted and purged of data before the Covenant's earliest explorations, reports from Forerunner constructs of ancient visitors to their installations, as well as various other examples both direct and indirect.

Some of these civilizations are no doubt still active, although well outside the human and Covenant spheres of influence. The Covenant leadership and some scholars and traders were aware of such contemporaneous civilizations, and even been in contact with them (either direct or indirect). However, the existence of such outsider civilizations was downplayed or downright hidden from the general public lest they undermine the narrative of cosmic exceptionalism the Covenant had built up around themselves. In Covenant dogma, pre-contacted civilizations were known as Children of the Long Dark, for they had not yet known the Revelation that the San'Shyuum experienced of the Divine Beyond; other civilizations were seen as barbarians by default before being "edified" by the Covenant. Yet cryptic reports of "Others" indicate the existence of one or more alien civilizations either close to or even beyond the Covenant's level of influence and advancement.

The Jehioi civilization establishes a number of colonies within the Orion Arm, only for those colonies to be abandoned and fall to ruin.
 * c. 50,000-40,000 BCE

The Optem civilization is active in the Orion Arm, appearing to show a particular interest in Forerunner artifacts.
 * c. 20,000 BCE