The document discusses different systems for measuring and representing time in history. It explains common dating conventions like BC, AD, BCE and CE and eras like prehistoric, ancient, medieval and modern. The document also outlines how events are chronologically organized using timelines to help understand history from the beginning to the present. Key features of timelines mentioned include using consistent scales, dates, descriptions and visuals to sequentially illustrate important events over periods of time from an individual's life or the entire world history.

1. Time and the Ages

3. Making sense of time
• 2014 – what does this mean?
• Time has been going for longer than this
• Dates back to thousands of years before
• Capture an accurate sense of history we must
have a system to keep track of time
• ‘Gregorian calendar’

4. What do all these signs mean?
• BC
– Before Christ
• AD
– Anno Domani
– Latin for ‘in the year of our Lord’
• BCE
– Before Common Era
– Many historians now prefer this term
• CE
– Common Era
– More inclusive of all peoples and religions
These terms have
been introduced, as
it is more inclusive
of all peoples and
religions

5. Dividing the Past
• To make sense of the past, we divide it into ages
or periods of time that have similarities
• There are four main periods of time
– Prehistoric (stone age, bronze age, iron age) – until
3000 BC
– Ancient Period 3000BC – 476 AD
– Medieval Period 476 AD – 1500 AD
– Modern Period 1500 AD – present
• Only dates recognised by Western civilisation.
Why might that be?

6. What if we’re unsure?
• If we don’t know the exact date we can use BP
– Before Present
– In this case, ‘present’ is referred to as 1950
• If we are really unsure of the date we can use
the letter c in front of a date
– c5000 BC
– c stands for circa, the Latin word for ‘around’

7. How do we keep track of history?
• The best stories are told from start to finish
• History makes more sense in a chronological
order
• Timelines help us view the worlds history
• It arranges a number of events in chronological
order
• Helps us view what has happened in relation to
other things that have happened
• How one event has led onto another

8. Visuals are good to
include
Dates and events
can go above and
below the timeline
This timeline is broken
into 1000 year sections
Key dates and
short descriptions
are given
Brackets are used to
signify different
periods

9. Timelines
• Timelines can show periods of time dating
back to as far as possible that we know
• Timelines can also represent a more personal
history, for example the span of your life and
the important things that have happened
• Timelines can represent anything from the
history of an organisation, your pets life or the
entire history of the world

10. Activity
• Create a timeline that represents your life
• The beginning will represent when you were born and
the end will represent the present
• Include important events that have meant something
to you during your life
– It could be starting school,
• MAKE SURE YOU REMEMBER…
– Include the dates
– Small annotations explaining the events
– 2cm scale for each year
– Pictures