List of time periods

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 evolution of the universe), geological (time periods in the origin and evolution of the Earth), anthropological (time periods in the origin and evolution of humans) and historical (written history).

Human time periods

Main article: History by period

These can be divided broadly into prehistorical (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 BC) and continues to the present. The beginning of Mesolithic is usually considered to correspond to the beginning of the Holocene epoch.

General periods

Further information: Universal history

Historical periods around the world

The Americas

Southeast Asia

Further information: History of Southeast Asia

Philippines

Further information: History of the Philippines

China

Further information: History of China

Central Asia

Further information: History of Mongolia

Egypt

Further information: History of Egypt

Template:No information on rest of Africa

Europe

Further information: History of Europe

India

Further information: History of India

Japan

Further information: History of Japan

Middle East

Further information: History of the Middle East, History of Mesopotamia, and Islamic period

Mythological and astrological time periods

Marxian stages of history

The Marxian theory of history identifies five major distinct periods of history:[5][6][7][8][9]

Primitive communism

The First Stage: is usually called primitive communism. It has the following characteristics.

Slave society

The Second Stage: may be called slave society, considered to be the beginning of "class society" where private property appears.

Feudalism

The Third Stage: may be called feudalism; it appears after slave society collapses. This was most obvious during the European Middle Ages when society went from slavery to feudalism.

Capitalism

Marx pays special attention to this stage in human development. The bulk of his work is devoted to analysing the mechanisms of capitalism, which in western society classically arose "red in tooth and claw" from feudal society in a revolutionary movement. In capitalism, the profit motive rules and people, freed from serfdom, work for the capitalists for wages. The capitalist class are free to spread their laissez faire practices around the world. In the capitalist-controlled parliament, laws are made to protect wealth.

Capitalism may be considered the Fourth Stage in the sequence. It appears after the bourgeois revolution when the capitalists (or their merchant predecessors) overthrow the feudal system. Capitalism is categorized by the following:

But according to Marx, capitalism, like slave society and feudalism, also has critical failings — inner contradictions which will lead to its downfall. The working class, to which the capitalist class gave birth in order to produce commodities and profits, is the "grave digger" of capitalism. The worker is not paid the full value of what he or she produces. The rest is surplus value — the capitalist's profit, which Marx calls the "unpaid labour of the working class." The capitalists are forced by competition to attempt to drive down the wages of the working class to increase their profits, and this creates conflict between the classes, and gives rise to the development of class consciousness in the working class. The working class, through trade union and other struggles, becomes conscious of itself as an exploited class. In the view of classical Marxism, the struggles of the working class against the attacks of the capitalist class will eventually lead the working class to establish its own collective control over production

Socialism

After the working class gains class consciousness and mounts a revolution against the capitalists, socialism, which may be considered the Fifth Stage, will be attained, if the workers are successful.

Marxist socialism may be characterised as follows:

Marx explained that, since socialism, the first stage of communism, would be "in every respect, economically, morally, and intellectually, still stamped with the birthmarks of the old society from whose womb it emerges", each worker would naturally expect to be awarded according to the amount of labor he contributes, despite the fact that each worker's ability and family circumstances would differ, so that the results would still be unequal at this stage, although fully supported by social provision.

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 the latter is no longer used officially.

Cosmological time periods

13.8 billion years ago: The Big Bang Theory (the universe's beginnings)

Time Period Duration Description
Planck epoch From the start to 10−43 seconds after the Big Bang Very little concrete 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

  1. ↑ Adam Rabinowitz. It’s about time: historical periodization and Linked Ancient World Data. Study of the Ancient World Papers, 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/sunday-review/big-datas-impact-in-the-world.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
  3. ↑ The area had settlements as far back as 9000 BC; see Timeline of ancient Greece
  4. ↑ Bowman 2000, pp. 118–161.
  5. ↑ Marx, Early writings, Penguin, 1975, p. 426.
  6. ↑ Charles Taylor, “Critical Notice”, Canadian Journal of Philosophy 10 (1980), p. 330.
  7. ↑ Marx and Engels, The Critique of the Gotha Programme
  8. ↑ Marx and Engels, The Civil War in France
  9. ↑ Gewirth, Alan (1998). The Community of Rights (2 ed.). University of Chicago Press. p. 168. ISBN 9780226288819. Retrieved 2012-12-29. Marxists sometimes distinguish between 'personal property' and 'private property,' the former consisting in consumer goods directly used by the owner, while the latter is private ownership of the major means of production.
Works Cited
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