List of time periods

The categorization of the past into discrete, quantified named blocks of time is called periodization. This is a list of such named time periods as defined in various fields of study.
These can be divided broadly into prehistoric periods and historical periods
.
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 and continues to the present. The beginning of the Mesolithic is usually considered to correspond to the beginning of the Holocene epoch.

Prehistoric periods

Era

Precambrian

General periods

Geologic Time – Period prior to humans. 4.6 billion to 3 million years ago. Primatomorphid Era – Period prior to the existence of PrimatomorphaSimian Era – Period prior to the existence of SimiiformesHominoid Era – Period prior to the existence of HominoideaHominid Era – Period prior to the existence of Hominidae
*Distant signs of Human-like apesHomininaeid Era – Period prior to the existence of HomininaeHomininid Era – Period prior to the existence of HomininiPrehistory – Period between the appearance of Homo and the invention of writing systems.
* 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 – 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 – 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, the Western Roman Empire, the Gupta Empire, and the Sasanian Empire.
* 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.
** Middle Ages">Middle Paleolithic">Middle Ages
** High Middle Ages
** Late Middle AgesModern 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, 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.
* 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

Technological periods

Prehistory

* Paleolithic
* Mesolithic
* Neolithic
* Chalcolithic Ancient history
* Bronze Age
* Iron AgeLate Middle Ages
* RenaissanceEarly modern historyModern history
* Industrial Age
* Machine Age
** Age of Oil
** Jet Age
* Nuclear Age
* Space Age
* Information Age
** Internet Age

African periods

Egyptian periods

Prehistoric Egypt
Dynastic Period

Antiquity

Islamic Egypt

Egypt under four foreign Arabic dynasties that ruled from capitals distant from Egypt.
* Rashidun Egypt
* Umayyad Egypt
* Abbasid Egypt

Medieval Egypt

Modern Egypt

Contemporary Egypt

Libyan periods

Prehistoric Libya

Prehistoric Libya

Early Libya

Carthaginian Libya
Roman Libya
Vandal Libya
Islamic Libya
Ottoman Libya

Modern Libya

Colonial Libya
Libya as an independent country
* Early Independent Era
* Libyan Arab Republic
* Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
* Contemporary Libya

American (continent) periods

Pre-Columbian America

Classic and Postclassic eras, Central America
Early Intermediate, Middle Horizon, Late Intermediate, Late Horizon
* Huari, Chimú, Chincha, Chanka people, Tiwanaku, Inca

Colonial America

Mexican periods

Ancient and Pre-Columbian Mexico

Colonial Mexico

Independence Era

Liberal Mexico

Modern Mexico

United States historical periods

Pre-Colonial era

Thirteen British Colonies
United Colonies

American Revolutionary War

Confederation period
First Party System

Second Party System

Third Party System

Fourth Party System

Fifth Party System

Sixth Party System

Asian periods

Chinese periods

Bronze Age China
Archaic China

Antiquity

Medieval China

Mongol China

Yuan dynasty

Late Dynastic Period

Modern China

Contemporary China

Post-Contemporary China

People's Republic of China and Taiwan

Indian periods

South Asian Stone Age

* Pre-Harappan
** MehrgarhBronze Age India
* Indus Valley Civilization
** Early Harappan
** Early Mature Harappan
** Mature Harappan
** Late Harappan
*** Punjab Phase
*** Jhukar Phase
*** Rangpur Phase
** Final HarappanIron Age in India
* Vedic period : Mahajanapadas
* Magadha period : Nandas, Mauryans, Shungas Classical India
* Sangam period : Cholas, Chalukyas, Cheras, Pallavas and Pandyans
* Golden period: Kushans, Satavahanas, Guptas and Vakatakas Medieval Age in India
* Tripartite period : Palas, Rashtrakutas and Gurjaras
* Muslim period : Delhi, Bengal, Bahmani and Gujarat sultanates
* Vijayanagara Empire, Gajapati Empire and kingdom of Mewar Modern Age in India
* Mughal Empire
* Sur Empire
* Maratha Empire
* Sikh Empire
* Colonial period: British Raj
* Independence

Iranian periods

Prehistoric Iran
Ancient age:

Medieval age:

Persia under Caliphates
Iranian Intermezzo : Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids
Seljuk Empire
Khwarazmian Empire
Mongol occupation of Persia
Ilkhanate
Disintegration of the Ilkhanate : Jalayirids, Chobanids, Muzaffarids, Injuids, Sarbadars, and Kartids
Timurid Empire and Aq Qoyunlu

Modern age:

Japanese periods

Archaic Japan

Feudal Japan

Samurai Japan

Modern Japan

Contemporary Japan

Mesopotamian periods

Archaic Period

Imperial Period

Islamic Period

Mongolian periods

Antiquity

Xiongnu

Medieval Mongolia

Imperial Mongolia

Modern Mongolia

Qing dynasty

Southeast Asian periods

Maritime Southeast Asia

Srivijaya, Tarumanagara, Sailendra, Kingdom of Sunda, Kingdom of Mataram, Kediri, Singhasari, Majapahit

Peninsular Southeast Asia

European periods

Bronze Age Europe

* Aegean Civilization Iron Age Europe
* Early Iron Age – part of the Greek Dark Ages
* Classical antiquity
** Archaic Greece – begins with the First Olympiad, traditionally dated 776 BC
** Classical Greece
** Macedonian era
** Hellenistic Greece
** Late Roman Republic
** Principate of the Roman Empire
** Late Antiquity
* Migration Period Middle Ages
* Byzantine era
* Al Andalus
* Early Middle Ages
** Viking Age
* High Middle Ages
* Late Middle Ages
* The Renaissance Early modern period
* Age of Discovery
* Polish Golden Age
* Golden Age of Piracy
* Tudor period
** Elizabethan era
* Stuart period
** Jacobean era
** Caroline era
** British Interregnum
** Stuart Restoration
*** Carolean era
* Protestant Reformation
* Classicism
* Industrious Revolution,
* Petrine Era
* Age of Enlightenment
* Scientific Revolution Long nineteenth century
* Georgian era
* Industrial Revolution
* Age of European colonialism and imperialism
* Romantic era
* Napoleonic era
* Victorian era ; British hegemony much of world, around the same time period.
* Belle Époque
* Edwardian era
First, interwar period and Second World Wars
* Interwar Britain
Cold War
Post-Cold War

List of time periods

Prehistoric periods

Era

General periods

Forms of modernity

Technological periods

African periods

Egyptian periods

Libyan periods

American (continent) periods

Mexican periods

United States historical periods

Asian periods

Chinese periods

Indian periods

Iranian periods

Japanese periods

Mesopotamian periods

Mongolian periods

Southeast Asian periods

European periods

Oceanian periods

Australian periods