List of time periods

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Contents 1 Human time periods 1.1 Prehistorical periods 1.2 Historical periods 1.3 Calendar systems 1.4 Mythological and astrological time periods 2 Cosmological time periods 2.1 13.7 billion years ago: The Big Bang 2.2 Formation of Population II stars 2.3 5 Billion Years ago - Formation of Population I stars 3 Geologic time periods 4 See also 5 References

The categorization of time into discrete named blocks is called periodization. This is a list of such named time periods as defined in various fields of study. Major categorization systems include cosmological (concerning the various time periods in the origin and evolution of our universe), geological (concerning time periods in the origin and evolution of earth ) and historical (concerning time periods in the origin, evolution of mankind).

[edit] Human time periods

The extinction of the paleozotic was the biggest extinction of all of earth's history Based on current and contested evidence[1], the human species has found its origins starting from about 265,000 years ago - when homo began to develop. It is broadly divided into prehistorical (before history began to be recorded) and historical periods (when written records began to be kept).

[edit] Prehistorical periods

In archaeology and anthropology, human 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 Stone Age
  • Paleolithic Age
    • Lower Paleolithic
    • Middle paleolithic
    • Upper Paleolithic
  • Mesolithic Age
  • Neolithic Age
• The Copper Age. Note: The Copper Age was not part of the original three-age system.
• The Bronze Age
• The Iron Age

The dates for each age can vary by region. On the geologic time scale, the Holocene epoch starts at the end of the most recent Ice age (about 9400 BC) and continues to the present. The beginning of Mesolithic is usually considered to correspond to the beginning of the Holocene epoch.

[edit] Historical periods

• Ancient history
  • Mesopotamia (3500 BC - 559 BC)
  • Indus Valley Civilization (3300 BC - 1300 BC)
  • Old Kingdom (Egypt, 3000 BC - 2000 BC)
  • Middle Kingdom (Egypt, 2000 BC - 1300 BC)200 - 700)
  • Coptic period (Egypt 300 - 900)
• Middle Ages (Europe, 4th century - 15th century)
  • Early Middle Ages European (500–1000 CE)
    • Dark Age (Europe, 4th century - 900)
    • Viking Age (Scandinavia, Europe, 793–1066)
  • Asuka period, Nara period, Heian period, Kamakura period, [[Muromachi

[edit] Calendar systems

Various societies in the past have created calendars to record events, such as religious observances and agricultural tasks. A common characteristic of most known calendars is that they measure time in relation to a particular point in history, known as the epoch date. A period between epoch dates is known as a calendar era.

[edit] Mythological and astrological time periods

• Astrological ages
  • Age of Taurus
  • Age of Aries
  • Age of Pisces
  • Age of Aquarius

• Greek mythology
  • Golden Age, self-sufficient
  • Silver Age, self-indulgent
  • Bronze Age, warlike
  • Heroic Age, nobly aspirant
  • Iron Age, violent

• Aztec mythology
  • Nahui-Ocelotl, Destroyed by Jaguars
  • Nahui-Ehécatl, Destroyed by Hurricane
  • Nahuiquiahuitl, Destroyed by rain of Fire
  • Nahui-Atl, Destroyed by Flood
  • Nahui-Ollin, Destroyed by Earthquakes

[edit] Cosmological time periods

[edit] 13.7 billion years ago: The Big Bang

Because of the scales involved (both very large and very small), cosmological time periods are usually described in seconds. In this table, each row is defined in seconds after the Big Bang, with earliest at the top of the chart.

Start	End	Period
0 s	1×10−43 s	Planck epoch
1×10−43 s	1×10−36 s	Grand unification epoch
1×10−36 s	1×10−32 s	Inflationary epoch
1×10−32 s	1×10−12 s	Electroweak epoch
1×10−12 s	1×10−6 s	Quark epoch
1×10−6 s	1 s	Hadron epoch
1 s	3 min	Lepton epoch
3 min	380,000 a	Photon epoch

[edit] Formation of Population II stars

Population II stars contain metals formed in the Population III stars. These were longer lived than the Population III stars and some of them are still around. In addition to the metals these inherited from the Population III stars the Population II stars also formed metals by nuclear reactions and when the stars died much of that material was returned to be used as the building blocks for the next generation of stars.

[edit] 5 Billion Years ago - Formation of Population I stars

Population I stars are also known as metal rich stars. Our own sun is a Population I star and was formed about 5 billion years ago.

[edit] 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 their use is no longer official.

[edit] See also

• Exponential timeline shows all history on one page in ten lines.
• Periodization for a discussion of the tendency to try to fit history into non-overlapping periods.
• List of fossil sites with link directory
• List of timelines

[edit] References

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