The project relies on it’s volunteer force who collect, check and share information helping us in the preservation and management of these incredible monuments. This includes the Offa’s Dyke YAC and the schools we get involved with in Outreach.
These are only some of the resources available to the schools, YAC folk, groups and the library continues to grow.
- Table of ages
- Discussion forums
- Glossary of terms used in Outreach, YAC and archaeology
Protected: Volunteer’s resources…
Ages | Start | End | Start Correction | Type | Duration | Human Species | Geological Period | Notes | Notable Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Formation of Earth | -4,600,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 4,600,000,000 | Formation of the planet Earth | ||||
Archean | -3,800,000,000 | -2,500,000,000 | BP | Period | 1,300,000,000 | ||||
living cells | -3,500,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 3,500,000,000 | Living cells | ||||
eukaryotic cells | -1,400,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 1,400,000,000 | eukaryotic cells | ||||
Cryogenian | -850,000,000 | -635,000,000 | BP | Period | 215,000,000 | ||||
multi-cellular life, Ediacara | -700,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 700,000,000 | Multi-cellular creatures | ||||
animals with shells - Cambrian | -570,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 570,000,000 | animals with shells - Cambrian | ||||
vertebrates | -500,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 500,000,000 | Vertebrates | ||||
first land vertebrates | -380,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 380,000,000 | first land vertebrates | ||||
dinosaurs dominate | -200,000,000 | -65,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 135,000,000 | dinosaurs dominate | |||
first mammals | -200,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 200,000,000 | first mammals | ||||
‘age of mammals begins | -65,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 65,000,000 | ‘age of mammals begins | ||||
Sahelanthropus tchadensis | -7,000,000 | -6,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 1,000,000 | Sahelanthropus tchadensis | Sahelanthropus tchadensis | West-Central Africa (Chad) | |
Pleistocene | -7,000,000 | BP | Period | 7,000,000 | Pleistocene | ||||
Earliest hominids | -7,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 7,000,000 | Pleistocene | Earliest hominids | |||
Orrorin tugenensis | -6,200,000 | -5,800,000 | BP | Evolution | 400,000 | Orrorin tugenensis | Pleistocene | Millenium Man | Eastern Africa (Tugen Hills, central Kenya) |
Ardipithecus kadabba | -5,800,000 | -5,200,000 | BP | Evolution | 600,000 | Ardipithecus kadabba | Pleistocene | Ardipithecus kadabba | Eastern Africa (Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia) |
Pliocene | -5,300,000 | -2,600,000 | BP | Period | 2,700,000 | Pliocene | |||
Ardipithecus ramidus | -4,400,000 | -430,000 | BP | Evolution | 3,970,000 | Ardipithecus ramidus | Pliocene | Ardi | Eastern Africa (Middle Awash and Gona, Ethiopia) |
Australopithecus anamensis | -4,200,000 | -3,900,000 | BP | Evolution | 300,000 | Australopithecus anamensis | Pliocene | Australopithecus anamensis | Eastern Africa (Lake Turkana, Kenya and Middle Awash, Ethiopia) |
Australopithecus afarensis | -3,850,000 | -2,950,000 | BP | Evolution | 900,000 | Australopithecus afarensis: "Lucy" | Pliocene | Lucy's species | Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania) |
Kenyanthropus platyops | -3,500,000 | -3,400,000 | BP | Evolution | 100,000 | Kenyanthropus platyops | Pliocene | Kenyanthropus platyops | Eastern Africa (West Turkana, Kenya) |
Lomekwian | -3,300,000 | BP | Culture | 3,300,000 | Lomekwian | Stoneage tools in East Africa | Earliest napped tools appear. "Nutcracker man" from West Turkana, Kenya | ||
Australopithecus africanus | -3,300,000 | -2,100,000 | BP | Evolution | 1,200,000 | Australopithecus africanus | Pliocene | A.Africanus (The Taung child) | Southern Africa (South Africa) |
Stoneage tools in East Africa: Oldest known stone tools | -3,250,000 | BP | Evolution | 3,250,000 | Pliocene | Stoneage tools in East Africa | Oldest known stone tools | ||
Stoneage tools in East Africa: Oldest known Homo fossils | -2,750,000 | BP | Evolution | 2,750,000 | Pliocene | Stoneage tools in East Africa | Oldest known Homo fossils | ||
Paranthropus aethiopicus | -2,700,000 | -2,300,000 | BP | Evolution | 400,000 | Paranthropus aethiopicus | Pliocene -> Pleistocene | Paranthropus aethiopicus | Eastern Africa (Turkana basin of northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia) |
Oldowan | -2,600,000 | -1,500,000 | Culture | 1,100,000 | Oldowan | Stoneage tools in East Africa - relating to or denoting an early Lower Palaeolithic culture of Africa, dated to about 2.0–1.5 million years ago Pebble cores appear about this time | East Africa | ||
Pleistocene | -2,600,000 | -11,700 | BP | Period | 2,588,300 | Pleistocene | |||
Stoneage tools in East Africa: Cooler, dryer climate in East Africa | -2,500,000 | BP | Evolution | 2,500,000 | Pleistocene | Stoneage tools in East Africa | Cooler, dryer climate in East Africa | ||
Australopithecus garhi | -2,500,000 | -2,400,000 | BP | Evolution | 100,000 | Australopithecus garhi | Pleistocene | A. garhi | Eastern Africa (the site of Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia) |
Homo habilis | -2,400,000 | -1,400,000 | BP | Evolution | 1,000,000 | Homo habilis | Pleistocene | Handy Man | Eastern and Southern Africa (Olduvai Gorge) |
Paranthropus boisei | -2,300,000 | -1,200,000 | BP | Evolution | 1,100,000 | Paranthropus boisei | Pleistocene | Boisei | Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi) |
Stoneage tools in East Africa: H. erectus appears in the fossil record | -2,000,000 | BP | Evolution | 2,000,000 | Pleistocene | Stoneage tools in East Africa | H. erectus appears in the fossil record | ||
Australopithecus sediba | -1,980,000 | -1,977,000 | BP | Evolution | 3,000 | Australopithecus sediba | Pleistocene | Australopithecus sediba | Southern Africa (South Africa) |
Homo rudolfensis | -1,900,000 | -1,800,000 | BP | Evolution | 100,000 | Homo rudolfensis | Pleistocene | H.rudolfensis | Eastern Africa (northern Kenya, possibly northern Tanzania and Malawi) |
East Turkana (site) | -1,900,000 | -1,500,000 | BP | Site | 400,000 | Lower Paleolithic tools | Tool use in East Africa | ||
Homo erectus | -1,890,000 | -143,000 | BP | Evolution | 1,747,000 | Homo erectus: Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) | Pleistocene | ‘Turkana Boy’ | Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa; Western Asia (Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia); East Asia (China and Indonesia) |
Paranthropus robustus | -1,800,000 | -1,200,000 | BP | Evolution | 600,000 | Paranthropus robustus | Pleistocene | P.robustus | Southern Africa (South Africa) |
Dmanisi (site) | -1,800,000 | -1,650,000 | BP | Site | 150,000 | Paranthropus robustus | Lower Paleolithic tools | Tool use in Europe | |
Mojokerto (site) | -1,800,000 | -1,850,000 | BP | Site | -50,000 | Lower Paleolithic tools | Tool use in Java | ||
Acheulean | -1,760,000 | -150,000 | BP | Culture | 1,610,000 | Acheulean | Stoneage tools in East Africa - relating to or denoting the main Lower Palaeolithic culture in Europe | Hand axes appear about this time | |
Nariokotome (site) | -1,600,000 | -1,550,000 | BP | Site | 50,000 | Lower Paleolithic tools | Tool use in East Africa | ||
Olduvai (site) | -1,450,000 | -750,000 | BP | Site | 700,000 | Lower Paleolithic tools | Tool use in East Africa | ||
Bouri (site) | -1,240,000 | -900,000 | BP | Site | 340,000 | Lower Paleolithic tools | Tool use in East Africa | ||
Sima del Elefante (Atapuerca) (site) | -1,210,000 | -1,190,000 | BP | Site | 20,000 | Lower Paleolithic tools | |||
Stoneage tools in East Africa: Climate shifts to 100k year glacial cycles | -900,000 | BP | Evolution | 900,000 | Pleistocene | Stoneage tools in East Africa | Climate shifts to 100k year glacial cycles | ||
Ceprano (site) | -900,000 | -800,000 | BP | Site | 100,000 | Lower Paleolithic tools | |||
Gran Dolina (Atapuerca) (site) | -850,000 | -760,000 | BP | Site | 90,000 | Lower Paleolithic tools | |||
Palaeolithic, Lower | -700,000 | -250,000 | BP | Age | 450,000 | Homo heidelbergensis | Pleistocene | -700000 | Lithics:Hand axes Flake tools |
Pre-historic | -700,000 | 43 | AD | Age | 700,043 | Pleistocene | |||
Homo heidelbergensis | -700,000 | -200,000 | BP | Evolution | 500,000 | Homo heidelbergensis | Pleistocene | H.hedidelbergensis | Europe; possibly Asia (China); Africa (eastern and southern) |
Paeleolythic | -500,000 | -10,000 | BP | Age | 490,000 | Pleistocene | -700000 | ||
Homo neanderthalis | -400,000 | -40,000 | BP | Evolution | 360,000 | Homo neanderthalis | Pleistocene | H.neanderthal - "Neandertal" | Europe and southwestern to central Asia |
Palaeolithic, Middle | -250,000 | -30,000 | BP | Age | 220,000 | Homo neanderthalensis | Middle Pleistocene | -250000 | |
Middle Pleistocene | -250,000 | BP | Period | 250,000 | Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapien, Homo floresiensis | Middle Pleistocene | -250000 | ||
Homo sapien | -200,000 | 2,017 | BP | Evolution | 202,017 | Homo sapien | Middle Pleistocene | "modern man" | Evolved in Africa, now worldwide |
First Homo sapiens | -200,000 | BP | Evolution | 200,000 | Middle Pleistocene | First Homo sapiens | |||
Homo floresiensis | -100,000 | -50,000 | BP | Evolution | 50,000 | Homo floresiensis | Middle Pleistocene | The Hobbit | Asia (Indonesia). Liang Bua cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia |
Palaeolithic, Upper | -30,000 | -10,000 | BP | Age | 20,000 | Homo sapiens | Late Pleistocene | Lithics: Blade technology & standardised tools -30000 | |
Upper Pleistocene | -30,000 | BP | Period | 30,000 | Homo sapiens | Upper/Late Pleistocene | Lithics: Blade technology & standardised tools -30000 | ||
Holocene | -11,700 | BP | Period | 11,700 | Homo sapiens | Holocene | |||
Mesolithic | -10,000 | -6,000 | BP | Age | 4,000 | Late Pleistocene | -10000 | ||
Stone age | -6,000 | -2,000 | BC | Age | 4,000 | -6000 | |||
Neolithic | -4,000 | -2,500 | BC | Age | 1,500 | -4000 | |||
Bronze Age | -2,500 | -700 | BC | Age | 1,800 | -2500 | |||
Roman Empire | -753 | 476 | AD | Era | 1,229 | -753. Romans threatened by Gogs and Visigogs | |||
Iron age | -700 | 43 | AD | Age | 743 | -700 | |||
Roman Republic | -518 | -27 | BC | Age | 491 | -518. When Italians had kings – Pre-(Julius) Caeser | |||
BCE | 0 | AD | event | 0 | BCE (Before Common Era) and BC (Before Christ) mean the same thing- previous to year 1 CE (Common Era). This is the same as the year AD 1 (Anno Domini); the latter means “in the year of the lord,” often translated as “in the year of our lord.” (It was thought when the AD dating system was created that its year 1 was the year Jesus of Nazareth was born.) | ||||
Roman (Romano British) | 43 | 410 | AD | Age | 367 | 410 is when the Romans go | |||
Roman Britain | 43 | 460 | AD | Age | 417 | 43. Caeser popped over in 55 BC | |||
Saxon era | 356 | 1066 | AD | Era | 710 | AD 356 (361-363), when Julian, later the Roman Emperor, mentioned them in a speech as allies of Magnentius. Julian (Latin: Flavius Claudius Iulianus Augustus, Greek: Φλάβιος Κλαύδιος Ἰουλιανὸς Αὔγουστος;[1] 331/332[2] – 26 June 363), also known as Julian the Apostate was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek.[3] | |||
Early Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) | 410 | 1066 | AD | Era | 656 | AKA Anglo-Saxon: Anglo-Saxon not used now because there were a lot more people involved than the Angles and the Saxons | |||
Saxon-Britain | 460 | 1066 | AD | Era | 606 | (see 'Orrorin tugenensis') | |||
Anglo-Saxon | 500 | 1066 | AD | Era | 566 | ||||
Norman – Wales | 1060 | 1163 | AD | Era | 103 | ||||
Middle ages | 1066 | 1540 | AD | Age | 474 | 1066 | |||
Medieval (Middle) | 1066 | 1540 | AD | Age | 474 | AKA Middle ages | |||
Norman – England | 1066 | 1071 | AD | Age | 5 | 1066. Battle of Hastings when William (a Frenchman) came over | |||
Norman era | 1066 | 1072 | AD | Era | 6 | William the Conquerer: not secure on his thrown until after 1072 | |||
Norman period | 1066 | 1135 | AD | Era | 69 | ||||
Plantagenets | 1154 | 1485 | AD | Era | 331 | a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France | |||
Normans – Ireland | 1169 | 1203 | AD | Reign | 34 | ||||
Tudor | 1485 | 1603 | AD | Era | 118 | ||||
Post-medieval | 1540 | 2017 | AD | Age | 477 | 1540 | |||
Elizabethan | 1558 | 1603 | AD | Era | 45 | ||||
Stuart | 1603 | 1714 | AD | Era | 111 | ||||
Stuart-Jacobean | 1603 | 1625 | AD | Era | 22 | ||||
Stuart-Carolean | 1625 | 1649 | AD | Era | 24 | ||||
Stuart-(Interregnum) | 1649 | 1660 | AD | Era | 11 | Period between reigns in England when there was a revolt against royals | Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell were anti-royalists | ||
Stuart (restored) | 1660 | 1714 | AD | Reign | 54 | Stuarts restored | Mary II 1689 - 1694 William III 1694 - 1702 Anne 1702 - 1714 |
||
Stuart-Restoration | 1660 | 1688 | AD | Era | 28 | ||||
Georgian | 1714 | 1830 | AD | Era | 116 | ||||
Regency | 1811 | 1837 | AD | Era | 26 | ||||
Victorian | 1837 | 1901 | AD | Era | 64 | ||||
Edwardian | 1901 | 1910 | AD | Era | 9 | ||||
Windsors | 1910 | 42845 | AD | Era | 40,935 | ||||
First World War | 1914 | 1918 | AD | Era | 4 | ||||
Interwar | 1918 | 1939 | AD | Era | 21 | ||||
Second World War | 1939 | 1945 | AD | Era | 6 | ||||
Postwar | 1945 | 42845 | AD | Era | 40,900 | ||||
Carbon Dating | 1960 | AD | event | -1,960 | C14 dating was developed and published | Developed by Willard Libby in the late 1940s. Because of nuclear tests done in the 1950s and 1960s, the date for C14 dating is taken as 1960 (the last reliable un-affected date) | |||
BP | 1960 | AD | event | -1,960 | |||||
Post-processualist | 1986 | AD | event | -1,986 | When there was a 'revolution' against processualists | Following on from Ian Hodder (and the likes of Carl Marx, etc.) in 1986 the World Archaeological Congress was established - response to the processualist ethos (by Louis Binford) | |||
References: