Secondary Neolithic

A term used to describe a number of Neolithic communities composed entirely of Mesolithic peoples who adopted Neolithic equipment. For example, in Britain this was a group characterized by the use of Peterborough Ware or Grooved Ware (Rinyo-Clacton Ware). Such groups of Mesolithic ancestry had ac...

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Secondary Neolithic

Ténéré Neolithic

Variant of the so-called Saharan Neolithic complex in the Ténéré Dessert and extends from northeastern Niger into western Chad, Africa, dating from 6500-4500 BP. Chipped stone implements include backed microliths, bifacial projectile points, and discoid knives and the pottery may have connections...

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Ténéré Neolithic

Final Neolithic

A transition phase where copper and bronze came into use, but stone was still most important.

archaeologsEnglishPeriods

Final Neolithic

Paleolithic

The more technical name for the Old Stone Age, a division of prehistory covering the time from the first use of stone tools by humans, c 2.5 million years ago, to the retreat of the glacial ice in the northern hemisphere c 10,000-8500 BC. It began in the Pliocene epoch and was followed by the Mes...

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Paleolithic

Roman Period

The period of Roman political and military control, generally between 200 BC and 400 AD, but varying for different regions, depending on the date of conquest.

archaeologsEnglishPeriods

Roman Period

Neolithic

The period of prehistory when people began to use ground stone tools, cultivate plants, and domesticate livestock but before the use of metal for tools. It is the technical name for the New Stone Age in the Old World following the Mesolithic. In the Neolithic, villages were established, pottery a...

archaeologsEnglishPeriods

Neolithic

Lower Palaeolithic

The earliest part of the Palaeolithic period, beginning about 2.5 million years ago and lasting to about 100,000 years ago. It was characterized by the first use of crude stone tools, the practice of hunting and gathering; and the development of social units, settlements, and structures. It was t...

archaeologsEnglishPeriods

Lower Palaeolithic

Nara Period

A period in Japanese history, 710-794 AD, named after the new capital of Nara (or Heijo as it was then known), to which the court moved from Fujiwara. The capital was established there to secure greater centralized power. The palace buildings - the dairi (the Imperial living quarters), buildings ...

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Nara Period

Pre-Classic Period

A period in Mesoamerican archaeology during which agriculture formed the basis of settled village life, c 2000 BC-250 AD. The earliest writing - glyphs - in Mesoamerica began in this period. The Olmec was the first culture to appear in the Preclassic. A similar level was attained in Peru at about...

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Pre-Classic Period

Middle Assyrian

A period in the history of the Assyrian empire extending from the 14th-12th centuries BC. In the Late Bronze Age, Assyria was dominated by the Mitanni state, but in the 14th century BC, Assyria became dominant. Ashur-uballit I created the first Assyrian empire and initiated the Middle Assyrian pe...

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Middle Assyrian

Old Kingdom

A period in Egyptian history including the 3rd through 8th Dynasties, c 2575-2130 BC. It preceded the Middle Kingdom and is marked by the building of colossal stone pyramids. Most of the royal pyramid complexes and private mastaba tombs of the Memphite necropolis were built during this time. The ...

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Old Kingdom

Pre-Pottery Neolithic

Early phases of the Neolithic of the Near East/Levant, characterized by the practice of agriculture and permanent settlement prior to the use of pottery. Two phases of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic have been identified: the PPNA phase, with radiocarbon dates in the range 8500-7600 BC; and PPNB, dated...

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Pre-Pottery Neolithic

Katun

A period of time in the Classic Maya Long Count equal to 7200 days (about 20 years). It is also the chronological unit comprising the Short Count. The celebration of katuns was a major ritual of kingship in the Classic period.

archaeologsEnglishPeriods

Katun

Pre-Boreal

A division of Holocene chronology which began about 10,000 years ago and ended about 9,500 years ago. The Pre-Boreal Climatic Interval preceded the Boreal Climatic Interval and was a time of increasing climatic moderation. Birch-pine forests and tundra were dominant. It is a subdivision of the Fl...

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Pre-Boreal

Anathermal

Abejas Phase

The first important agricultural phase in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico, dating 3500-1500 BC, after the introduction of maize.

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Abejas Phase

Paleozoic

Major interval of geologic time extending from 540-245 million years ago. It is the first era of the Phanerozoic Eon. It is a geological era in the earth's history before the Mesozoic and after the Precambrian, marked by the development of fishes, land plants, insects, reptiles, and fernlike tree...

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Paleozoic

Magellan Periods

A chronological sequence covering 8000 BC-1000 AD constructed on the basis of assemblages from Fell's Cave and the Palli Aike Cave in Patagonia, South America. The sequence is divided into five phases, describing a series of hunting and marine adaptations. The earliest assemblage (Magellan I) con...

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Magellan Periods

Guinea Neolithic

A series of industries in the coastal regions of West Africa during the last 10,000 years. Backed microliths akin to those manufactured in earlier times are associated with pottery and with ground stone ax- and hoe-like implements. One of the few well-described and dated occurrences is at Bosumpr...

archaeologsEnglishPeriods

Guinea Neolithic

Great Tombs Period

A period in Japanese history, 4th-7th century AD, known for round tombs covered by a mound with a square platform off to the side, making a keyhole shape. Towards end of period, tombs were very large and surrounded by a moat, and earthenware figures and models (Haniwa) were placed in a series of ...

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Great Tombs Period

Bubalus Period

Woodland Period

Stage in eastern North America c 1000 BC-800 AD that is a period in Native American history and culture. It is characterized by hunter-gatherers, elaborate burial mounds, beginning of substantial agriculture (corn, beans, squash), and pottery decorated with cord or fabric impressions. It is a ter...

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Woodland Period

Middle Kingdom

A period in Egyptian history including the 11th through 13th Dynasties, c 2008-1630 BC. This phase began with the reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt by the 11th Dynasty king Mentuhotep II (Nebhapetre) ushering in years of stability and prosperity. It is usually divided into two phases, the ea...

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Middle Kingdom

Baikal Neolithic

The Neolithic period of the Lake Baikal region in eastern Siberia. Stratified sites in the area show a long, gradual move from the Palaeolithic to Neolithic stage, starting in the 4th millennium BC. The Postglacial culture was not "true" Neolithic in that it farmed but Neolithic in the sense of u...

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Baikal Neolithic

Migration Period

The period of large-scale movement of peoples in western Europe during the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries AD - including the Anglo-Saxon settlement of England. These movements are associated with the collapse of the Roman empire. Barbarians from beyond the Roman frontiers settled within many of the ...

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Migration Period

Sue Ware

Bluish-gray high-fired pottery of the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods in Japan (5th-14th centuries AD), derived from Kaya pottery of the Old Silla period in Korea. A large number of vessels were made on a mechanical wheel, and fired in a kiln at about 1100 degrees C; the blue-gray color resulting ...

archaeologsEnglishAncient Pottery, Periods

Sue Ware