"Names of historical periods" Topic

Are the names of historical periods standard world wide or particular to certain countries? ie in Britain we have Victorian, Edwardian, Elizabethan, Tudor etc
Curious Mick…

Definitely not standard world-wide. Only European education produces those names. We Euros and their descendants have (naturally) a Eurocentric point of view -- which is often myopic, but we are certainly not alone in that! In fact, myopic as we are, I doubt that most other cultures are less myopic in their world history views.

I do not think there is much standarization in the United States BUT the most common are:

Ancients
Dark Ages
Medieval
Renaissance
Pike and Shot
ECW
Age of Piracy
Age of Reason
Seven Years War
French and Indian War
American War of Independance
Napoleonic
War of 1812
19TH Century
Mexican American War
American Civil War
Western
Colonial
Victorian Sci Fi
Early 20th Century
World War I
Inter War
Pulp
World War II
Modern
Future
Fantasy
Sci Fi
Adventure Gaming (TGWAG)
Other

Those are the codes we use mostly for HMGS East conventions

VR
James Mattes

Of course that is just for gaming conventions. U.S. History books are all over the place these days. I know in Korea, and other countries of the Far East it is different in each country as well.
VR
James Mattes

vojvoda, those are not historical periods, those are wargames genres…

I don't think in the US we really have "period names" for the past few hundred years worth of history. We have stone age, iron age, bronze age, dark/medieval age, renaissance, enlightenment, and then it just kind of tapers off from there into a mish-mash of different names for the same thing…

The only UK style period name I've seen commonly used here in the US is the Victoria Era. I suspect that's the first era after the American Revolution that we Americans were comfortable enough with adopting a trend from across the pond. Other than that I've seen other UK period names more closely associated with art, architecture styles, and furniture styles versus the actual era.

Mark

Mick, when most (US) Americans hear Edwardian, Victorian, Tudor, etc… we tend to think only of English architecture or furniture styles. We Americans describe our eras as Colonial, Antebellum, Reconstruction, Guilded Age, Great Depression, etc… I may have misunderstood the question.

My apologies to Regrebnelle. I should have read through all the posts more carefully before submitting my own, but my post reinforces his.

American history consists of Last Week and "Back in the Day". As a nation, we haven't been around long enough to have "Olden Times".

More informed folks will speak of the eras that jawjawtek lists. I would insert Jazz Age between Gilded Age and Great Depression and the Era of Good Feeling between Colonial and Antebellum. Interesting how our descriptors tend to be very politically and/or economically oriented.

The Chinese have their dynasties, and then sub-periods for the reign of each emperor or leader (Mao Era, Deng Era, etc.).

Also, keep in mind that the periods vary depending on the discipline being studied. History and Literature, for example, have two very different opinions on the dates of The Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

LMAO at enfant perdus comment

I'm entering MY renaissance now.

Well…. when I get round to it.
Maybe I'll start tomorrow.

According to some around here there are only 2 periods, Napoleonic & fantasy

Over here we have periods like the Austrian and Spanish domination.

In France you have the Second Empire, Several Republics, Kings etc.

Everything after Caesar is Moderns!

Seriously though, to most Americans Colonial is North America from the Mayflower to the Revolution. A period of about 50 years. The next era is the Civil War, followed by WW2, the Cold War, and Today.

Before the Mayflower was Medieval, then Rome, Greece, and Cavemen or the Bible depending on which American you ask.

Wargamers being a bit more educated divide history as follows: Ancients/Medivals, F&IW, Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, Manhattan, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Monmouth, Southern Campaign, Cowpens, Guilford Court House, Yorktown, ACW, Napoleonics, Colonbials, World War II, Viet Nam, Moderns.

In England, at the archaeological consultancy for which I work, we use:

Prehistoric periods:
Palaeolithic 450,000-12,000 BC
Mesolithic 12,000-4,000 BC
Neolithic 4,000-1,800 BC
Bronze Age 1,800-600 BC
Iron Age 600-43 AD

Historic Periods:
Roman 43 – 410 AD
Saxon/Early Medieval 410-1066 AD
Medieval 1066-1485 AD
Post Medieval 1486-1899 AD
Modern 1900-Present AD

These periods are a broad brush attempt to classify the periods, and they are only applicable to England. The dates of transition are subject to debate but the periods are fairly well agreed. These dates and periods are not valid in Scotland, for example, and I know that Norway has different periods too. It's a minefield!

Cheers,
Ruarigh

In other countries many periods are based on the Ruling group. For example in Burma you had Ava Dynasty and Pagan Dynasty and etc in the pre-Colonial era. In Korea you had the Yi Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms Era (Era is longer than a period and is really the term many people use for a century or more.), The Koryo Dynasty and the YI Dynasty, etc.

Many places divide eras based on significant technological advances. For example in North America, you have the Pre-Columbian era, the pre-Horse era, the gunpowder era and even the cartidge era (combined shot and powder into a single sealed bullet, changed dependence on trade with the white invaders).

To some this subject may be dull but I find it fascinating. I'm quite surprised there is not a common timescale used internationally, mind you historians rarely seem to agree on anything… :-)
Mick

in Britain we have Victorian, Edwardian, Elizabethan, Tudor etc

Im not sure that shouldn't be "in England" – Elizabeth and the other Tudors never ruled Scotland.

I'm quite surprised there is not a common timescale used internationally

There is: it's "Before Common Era" (BCE) and "Common Era" (CE), which by strange coincidence is exactly the same as "Before Christ" and "Anno Domini".

An agreed (and enforced) set of eras would surely be a terrible thing for history, reinforcing traditional concepts and acting as blinkers against wide-ranging thought.

Given that the periods are usually defined by social or technological change I don't think it would be possible to have a uniform system of period classification. One example in England would be the Roman period. If you wanted to be nitpicky about it, the Roman period would begin in 43AD in the south, but as you head further north, it would begin progressively later because it relies on the arrival of the Romans and the changes that accompanied their arrival. In Norway I think that prehistory ends around the 9th century AD, with the beginning of the Viking Age, whereas in England it ends officially in 43AD. It would be interesting to see what form of useful universal classification system could be developed, but I bet that few would accept it, on the basis that their views are fairly well entrenched. You should hear the arguments we have had in our office about when the medieval period finishes and the post-medieval period starts! Some say 1485, others 1492, still others 1531. Each viewpoint has a perfectly valid point to make with regard to the date they have chosen, and each of them is correct in its own way. All it really does is highlight the diffuse nature of the transition and the arbitrary nature of the period designations. It's not like people suddenly woke up on 1st January 1486 and thought, "Hey, we're post-medieval now." :-)

clotty….

For that matter even within Periods there may be several chronologies. Look at Nigel Stillman's notes on the "New Chronology" used in WAB Chariot Wars for Bronze Age dates.

am i the only person that finds the thread funny?…just me then…

@chronoglide: I think it's just you, but in the interest of following your line of thought …

Q. How do you confuse an archaeologist?
A. Give them a used tampon and ask them which period it came from.

It's the way I tell 'em.