Periods in History

There are five main periods in history:

Prehistory, Ancient History, Dark Ages, Middle Ages and Modern History.

Within these periods are numerous historical topics, many of which overlap in dates.

The timeline below shows the dates for the five periods and the most commonly studied topics that fall into that period. 

Please note: our use of BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) rather than BC and AD. See our glossary for further explanation.

 

Periods in History Timeline

Prehistory – up to 3600 BCE

Topics include:

Dinosaurs – 225 – 65 million years ago
Stone Age – 3.4 million years ago – 2000 BCE

Ancient History – 3600 BCE – 500 CE

Topics include:

Ancient Egypt – 3500 BCE – 800 BCE
Ancient Greece – 800 BCE – 400 BCE
Ancient Rome – 500 BCE – 470 CE

Dark Ages – 500 CE – 1000 CE

Topics include:

Anglo-Saxons – 400 – 1066
Vikings – 800 – 1066

Middle Ages – 1000 CE – 1600 CE

Topics include:

Normans – 900 – 1200
Plantagenets – 1200 – 1485
Renaissance – 1350 – 1600
Tudors – 1485 – 1603

Modern History – 1600 CE –Present

Topics include:

Stuarts – 1603 – 1714
Industrial Revolution – 1700 – 1900
Victorians – 1837 – 1901
World War One – 1914 – 1918
Russian Revolution – 1917
World War Two – 1939 – 1945
Cold War – 1945 – 1990