Given that humanity has millions and millions of years of existence, it is difficult to know it in its entirety, especially due to the fact that only part of it has had writing and other useful tools for its documentation. One of the methods that have contributed a lot to the study of history has been periodization . In this article we will make you know about What is periodization in history?

What is periodization?

It is the practice of dividing large content and / or documentation into smaller fragments, with the aim of being able to study each one of them in greater depth and thus obtain greater precision. In fact, to carry out any study where the content is extensive, it is a common practice.

Through the study of historical facts, periodization was born, in order to facilitate knowing the different historical facts. Periodization is an area of ​​the social sciences that is responsible for segmenting history into different periods or times that have some aspects in common and that are important enough to differentiate them in different periods .

From the point of view of history, they are referred to as ages to longer periods , and are called times the shorter . With regard to natural history or geology, periods are called eras , although in chronology historical periods are also called eras.

In addition, each era gives rise to different calendars. This term is also applied to periods that were dominated by some fact, historical character or process that is considered important enough. The geological age is part of what is known as the Geological Age.

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Hierarchy within historical periodization

In an order from greater to lesser extent , we find that the geological time scale is divided into:

• Eon
• It was
• Period
• Epoch
• Age

Historical periodization

There really is no unanimous agreement for historical periodization, but there is an academic consensus about the historical periods of Western Civilization , this is based on the terms provided by Cristóbal Cellarius where the classical world and its rebirth are placed as the basis which determined the division. Although this periodization is accused of being Eurocentric, this does not affect its importance, since in fact it is the most used.

The disadvantage that any type of periodization has occurs when it is made valid in a wide territorial area, since if the events originate in a specific place it takes much longer for the information to reach other nearby and not so close places, it is because This means that intermediate or transition terms appear.

Chronology and periodization of history

Complete, chronological list of the different most important periods in history, beginning with Prehistory (millions of years ago) to the Contemporary Age (today).

PREHISTORIA – is defined as prehistory to the period since it appeared early hominids , these were the ancestors of homo sapiens, to the time when the first written documents existed. This event first occurred in the Near East around 3300 BC and then spread to the rest of the planet.

STONE AGE – The main material was stone, a material used both for building and hunting. Within this Age, we have 3 periods.

PALEOLITHIC – The Paleolithic is the longest period in the existence of human beings , in fact it began more or less 2.59 million years ago and its end was about 12 thousand years ago and constitutes one of the periods that make up the Stone Age , which is known by this name for the type of utensils they used.

MESOLITHIC – This period of history lasted approximately four thousand years, extending from 10,000 BC to 6,000 BC Mesolithic cultures were nomadic , in winter they settled and in summer they formed camps. However, in some coastal regions of Europe and the Near East they began to live sedentary.

NEOLITHIC – This term means “new stone” and refers to the polished stone tools that characterized the Neolithic, which lasted between 6,000 BC and 2,000 BC , and make a great difference from the Palaeolithic, where man used rougher tools.

METAL AGE – They begin to work with greater precision, therefore this prevents them from working with new materials, metals, which, being more malleable then, allowed them to have a wide range of options. Three ages emerge:

COPPER AGE – It begins with the first samples of copper smelting, a period that was called the Copper Age, which ranged from approximately 6,500 to 2,800 BC In this period, metallurgy began, since man realized that he could separate copper from other minerals and use it to make different tools.

BRONZE AGE – Later, the Bronze Age began, which ranged from 2,800 to 1,000 BC approximately. In this period the smelting process was known, which allowed to extract a metal such as copper or iron from a mineral and thus use it to create work tools.

IRON AGE – Finally, came the period called the Iron Age, which began around 1,000 BC in the southwest of the Asian continent and in approximately 500 BC, in the region of Eurasia . The interesting thing about this period is that the change from bronze to iron does not occur because iron is better than bronze, but rather because iron was easier to obtain and more abundant in different parts of the planet than bronze. . Thus began an era in which iron tools and weapons are produced on a larger scale and in more regions.

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PROTOHISTORY – This is a phase that is not very well defined and is little accepted. It is situated between the end of prehistory and the beginning of ancient history. It is believed that in this period of history some primitive political entities developed that gave rise to metallurgy and also to writing, elements that allowed the beginning of history as such.

ANCIENT AGE – This period is defined by the emergence and evolution of civilizations that used writing, which is why they are called ancient civilizations. By tradition, this has been the initial period of history, which began with the invention of writing, and is preceded by prehistory. This period spanned about 5,500 years, specifically from 4,000 BC to AD 476 with the demise of the Western Roman Empire .

MIDDLE AGES – This is the historical period belonging to the Western civilization and includes between the 5th and 15th centuries . Traditionally, its beginning is placed in the year 476 together with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the end in 1492 with the arrival of Europeans to America , or also with the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, a date that coincides with the invention of the printing press and the end of the Hundred Years War .

MODERN AGE – This is the third historical period into which universal history is divided, spanning from the 15th to the 18th centuries . Its beginning coincides with the fall of Constantinople (1453) or also with the discovery of America (1492) and the end is situated with the French Revolution or the end of the previous decade, with the independence of the United States (1776).

CONTEMPORARY AGE / TODAY – This period is understood from the French Revolution or the independence of the United States to the present day and is characterized by the development of societies. This period of history is marked by the development of the Industrial Revolution, which resulted in the advancement and consolidation of capitalism , as well as struggles between nations for territorial dominance.

It was in this period that the First and Second World Wars took place , where different nations were grouped on different sides in a struggle without equal over several years. Countries that were considered developed, committed heinous acts, causing the death of millions of people worldwide.