Dating and Dividing up Time HISTORY Dating and Dividing up Time
How do we divide up time? Historians have a number of different ways to divide up time.
Name the Ages Give specific periods of time different names STONE AGE BRONZE AGE The Prehistoric Age IRON AGE
THE HAN DYNASTY IN CHINA Name of the Family Name the time period after the family or person who ruled during that time period THE HAN DYNASTY IN CHINA
A time of new ideas in art, science, literature, music, architecture Name of an Event Some periods of time are named after an important event or influence THE RENAISSANCE A time of new ideas in art, science, literature, music, architecture
Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Vitruvian Man’ (c1487)
Religion Ideas about dividing up time can be influenced by different religious beliefs
Time to the Muslims Muslims count time from when Mohammed left the city of Mecca
Time to the Christians To the Christians, Mohammed left Mecca in the year 622 Christians count time from the birth of Christ, 622 years before the birth of Mohammed
Time to the Jews Jewish people count time from the year of the world’s creation Therefore, the year of Christ’s birth would be 3760
Time to the Scientists None of the previous dating systems recognize that the world began about 4600 million years ago and that human life began evolving about 2.25 million years ago
And in Australia?
In Australia … We use the Christian way of dividing time The years before Christ’s birth are known as BEFORE CHRIST (BC) The years after Christ’s birth are known as ANNO DOMINI (AD) Latin for ‘in the year of our Lord’ NOT AFTER DEATH!
BC vs AD There is no year zero! Anything that took place in the 12 months BEFORE Christ’s birth are said to have occurred in the year 1 BC Anything that took place in the 12 months AFTER Christ’s birth are said to have occurred in the year 1 AD
BC vs AD If there is uncertainty about the exact date, historians use the word CIRCA (‘about’) Usually abbreviated to ‘c.’ ‘AD’ is written before the date in question Sometimes it is omitted for ease ‘BC’ comes after the date in question Is never omitted!
But which way? In the years BC, the bigger the number, the older the event Numbers count down towards the birth of Christ Birth of Christ c.2700BC Pyramids in Egypt c.1800BC Stonehenge in England 776BC First Olympics in Greece 44BC Assassination of Julius Caesar
Neil Armstrong lands on the moon But which way? In the years AD, the bigger the number, the more recent the event Numbers count upwards from the birth of Christ Birth of Christ 79 Mt Vesuvius erupts 1066 Battle of Hastings 1348 Black death 1969 Neil Armstrong lands on the moon
Centuries Time can also be divided into centuries. The first year of each century is the year 1 of that century The last year is the year 100 of that century CENTURY FIRST YEAR LAST YEAR First century AD AD 1 AD 100 Second century AD AD 101 AD 200 Third century AD
Activities The dates below are all AD. Write them in chronological (earliest date first) order. 61 1066 800 2009 1492 1812 1415 1788 476 1348 112 1969
Activities In which century did the following dates occur? AD 750 450 BC 340 BC AD 50 AD 1605 5721 BC
Timelines We often use a timeline to display events in chronological order A timeline MUST have: Equal divisions for each time period (100 years, 1 day, 1 year, etc) A line to mark the change from BC to AD Be clear and easy to read
Draw a timeline Draw a line 20cm long on the bottom of your page Mark the division between BC and AD at 10cm Put an arrow head at each end of the line Mark a small mark at each centimetre along your line Each centimetre represents 50 years Write the years under each line
Draw a timeline Now, put the dates below onto your timeline as accurately as possible. AD 245 250 BC 44 BC AD 64 321 BC AD 322 AD 476