Making that number meaningful requires translation into terms that connect the abstract scale to experiences that can be viscerally understood.

Consider: the ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza approximately 4,500 years ago.

The Trail Creek child was alive 9,000 years ago — twice as long before the present as the pyramid.

The child’s world preceded the pyramid by 4,500 years, the same span of time that separates the pyramid from us.

She is, in the deepest sense, ancient.

Consider: the oldest known writing — clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia — dates to approximately 5,000 years ago.