The categorization of the past into discrete, quantified named blocks of time is called periodization.Adam Rabinowitz. And king It’s about time: historical periodization and Linked Ancient World Data . Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2014. This is a list of such named time periods as defined in various fields of study.
These can be divided broadly into prehistoric periods or archaeological periods for the time before the development of writing, and historical periods, starting when written records began to be kept. The existence of written sources, however, doesn't at all exclude differences in periodization between archaeology and history.
In archaeology and anthropology, prehistory is subdivided into the three-age system. This list includes the use of the three-age system as well as a number of various designations 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 BC) and continues to the present. The beginning of the Mesolithic is usually considered to correspond to the beginning of the Holocene epoch.
Geological periods Era Precambrian Hadean (or hadaeozoic) Archean (or archaeozoic) Eoarchean Paleoarchean Mesoarchean Neoarchean Proterozoic Paleoproterozoic Siderian Rhyacian Orosirian Statherian Mesoproterozoic Calymmian Ectasian Stenian Neoproterozoic Tonian Cryogenian Ediacaran Phanerozoic Paleozoic Cambrian Cambrian Explosion Ordovician Silurian Devonian Carboniferous Permian Mesozoic Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous Cenozoic Paleogene Paleocene Danian Selandian Thanetian Eocene Oligocene Neogene Miocene Aquitanian Burdigalian Langhian Serravallian Tortonian Messinian Pliocene Zanclean Piacenzian Quaternary Pleistocene Gelasian Calabrian Chibanian Late Pleistocene Holocene Greenlandian Northgrippian Meghalayan Anthropocene (rejected proposal)
General periods
Geologic Time – Period prior to humans. 4.6 billion to 3 million years ago. (See "prehistoric periods" for more detail into this.) Prehistory – 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 – 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) – 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 BC in parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. Chalcolithic (or "Eneolithic", "Copper Age") – still largely Neolithic in character, when early copper metallurgy appeared alongside the use of stone tools. Bronze Age – not part of prehistory for all regions and civilizations who had adopted or developed a writing system. Iron Age – not part of prehistory for all civilizations who had introduced written records during the Bronze Age. 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 five thousand years, beginning with the earliest linguistic records in the third millennium BC 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 AD 200–600 and AD 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). Middle Ages – Lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and is variously demarcated by historians as ending with the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, or the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, merging into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. Early Middle Ages High Middle Ages Late Middle Ages 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 Aztecs 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.
Forms of modernity Hominids archaeologically and anatomically similar or identical to modern humans (HAASMHs) Anatomically modern humans (AMHs) Technologically modern humans (TMHs)
Technological periods Prehistory Paleolithic (Lower, Middle, Upper) Mesolithic (Epipaleolithic) Neolithic Chalcolithic (or "Eneolithic", "Copper Age") Ancient history (The Bronze and Iron Ages are not part of prehistory for all regions and civilizations who had adopted or developed a writing system.) Bronze Age Iron Age Late Middle Ages Renaissance Early modern history Modern history Industrial Age (1760–1970) Machine Age (1880–1945) Age of Oil (1901–present) Jet Age (1940s) Nuclear Age (a.k.a. Atomic Era) (1945/1950–present) Space Age (1957–present) Information Age (1970–present) Internet Age (1990–present)
African periods
Egyptian periods
Prehistoric Egypt (pre-3150 BC)
Dynastic Period Early Dynastic Period or Archaic Period (two dynasties) (3150 BC – 2686 BC) Old Kingdom (four dynasties) (2686 BC – 2181 BC) First Intermediate Period (four dynasties) (2181 BC – 2055 BC) Middle Kingdom (three dynasties) (2055 BC – 1650 BC) Second Intermediate Period (four dynasties) (1650 BC – 1550 BC) New Kingdom (three dynasties) (1550 BC – 1069 BC) Third Intermediate Period (five dynasties) (1069 BC – 664 BC) Antiquity Late Period of Ancient Egypt (six dynasties: of these six, two were Persian dynasties that ruled from capitals distant from Egypt) (664 BC – c. 332 BC) Argead and Ptolemaic dynasties (332 BC – 30 BC) Aegyptus (fifteen Roman dynasties that ruled from capitals distant from Egypt) (30 BC – 641 AD) Sasanian Egypt (one dynasty) (619–629) Coptic period (300 AD – 900 AD) Islamic Egypt Egypt under four foreign Arabic dynasties that ruled from capitals distant from Egypt. Rashidun Egypt (641–661) Umayyad Egypt (661–750) Abbasid Egypt (750–868 and 905–935) Medieval Egypt Tulunid dynasty (868–905) Ikhshidid dynasty (935–969) Fatimid Dynasty (969–1171) Ayyubid Dynasty (1171–1250) Mamluk dynasties (1250–1517) Bahri dynasty (1250–1382) Burji dynasty (1382–1517) Modern Egypt Ottoman Egypt (Turk dynasty that ruled from a capital distant from Egypt) (1517–1867) Muhammad Ali dynasty (1805–1953) Khedivate of Egypt (1867–1914) Sultanate of Egypt (1914–1922) Contemporary Egypt Kingdom of Egypt (1922–1953) Republican Egypt (1953–present)
Libyan periods Prehistoric Libya Prehistoric Libya (pre-600 BC) Early Libya Carthaginian Libya (600 BC – 200 BC) Roman Libya (200 BC – 487 AD) Vandal Libya (487 AD – ≈600 AD) Islamic Libya (≈600 – ≈1200) Ottoman Libya (≈1600 – ≈1900) Modern Libya Colonial Libya (≈1900 – ≈1950) Libya as an independent country Early Independent Era Libyan Arab Republic (September 1969–1977) Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Contemporary Libya (2011–present)
American (continent) periods
Pre-Columbian America 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 Colonial America Baroque (New World, 1600–1750) Spanish hegemony (Americas, 1492–1832)
Mexican periods Ancient and Pre-Columbian Mexico Olmecs (1500 BC- 400 BC) Mayans (3000 BC – 600 AD) Teotihuacan (1 AD - 500 AD) Toltecs (800 AD - 1000 AD) Aztecs (1000 AD – 1512 AD) Colonial Mexico Spanish conquest of Mexico (1519 – 1521) New Spain (1535 - 1821) Independence Era
Mexican War of Independence (1810 - 1821) First Mexican Empire (1821 -1823) First Mexican Republic (1824 - 1835) Centralist Republic of Mexico (1835 - 1846)
Liberal Mexico
Second Federal Republic of Mexico (1846 - 1863) Second French Mexican Empire (1864 - 1867) Restored Republic (1867 - 1876) Porfiriato (1876 - 1911)
Modern Mexico
Revolutionary Mexico (1910 - 1917) Maximato (1928 - 1934) PRI One-Party State (1934 - 2000) Contemporary Mexico (2000 - Present)
United States historical periods
Pre-Colonial era Lithic stage Archaic stage Formative stage Woodland period Classic stage Mississippian period Post-Classic stage
Thirteen British Colonies (1607–1775)
United Colonies (1775-1781) American Revolutionary War
Confederation period (1781-1789)
First Party System (1789–1824) Federalist Era (1789–1800) Jeffersonian democracy (1790s–1820s) Era of Good Feelings (1817–1825)
Second Party System (1824–1856) Jacksonian democracy (1825–1854) Civil War Era (1849–1865)
Third Party System (1856–1896) American Civil War (1861–1865) Reconstruction era (1865–1877) (Some of this time period is known as the "Old West".) Gilded Age (1877–1896)
Fourth Party System (1896–1932) Progressive Era (1896–1917) United States in World War I (1917–1918) Roaring Twenties (1920–1929)
Fifth Party System (1932–1980) Great Depression (1929–1939) United States home front during World War II (1942–1945) Post-World War II (1945–1964) Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968) United States in the Vietnam War (1955–1973)
Sixth Party System (1980–present) Reagan Era (1980–1991) Post-Cold War period (1991–2008) Contemporary United States (2008-present)
Asian periods
Chinese periods
Bronze Age China
Archaic China Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) Western Zhou (1046–771 BC) Eastern Zhou (771–256 BC) Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BC) Warring States period (476–221 BC) Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) Antiquity Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) Western Han (206 BC – 2 AD) Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) Eastern Han (25–220 AD) Six Dynasties (220–580) Three Kingdoms (220–265) Jin dynasty (266–420) Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–580) Medieval China Sui dynasty (580–618) Tang dynasty (623–907) Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) Song dynasty (960–1279) Northern Song (960–1127), Liao dynasty (907–1115) Western Xia dynasty (1038–1227) Southern Song (1127–1279), Jin dynasty (1115–1234) Mongol China Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) Late Dynastic Period Ming dynasty (1368–1644) Qing dynasty (1644–1911) Modern China Republic of China (1912–1949) Xinhai Revolution (1911–1912) Warlord Era (1918–1927) Contemporary China