How do historians sequence changes that have occurred over time?
Test your ability to sequence developments by completing the following task.
Task: Sorting and sequencing
Arrange the following developments from the gameboard in their correct chronological order
— i.e. from the oldest date to most recent date. a) c. 9800 BC (BCE) Cereal crops domesticated in Asia Minor 1 b) 513 BC (BCE) Cast iron developed in China 5 c) c. 1770 BC (BCE) Law Code of Hammurabi 4 d) c. 4000 BC (BCE) Wheel invented by Sumerians 2 e) c. 2667 BC (BCE) First monumental stone building Step Pyramid in Egypt 3
Historians commonly use timelines to chronologically represent human history.
Organising time using a timeline
In the Western world, history has been ‘packaged’ into four major periods:
Period Dates Key features
Prehistory
Ancient history
Medieval history
Modern history
Before c. 3000
BC (BCE) c. 3000 BC
(BCE)
–c. 500
AD (CE) c. 500 AD
(CE)
–c. 1500
AD (CE) c. 1500 AD
(CE)
–21 st century
From the appearance of modern man ( Homo sapiens ) in Africa, about 150 000 BP (before present) to the beginning of writing around 3000 BCE. This period was characterised by the use of stone tools, a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, the development of religious beliefs and the appearance of art forms.
From the beginning of writing to the decline of Rome in approximately c. 500 CE. This period was characterised by the establishment of cities with governments, written laws, organised religion and formal education.
From the decline of Rome to the fall of Constantinople around
1500 CE. A time dominated by the Catholic Church and the feudal system.
From the fall of Constantinople to the present. A time of expanding horizons and knowledge, particularly in science, medicine and technology. An age of industrialisation and urbanisation. c.3000 BCE Birth of c.500 CE c.1500
Christ
This period spans millions of years
21st century
1 of 7
His_Y07_SLR_ChronologyASenseOfTime_Ans

Language of time
The timeline of historical periods (above) features important language to describe time.
These terms, among others, are listed below:
BC The period of history before the birth of Christ. (BC is the abbreviation of ‘Before
Christ ’). Note that the birth of Christ is a disputed date.
AD
BCE
CE
BP c.
Decade
Century
The period of history after the birth of Christ. (AD is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase
‘Anno Domini’, meaning ‘in the year of Our Lord’).
An abbreviation of ‘Before Common Era’. It represents the same period of time as
‘Before Christ’ but is a more inclusive term than the Christian term ‘BC’.
An abbreviation of ‘Common Era’. It represents the same period of time as ‘AD’ but is a more inclusive term.
An abbreviation of ‘Before Present’.
An abbreviation of ‘circa’, meaning ‘approximately’.
Ten years.
One hundred years.
Millennium One thousand years.
Task: Checking understanding of the language of time
Match the following terms with their definitions.
Terms: BC, AD, BCE, CE, BP, c., decade, century, millennium
AD The period of history after the birth of Christ (an abbreviation of the Latin phrase meaning ‘in the year of Our Lord’).
BCE It represents the same period of time as ‘Before Christ’ but it is a more inclusive term than the Christian term ‘BC’.
An abbreviation of ‘circa’ meaning ‘approximately’. millennium One thousand years.
BC
CE
The period of history before the birth of Christ, a disputed date.
It represents the same period of time as ‘AD’ but is a more inclusive term.
Decade
BP century
Ten years.
An abbreviation of ‘Before Present’.
One hundred years.
2 of 7
His_Y07_SLR_ChronologyASenseOfTime_Ans

Timeline maths
Centuries and dates
We know that a century is one hundred years. So the first date of the first century was year 1 and the last date of the first century was year 100. The pattern continues below. Notice that the first date of a new century always ends in 1.
1st century 2nd century 3rd century 4th century 5th century
1–100 101–200 201–300 301–400 401–500
If you count from the birth of Christ to 450 AD (CE), you will find that you have reached the fifth century AD (CE). If you count the centuries from the birth of Christ to 150 BC (BCE), you will find that you are in the second century BC (BCE).
5th
BC
(BCE)
4th 3rd 2nd 1st 1st
Birth of Christ
2nd 3rd 4th 5th
AD
(CE)
Rule: To find out what century a date is in, add one (1) to the number of hundreds.
For example:
200s (AD/CE or BC/BCE): add 1 = third century
400s (AD/CE or BC/BCE): add 1 = fifth century
300s (AD/CE or BC/BCE): add 1 = fourth century
The year 90 (AD/CE or BC/BCE) has no hundreds so add 1 = first century.
Task: Checking understanding for timeline maths
1. In which century did the following years occur? a) 1889 AD (CE) 19th b) 3000 BC (BCE) 30th c) 50 AD (CE) 1st d) 1480 AD (CE) 15th e) 5 BC (BCE) 1st
2. Select a year that occurred in the following centuries: a) 12th century 1144 (any number between and inclusive of 1101 –1200) b) 19th century 1866 (any number between and inclusive of 1801 –1900) c) 5th century 456 (any number between and inclusive of 401 –500) d) 10th century 985 (any number between and inclusive of 901
–1000) e) 1st century 22 (any number between and inclusive of 1 –100)
3 of 7
His_Y07_SLR_ChronologyASenseOfTime_Ans

3. Which date occurred first? a) 3300 BC (BCE) or 3000 AD (CE) b) 2 BC (BCE) or 2 AD (CE) c) 10 AD (CE) or 100 AD (CE) d) 540 BC (BCE) or 720 BC (BCE) e) 77 AD (CE) or 77 BC (BCE)
4. Which event occurred closest to the present? a) the building of the Parthenon in 438 BCE or the building of the Step Pyramid in c.
2667 BCE b) the development of writing in Sumer in c. 3200 BC or the development of the
Phoenician alphabet in c. 1050 BCE c) cast iron being developed in China in 513 BCE or the first use of iron by the Hittites in c. 1500 BCE d) the Chinese inventing the compass in c. 220 BCE or the Sumerians inventing the wheel in c. 4000 BCE.
How did ancient societies date their history?
The method used to date history in ancient societies varied over time and between cultures.
Greece : The ancient Greeks used the first Olympic Games in 776 BCE as an identifying year. The Games were held every four years, an Olympiad, and the calendar was based on each Olympiad.
Rome : The ancient Romans used the founding of the city of Rome in 773 BCE as an identifying year. Their term for this was ad urba condita (AUC), which is a Latin term meaning from the founding of the city .
India : Ancient Indian calendars were generally based on the lunar (moon) cycles.
China : Ancient Chinese calendars were combinations of solar/lunar (sun/moon) calendars.
Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples identified the passage of time using lunar phases and solstices. Time was seen as passing through cycles, and seasonal calendars were important for identifying resources ( building materials and food), for movement and travelling, and for important ceremonies and initiations.
Task: Checking for understanding
1) The Olympic Games first occurred in 776 BCE. Using the Western dating system identify this Greek year: 3rd year of the 2nd Olympiad. 769 BC (BCE)
2) The founding of Rome according to the Western dating system was 753 BCE.
Using the Western dating system, identify the Roman year of 243 AUC. 510 BC
(BCE)
3) All ancient societies have recorded time in the same way. True/ False
4) The birth of Christ is used as a key date in Western societies. True /False
5) Prehistory refers to the time before humans existed. True/ False
6) Western society divides history into four major time periods. True /False
7) The first year of every new century ends with the number 1. True /False
8) A millennium is a period of 10 000 years. True/ False
9) To calculate what century a date is in, add 1 to the hundredths. True /False
10) BC years always come before AD years. True /False
4 of 7
His_Y07_SLR_ChronologyASenseOfTime_Ans

Locating ancient societies in time
1. Apart from ancient Australia, which ancient society is the earliest in its beginnings? Provide the approximate date. India: c. 3200 BCE
2. Which ancient society, apart from ancient Australia, is the longest in duration? Name and calculate its approximate time span. India: c.
3200 BCE –500 CE
3. Which ancient society was the shortest in duration? Name and calculate its approximate time span. Rome: about 1000 years
4. Which ancient societies remained in the years BC (BCE)? Greece and Egypt Which ancient societies span both BC (BCE) and AD
(CE)? China, India, Rome, Ancient Australia
5 of 7
His_Y07_SLR_ChronologyASenseOfTime_Ans

Locating ancient societies in space
The great ancient societies span three continents — Asia, Africa and Europe. Below is a map showing their location.
Rome
Greece
Egypt
India
China
1. Identify which ancient societies noted here span which continents by filling in the table below.
Continent Ancient society
Europe
Africa
Asia
Greece, Rome
Egypt
China, India
6 of 7
His_Y07_SLR_ChronologyASenseOfTime_Ans

2. Based on the location of the ancient societies, do you think they might have had contact with one another and influenced one another? Explain .
Greece, Rome and Egypt were all located around the Mediterranean so would most likely have had contact. India and China were both in Asia so would probably have had contact eventually, although not as directly as the other three.
Ancient societies such as Egypt, China and India are known as river valley civilisations because they developed along the length of large rivers such as the Nile (in Egypt), Huang Ho and Yangtze (in China) and Indus (in India). Other ancient societies such as Greece and Rome did not have the advantage of great rivers but developed impressive civilisations as well.
7 of 7
His_Y07_SLR_ChronologyASenseOfTime_Ans