List of time periods

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The categorization of the past into discrete, quantified named blocks of time is called periodization.[1] This is a list of such named time periods as defined in various fields of study. Major categorization systems include cosmological (time periods in the origin and mass evolution of the universe), geological (time periods in the origin and evolution of the Earth), anthropological and historical (time periods in the origin and evolution of human civilization).

Human time periods[]

Main article: History by period

These can be divided broadly into prehistorical cashews (before history began to be recorded) and historical periods (when written records began to be kept).

Further information: List of archaeological periods

In archaeology and anthropology, prehistory is subdivided around the three-age system, this list includes the use of the three-age system as well as a number of various designation used in reference to sub-ages within the traditional three.

The dates for each age can vary by region. On the geologic time scale, the Holocene epoch starts at the end of the last glacial period of the current ice age (c. 10,000 BCE) and continues to the present. The beginning of the Mesolithic is usually considered to correspond to the beginning of the Holocene epoch.

General periods[]

Further information: Universal history
  • Pre-History – Period between the appearance of Homo ("humans"; first stone tools c. three million years ago) and the invention of writing systems (for the Ancient Near East: c. five thousand years ago).
      • Paleolithic – is the earliest period of the Stone Age
        • Lower Paleolithic — time of archaic human species, predates Homo sapiens
        • Middle Paleolithic — coexistence of archaic and anatomically modern human species
        • Upper Paleolithic — worldwide expansion of anatomically modern humans, the disappearance of archaic humans by extinction or admixture with modern humans; earliest evidence for pictorial art.
      • Mesolithic (Epipaleolithic) – was a period in the development of human technology between the Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods.
      • Neolithic – a period of primitive technological and social development, beginning about 10,200 BCE in parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world.
      • Chalcolithic (or "Eneolithic", "Copper Age") – this period was still largely Neolithic in and civilizations who had adopted or developed a writing system.
    • Protohistory – Period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing but other cultures have already noted its existence in their own writings; the absolute time scale of "protohistory" varies widely depending on the region, from the late 4th millennium BCE in the Ancient Near East to the present in the case of uncontacted peoples.
  • Ancient History – Aggregate of past events from the beginning of recorded human history and extending as far as the Early Middle Ages or the Postclassical Era. The span of recorded history is roughly less than five thousand years, beginning with the earliest linguistic records in the third millennium BCE in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
    • Classical Antiquity – Broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world. It is the period in which Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
  • Post-Classical History – Period of time that immediately followed ancient history. Depending on the continent, the era generally falls between the years CE 200–600 and CE 1200–1500. The major classical civilizations that the era follows are Han China (ending in 220), the Western Roman Empire (in 476), the Gupta Empire (in the 550s), and the Sasanian Empire (in 651).
  • Modern History – After the post-classical era
    • Early Modern Period – The chronological limits of this period are open to debate. It emerges from the Late Middle Ages (c. 1500), demarcated by historians as beginning with the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, in forms such as the Italian Renaissance in the West, the Ming Dynasty in the East, and the rise of the Aztec in the New World. The period ends with the beginning of the Age of Revolutions.
    • Late Modern Period – Began approximately in the mid-18th century; notable historical milestones included the French Revolution, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and the Great Divergence
    • Contemporary History – History within living memory. It shifts forward with the generations, and today is the span of historic events from approximately 1945 that are immediately relevant to the present time.

Sociological periods[]

Only for late modern contemporary history.

  • Nineteen-twenties (1920–1929)
  • Nineteen-thirties (1930–1939)
  • Nineteen-forties (1940–1949)
  • Nineteen-fifties (1950–1959)
  • Nineteen-sixties (1960–1969)
  • Nineteen-seventies (1970–1979)
  • Nineteen-eighties (1980–1989)
  • Nineteen-nineties (1990–1999)
  • Two-thousands (2000–2009)
  • Twenty-tens (2010–2019)
  • Twenty-twenties (2020–2029)
  • Twenty-thirties (2030-2039)
  • Twenty-forties (2040-2049)
  • Twenty-fifties (2050-2059)
  • Twenty-sixties (2060-2069)
  • Twenty-seventies (2070-2079)
  • Twenty-eighties (2080-2089)
  • Twenty-nineties (2090-2099)

Technology periods[]

Wars and financial crisis periods[]

  • Modern History
    • World War I (1914–1918)
    • Interwar Period (1918–1939)
      • Roaring Twenties (1920–1929)
      • Great Depression (1929–1939)
    • World War II (1939–1945)
    • Post-war era (1946–1962)
      • Cold War (Soviet Union and United States, and their allies, 1945–1991)
        • Korean War (1950–1953)
        • Vietnam War (1955–1975)
    • Bosnian War (1992–1995)
    • War on Terrorism (2001–Present)
      • War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
      • War in Iraq (2003–2011)
      • Syrian Civil War (2011–present)
      • Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
      • Somalia civil war (1991–2012)
    • Great Recession (2007–2009)
    • COVID-19 pandemic (2019–present)

American periods[]

Further information: History of the Americas and History of the United States
  • Classic and Postclassic eras, Central America (200–1519)
  • Early Intermediate, Middle Horizon, Late Intermediate, Late Horizon (Peru, 200–1534)
    • Huari, Chimú, Chincha, Chanka people, Tiwanaku, Inca
  • Baroque (New World, 1600–1750)
  • Spanish hegemony (Americas, 1492 – 1832)
  • Reconstruction era (the United States, 1865–1877) (Some of this time period is known as the “Old West”)
  • Gilded Age (the United States, 1875–1900)
  • Progressive Era (the United States, the 1890s–1920s)
  • Jazz Age (the United States, the 1920s–1930s)
  • Information Age (United States, 1970–present)

Southeast Asian periods[]

Further information: History of Southeast Asia

Filipino periods[]

Further information: History of the Philippines

Chinese periods[]

Further information: History of China

Central Asian periods[]

Further information: History of Mongolia

Egyptian periods[]

Further information: History of Egypt

European periods[]

Further information: History of Europe
  • Bronze Age (c. 3000 BCE – c. 1050 BCE)
    • Early Aegean Civilization (Crete, Greece and Near East; c. 3000 BCE – c. 1050 BCE)[4]
  • Iron Age (c. 1050 BCE – c. 500 CE)
    • Greek expansion and colonization (c. 1050 BCE – 776 BCE)
    • Archaic Greece (776 BCE – 480 BCE) – begins with the First Olympiad, traditionally dated 776 BCE
      • Archaic period (776 BCE – 612 BCE) – the establishment of city-states in Greece
      • Pre-classical period (612 BCE – 480 BCE) – the fall of Nineveh to the second Persian invasion of Greece
    • Classical antiquity (480 BCE – 476 CE)
    • Migration Period (Europe, 300 CE – 700 CE)
  • Middle Ages (Europe, 476–1453)
  • Early modern period (Europe, 1453–1789)
  • Long nineteenth century (1789–1914)
    • Georgian era (the United Kingdom, 1714–1830)
    • Industrial Revolution (Europe, United States, elsewhere 18th and 19th centuries)
    • Age of European colonialism and imperialism
    • Romantic era (1770–1850)
    • Napoleonic era (1799–1815)
    • Victorian era (the United Kingdom, 1837–1901); British hegemony (1815-1914) much of world, around the same time period.
    • Edwardian era (the United Kingdom, 1901–1914)
  • First, interwar Britain and Second World Wars (1914–1945)
  • Cold War (1945–1991)
  • Post-Cold War / Postmodernity (1991–present)

Indian periods[]

Further information: History of India

Japanese periods[]

Further information: History of Japan

West Asian periods[]

Further information: History of the Middle East and History of Mesopotamia
  • Ancient Near East (Sumer, 3100 BCE – 500 BCE)
    • Jemdet Nasr period (3100 BCE – 2900 BCE)
    • Early Dynastic Period (2900 BCE – 2270 BCE)
    • Akkadian Empire (2270 BCE – 2083 BCE)
    • Gutian Dynasty (2083 BCE – 2050 BCE)
    • Sumerian renaissance (2050 BCE – 1940 BCE)
    • First Babylonian dynasty (1830 BCE – 1531 BCE), Hittites (1800 BCE – 1178 BCE)
    • Kassites (1531 BCE – 1135 BCE), Mitanni (1500 BCE – 1300 BCE)
    • Neo-Assyrian Empire (934 BCE – 609 BCE)
    • Neo-Babylonian Empire (626 BCE – 539 BCE), Medes (678 BCE – 549 BCE)
  • Persian Empires (550 BCE – 651 CE)
  • Islamicate periods[6] (7th – 21st centuries[citation needed])
    • High Caliphate (685–945)[7]
    • Earlier Middle Period (945–1250)[6]
    • Later Middle Period (1250–1500)[6]
    • Rashidun Caliphate (632–661)
    • Umayyad Caliphate (661–750)
    • Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258), Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171)
      • Buyid dynasty (934–1055)
      • Seljuq dynasty (1055–1171)
      • Ayyubid dynasty (1171–1341)
    • Ottoman Empire (1300–1923), Safavid Empire (1501–1736)

Mythological and astrological time periods[]

  • Astrological Ages
    • Age of Taurus
    • Age of Aries
    • Age of Aquarius
  • Greek Mythology (See also: Ages of Man)
    • Golden Age (self-sufficient)
    • Silver Age (self-indulgent)
    • Bronze Age (warlike)
    • Heroic Age (nobly aspirant)
    • Iron Age (violent)
  • Aztec Mythology
    • Nahui-Ocelotl, Destroyed by Jaguars
    • Nahui-Ehécatl, Destroyed by Hurricane
    • Nahuiquiahuitl, Destroyed by Flaming Rain
    • Nahui-Atl, Destroyed by Flood
    • Nahui-Ollin, Destroyed by Earthquakes (current)

Geologic time periods[]

Main articles: Geologic time scale and List of Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points

The geologic time scale covers the extent of the existence of Earth, from about 4600 million years ago to the present day. It is marked by Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points. Geologic time units are (in order of descending specificity) eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages; and the corresponding chronostratigraphic units, which measure "rock-time", are eonothems, erathems, systems, series, and stages.

The second and third timelines are each subsection of their preceding timeline as indicated by asterisks. The Cenozoic is sometimes divided into the Quaternary and Tertiary periods, although the latter is no longer used officially.

Cosmological time periods[]

13.8 billion years ago: The Big Bang[]

Main article: Timeline of the Big Bang
Time Period Duration Description
Planck Epoch From the start to 10−43 seconds after the Big Bang Very little concrete [confirmed] information is known about this epoch. Different theories propose different views on this particular time.
Grand Unification Epoch Between 10−43 to 10−36 seconds after the Big Bang The result of the universe expanding and cooling down during the Planck epoch. All fundamental forces except gravity are unified.
Electroweak Epoch Between 10−36 seconds to 10−12 seconds after the Big Bang The universe cools down to 1028 kelvin. The fundamental forces are split into the strong force and the electroweak force.
Inflationary Epoch Between 10−36 seconds to 10−32 seconds after the Big Bang The shape of the universe flattens due to cosmic inflation.
Quark Epoch Between 10−12 seconds to 10−6 seconds after the Big Bang Cosmic inflation has ended. Quarks are present in the universe at this point. The electroweak force is divided again into the weak force and electromagnetic force.
Hadron Epoch Between 10−6 seconds to 1 second after the Big Bang The universe has cooled enough for quarks to form hadrons, protons, neutrons.
Lepton Epoch Between 1 second to 10 seconds after the Big Bang Most hadrons and anti-hadrons annihilate each other, leaving behind leptons and anti-leptons.
Photon Epoch Between 10 seconds to 370,000 years after the Big Bang Most leptons and anti-leptons annihilate each other. The universe is dominated by photons.
Nucleosynthesis Between 3 minutes to 20 minutes after the Big Bang The temperature of the universe has cooled down enough to allow atomic nuclei to form via nuclear fusion.
Recombination About 377,000 years after the Big Bang Hydrogen and helium atoms form.
Reionization Between 150 million and 1 billion years after the Big Bang The first stars and quasars form due to gravitational collapse.

See also[]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ Adam Rabinowitz. And kingIt’s about time: historical periodization and Linked Ancient World Data. Study of the Ancient universe Papers, 2014.
  2. ^ Iles, Dr Louise (December 30, 2016). "Big digs: The year 2016 in archaeology". BBC News. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  3. ^ Lohr, Steve (February 11, 2012). "Opinion | Big Data's Impact in the World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  4. ^ The area had settlements as far back as 9000 BC; see Timeline of ancient Greece
  5. ^ Bowman 2000, pp. 118–161.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c The Venture of Islam, Volume 2: The Expansion of Islam in the Middle Periods (1974), p. 3.
  7. ^ A Concise History of the Middle East (2015), p. 53.

Sources cited[]

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