For millennia, humans have been making things, breaking things, and burying them in the ground. And over the past few centuries, archaeologists have been digging them up. Thanks to their work, we can travel the world's museums and marvel at some of the oldest objects ever found.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of a human connection across history, and there's nothing quite like being delivered the wrong grade of copper. At the British Museum you can see a 4000 year old complaint from one ancient Babylonian merchant to another.

It reads: "Tell Ea-Nasir: Nanni sends the following message: When you came, you said to me: "I will give fine quality copper ingots." You left, but you did not do what you promised me. You put ingots which were not good before my messenger…"

And in a room nearby, you can find one of the earliest mentions of beer. This clay cuneiform tablet was made around 3100–3000BCE in southern Iraq, known as Mesopotamia, and the text records how much beer was given to workers as part of their daily rations.

The oldest surviving wheel in the world is now kept in the City Museum Ljubljana, Slovenia, after being discovered in a marsh near the town of Vrhnika. We know it would have belonged to a two-wheeled cart, as it was found complete with its axle.

Çatalhöyük is believed to be one of the oldest settlements in human history. It dates to a time before civilisation as we know it: before writing, cities, or even agriculture. There were no temples or palaces. It seems the people here lived in unparalleled social equality.

This modern recreation of one of the Çatalhöyük homes shows how sparse and simple these little dwellings were. Each house had a simple oven, storage space, and bed platform made from clay, and was accessed from the roof by a ladder.

The remains of five bows dating to the Mesolithic era were discovered at Holmegårds Mose, Denmark, and are now held at the National Museum. By modern standards, the designs are simple and ineffective but unbelievably they would have been used to bring down enormous wild aurochs.

The curious stone structures of Göbekli Tepe, Turkey, have baffled archaeologists ever since they were uncovered in 1994. At the time, nobody expected to find megalithic monuments dating to a time before the existence of cities. This discovery has rewritten the history books.

The small German town of Blaubeuren is home to the oldest known human figurine. The enigmatic 'Venus of Hohle Fels' was discovered in 2008 in a cave in nearby Schelklingen, and is dated to between 28,000 and 33,000 years old.

The statue is small, only a few centimetres, and made of mammoth ivory. It depicts an exaggerated female body, with large buttocks, breasts, and prominent genitals. Similar figures are found across central Europe, and are believed to represent a shared matriarchal culture.

Even older than the Venus of Hohle Fels is this, the so-called Lion-Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel. Interestingly, this was found not far from the Venus, but dates to nearly 5000 years previously, showing that complex cultures have inhabited the area for an unimaginably long time.

At 3.3 million years old, tools unearthed at Lomekwi are the oldest stone tools ever discovered - older than humanity itself. The tools were used by an unknown and extinct, but advanced, species of hominin. They're now held at the National Museum of Nairobi.

Many artists prefer to stay behind the canvas or camera, but these eminent artists didn't shy away from portraiture. Scroll to see painted portraits side-by-side with photographs.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a celebrated painter who lived from 1841 to 1919. In 1876, the French Impressionist captured himself in oil surrounded by hazy, overlapping brushstrokes. This piece hangs in the Harvard Art Museum.

During his later years, Renoir became stricken with arthritis, but continued to paint. He's shown painting outdoors here with a brush tied to his hand. This photograph is part of the LIFE Photo Collection

One of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo's most frequent subjects was herself. This 1954 piece, Marxism Will Give Health to the Ill, appears at the Museo Frida Kahlo in Coyoacán, Mexico.

This photo by Bernard Silberstein was taken around 1940. Kahlo is seated in front of a plain backdrop, adorned in traditional garments and a headdress of bougainvillea and white rose. Both this photo and the previous painting appear courtesy of the Museo Frida Kahlo.

In 1931, Kahlo also painted herself alongside her husband, Diego Rivera. A celebrated painter in his own right, Rivera was renowned for large, colorful frescoes. This piece currently resides at the San Francisco MOMA.

This photograph of Diego Rivera shows the artist seated next to one of the beloved dogs who lived at La Casa Azul with Kahlo and Rivera. This picture also appears courtesy of the Museo Frida Kahlo.