The categorization of time into discrete named blocks is called periodization. This is a list of such named time periods as defined in various fields of study. Major categorization systems include cosmological (concerning the various time periods in the origin and evolution of the Universe), geological (concerning time periods in the origin and evolution of earth) and historical (concerning time periods in the origin and human evolution).
Human time periods
These can be divided broadly into prehistorical (before history began to be recorded) and historical periods (when written records began to be kept).
In archaeology and anthropology, human 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 (around 10,000 BC) and continues to the present. The beginning of Mesolithic is usually considered to correspond to the beginning of the Holocene epoch.
Historical periods
The Americas
- Classic and Postclassic eras, Central America (200â€"1519)
- Early Intermediate, Middle Horizon, Late Intermediate, Late Horizon (Peru, 200â€"1534)
- Huari, Chimú, Chincha, Chanka people, Tiwanaku, Inca
- Baroque (New World, 1600â€"1750)
- Spanish hegemony (Americas, 16th century â€" 1820s)
- Reconstruction era (United States, 1865â€"1877)
- Gilded Age (United States, 1875â€"1900)
- Progressive Era (United States, 1890sâ€"1980)
- Information Age (United States, 2000â€"Now (Modern age)
Southeast Asia
- Srivijaya (Indonesia, 3rd â€" 14th centuries), Tarumanagara (358â€"723), Sailendra (8th and 9th centuries), Kingdom of Sunda (669â€"1579), Kingdom of Mataram (752â€"1045), Kediri (1045â€"1221, Singhasari (1222â€"1292), Majapahit (1293â€"1500)
- Chenla (Cambodia, 630 â€" 802) and Khmer Empire (Cambodia, 802â€"1432)
- Anterior Lý Dynasty and Triệu Việt VÆ°Æ¡ng, Third Chinese domination, Khúc Family, DÆ°Æ¡ng Äình Nghệ, Kiá»u Công Tiá»…n, Ngô Dynasty, The 12 Lords Rebellion, Äinh Dynasty, Prior Lê Dynasty, Lý Dynasty, Trần Dynasty, Há»" Dynasty, Fourth Chinese domination (Vietnam, 544â€"1427)
- Spanish hegemony (Philippines, 1525â€"1898)
China
- Shang Dynasty (1600 BC â€" 1046 BC)
- Zhou Dynasty (1200 BC â€" 500 BC)
- Warring States period (402 BC â€" 201 BC)
- Qin Dynasty (221 BC â€" 206 BC)
- Han Dynasty (206 BC â€" 220 AD)
- Six Dynasties (220 AD â€" 580 AD)
- Three Kingdoms (220 AD â€" 265 AD)
- Jin Dynasty (265 AD â€" 420 AD)
- Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 AD â€" 580 AD)
- Sui Dynasty (580 â€" 618)
- Tang Dynasty (623 â€" 907)
- Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907 â€" 960)
- Song Dynasty (960 â€" 1279)
- Northern Song Dynasty (960 â€" 1127), Liao Dynasty (907 â€" 1115), Western Xia Dynasty (1038 â€" 1227)
- Southern Song Dynasty (1127 â€" 1279), Jin Dynasty (1115â€"1234), Western Xia Dynasty (1038 â€" 1227)
- Yuan Dynasty (1271 â€" 1368)
- Ming Dynasty (1368 â€" 1644)
- Qing Dynasty (1644 â€" 1912)
Central Asia
- Xiongnu (Mongolia, 220 BC â€" 200 AD)
- Rouran Khaganate (Mongolia, Manchuria, Xianbei, 330 AD â€" 555 AD)
- Sixteen Kingdoms (Xianbei, Turkic peoples, 304 â€" 439)
- Uyghur Khaganate (Mongolia, Manchuria, Tibet, 744 - 848)
- Liao Dynasty (Khitan people, 907 â€" 1125)
- Mongol Empire (Mongolia, 1206 â€" 1380)
- Qing dynasty (Manchu China, 1692 â€" 1911)
Africa
- Old Kingdom (3000 BC â€" 2000 BC)
- Middle Kingdom (2000 BC â€" 1300 BC)
- New Kingdom (1550 BC â€" 1070 BC)
- Ptolemaic Kingdom (305 BC â€" 30 BC)
- Aegyptus (30 BC â€" 390 AD)
- Coptic period (300 AD â€" 900 AD)
- Fatimid Caliphate (909 â€" 1171)
- Ayyubid Dynasty (1171 â€" 1250)
- Mamluk Sultanate (1250 â€" 1517)
- Ottoman Eyalet (1517 â€" 1867)
- Khedivate (1867 â€" 1914)
Europe
- Classical antiquity (700 BC â€" 600 AD)
- Archaic Period (700 BC â€" 100 AD)
- Ancient Greece (Greece and Near East, c. 3300 BC â€" 31 BC (however, this area had settlements as far back as 9000 BC; see Timeline of Ancient Greece)
- Macedonian Era (399 BC â€" 300 BC)
- Hellenistic Greece (323 BC â€" 146 BC)
- Ancient Rome (753 BC â€" 476 AD)
- Late Antiquity (100 AD â€" 500 AD)
- Migration period (Europe 200 â€" 700)
- Archaic Period (700 BC â€" 100 AD)
- Middle Ages (Europe, 5th â€" 15th centuries)
- Byzantine era (330 AD â€" 1453)
- Dark Ages (Europe, 476 â€" 800)
- Early Middle Ages (Europe, 500 â€" 1000)
- Viking Age (Scandinavia, Europe, 793 â€" 1066)
- High Middle Ages (Europe, 1000 â€" 1300)
- Late Middle Ages (Europe, 1300 â€" 1450)
- The Renaissance (Europe, 1300 â€" 1600)
- Early modern period (Europe, 1450 â€" 1750)
- Age of Discovery (or Exploration) (Europe, 1400 â€" 1700)
- Golden Age of Piracy 1650-1730
- Elizabethan period (United Kingdom, 1558 â€" 1603)
- Protestant Reformation (Europe, 16th century)
- Classicism (Europe, 16th â€" 18th centuries)
- Industrious Revolution, (Europe, 16th â€" 18th centuries)
- Jacobean Era (United Kingdom, 1603 â€" 1625)
- Petrine Era (Russia, 1689 â€" 1725)
- Age of Enlightenment (or Reason) (Europe, 18th century)
- Long nineteenth century (1750 â€" 1914)
- Georgian Era (United Kingdom, 1714â€"1830)
- Industrial Revolution (Europe, United States, elsewhere 18th and 19th centuries)
- Age of European colonialism and imperialism
- Romantic Era (1770â€"1850)
- Napoleonic Era (1799â€"1815)
- Victorian era (United Kingdom, 1837â€"1901); British hegemony, much of world, around the same time period.
- Edwardian period (United Kingdom, 1901â€"1910)
India
- Indus Valley Civilization (2500 BC â€" 1300 BC)
- Vedic period (1500 BC â€" 500 BC)
- Mahajanapada kingdoms
- Maurya Empire (321 BC â€" 185 BC)
- Kushan Empire (185 BC â€" 220 AD), Satavahana Empire (230 BC â€" 220 AD),
- Gupta Empire (320 AD â€" 535 AD)
- Middle kingdoms of India (1 AD â€" 1279 AD)
- Pala Empire (750 â€" 1174)
- Rashtrakuta Dynasty
- Sena Empire (1070 â€" 1230)
- Hoysala Empire (1026 â€"1343), Kakatiya Empire (1083 â€" 1323)
- Pala Empire (750 â€" 1174)
- Medieval India (1206 â€" 1526)
- Vijayanagara Empire (1336 â€" 1646), Gajapati Kingdom (1434 â€" 1541), Reddy dynasty (1325 â€" 1448)
- Mughal Empire (1526 â€" 1857)
- British Raj (1858 â€" 1947)
Japan
- Jomon period (10,500 BC â€" 400 BC)
- Yayoi period (400 BC â€" 250 AD)
- Kofun period (250 â€" 600)
- Asuka period (600 â€" 710)
- Nara period (710 â€" 794)
- Heian period (794 â€" 1185)
- Kamakura period (1185 â€" 1333)
- Muromachi period (1333 â€" 1573)
- Azuchiâ€"Momoyama period (1573 â€" 1603)
- Tokugawa shogunate (1603 â€" 1868)
- Meiji period (1868 â€" 1912)
Middle East
- Ancient Near East (Sumer, 3100 BC â€" 500 BC)
- Jemdet Nasr period (3100 BC â€" 2900 BC)
- Early Dynastic Period (2900 BC â€" 2270 BC)
- Akkadian Empire (2270 BC â€" 2083 BC)
- Gutian Dynasty (2083 BC â€" 2050 BC)
- Sumerian renaissance (2050 BC â€" 1940 BC)
- First Babylonian Dynasty (1830 BC â€" 1531 BC), Hittites (1800 BC â€" 1178 BC)
- Kassites (1531 BC â€" 1135 BC), Mitanni (1500 BC â€" 1300 BC)
- Neo-Assyrian Empire (934 BC â€" 609 BC)
- Neo-Babylonian Empire (626 BC â€" 539 BC), Medes (678 BC â€" 549 BC)
- Persian Empires (550 BC â€" 651 AD)
- Achaemenid Empire (550 BC â€" 330 BC)
- Conquered by Macedonian Empire (330 BC â€" 312 BC)
- Seleucid Empire (312 BC â€" 63 BC)
- Parthian Empire (247 BC â€" 224 AD)
- Sasanian Empire (224 AD â€" 651 AD)
- Islamic period (7th â€" 21st centuries)
- Rashidun Caliphate (632 â€" 661)
- Umayyad Caliphate (661 â€" 750)
- Islamic Golden Age (750 â€" 1300)
- Abbasid Caliphate (750 â€" 1258), Fatimid Caliphate (909 â€" 1171)
- Buyid dynasty (934 â€" 1055)
- Seljuq dynasty (1055 â€" 1171)
- Ayyubid dynasty (1171 â€" 1341)
- Ottoman Empire (1300 â€" 1923), Safavid Empire (1501â€"1736)
Contemporary historical periods throughout the world
- Machine Age (1880â€"1945)
- Age of Oil (after 1901)
- World War I (1914â€"1918)
- Interwar period (1918â€"1939)
- Roaring Twenties (1920â€"1929)
- Great Depression (1929 â€" World War II)
- World War II (1939â€"1945)
- Atomic Age (after 1945)
- Post-war era (1946â€"1962)
- The Fifties (1950â€"1959)
- Cold War (Soviet Union and United States, and their allies, 1945â€"1989 or 1991)
- Korean War (1950â€"1953)
- Vietnam War (1955â€"1975)
- Space Age (after 1957)
- The Sixties (1960â€"1969)
- Post-war era (1946â€"1962)
- Post-Modern (Soviet Union and United States, 1973â€"present)
- Information Age (1970â€"present)
- The Seventies (1970â€"1979)
- The Eighties (1980â€"1989)
- The Nineties (1990â€"1999)
- The 2000s (2000â€"2009)
- War on Terrorism (2001â€"present)
- War in Afghanistan (2001â€"present)
- War in Iraq (2003â€"2011)
- The Social Age (2004â€"present)
- The Tens (2010â€"2019)
- The Big Data age (2001â€"present)
- The Multimedia Age (1987â€"2007)
- Information Age (1970â€"present)
Mythological and astrological time periods
- Astrological ages
- Age of Taurus
- Age of Aries
- Age of Pisces
- Age of Aquarius
- Greek mythology
- 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 rain of Fire
- Nahui-Atl, Destroyed by Flood
- Nahui-Ollin, Destroyed by Earthquakes
Geologic time periods
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 subsections of their preceding timeline as indicated by asterisks. The Cenozoic is sometimes divided into the Quaternary and Tertiary periods, although their use is no longer official.
Cosmological time periods
13.8 billion years ago: The Big Bang Theory (the universe's beginnings)
See also
- Logarithmic timeline shows all history on one page in ten lines.
- Periodization for a discussion of the tendency to try to fit history into non-overlapping periods.
- List of fossil sites with link directory
- List of timelines
References
- Works Cited
