Download Characteristics of Periods and Chronology

CONTEXTUALIZATION –
CHRONOLOGY AND PERIODIZATION:
COMMON THEMES
I.
TECHNOLOGICAL & ENVIRONMENT TRANSFORMATIONS TO 600 CE
A. PRE-HISTORY: PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC ERAS TO C. 5,000 BCE
This is the era of the Stone Age when societies went from hunter and gatherer to villages, sedentary farming, and
pastorialism. This period ends at different times in different places. The period is sub-divided between the two
lifestyles: hunting and gathering as opposed to sedantarism and/or pastoralism.
The Paleolithic Age saw small groups with generalized social equality – all had to help contribute or the group
could die. There were gender distinctions such as men hunted and women gathered but they were not absolute.
And humans adapted easily to living in multiple environments which was necessary as humans were migrating
constantly across the globe.
The moment a society begins farming or herding then it is Neolithic. Agriculture as the predominant lifestyle
continues in most of the world until the 20th century and the Industrial Revolution and is a radical change from
hunting and gathering. The change impacts all aspects of society and humans. Agriculture produced surplus
leading to population increases as well as impacting the environment negatively. Group size increased. Social
classes, hierarchies and distinctions began to develop. Political elites began to develop. Technology shifted more
heavily towards supporting farming or herding.
Triggers for change were scarcity. Overhunting during the Paleolithic led to agriculture and pastoralism. New
developments in society also arose out of environmental factors – surpluses impacted the development of
civilization, social classes, technology, etc. And this in turn necessitated new political forms of management.
Continuity involves the persistence of older ideas. Humans do not like change and once something is found to
work humans seem reluctant to change. If it is not broken, do not fix it is almost the best description of why
things continue. Agriculture worked well and it did feed the people so why change? On area is the persistence of
animism and shamanism among settled peoples.
B. RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS 5000 BCE TO 1200 BCE
This period represents the eras of the first civilizations with a culture based upon urban living, the rise of gender
and social hierarchies including inequalities and institutions, technological advances including the Bronze Age
and interactions within regions. Occupation specialization also arose as surpluses allowed for people to do
something other than produce food. Due to this influences, inequalities in all aspects of society spread as elites
became more defined.
This period can begin at different times in different places. Some places do not have this period and acquire
civilizations from neighboring regions; an example would be Kush-Meroe of Axum. In other places such as the
Olmecs of Veracruz, this period begins and ends later than other places in the world.
Early agricultural societies development includes the interactions of the early agricultural, pastoral and urban
societies such as migrations, warfare and early trade. And interactions increase the likelihood of change. The fall
of one state to an invader produces a new master and set of rules; acculturation may occur between the outsider
and the newly arrived but it will likely produce a new culture different from both previous parents. A major
change is the increased patriarchy within society and the declining influence of women. This is due to men
acquiring farming which had been a woman’s job in the Paleolithic Era.
As to continuity, innovation or change is unsettling if the old ways are working. And because change can be
precarious and threaten the establishment or even life itself, old ways will persist. Egypt for instance resisted
change as it was tied into religious practices.
C. CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS 1200 BCE TO 600 CE
During this period often called the Iron Age and the Age of Classical Empires, civilizations tended towards transregional empires, trans-regional contacts, and cosmopolitan institutions especially religions and philosophies.
This regionalism of culture is a major development. And while the majority of the world was still in a Paleolithic
or Neolithic existence, the majority of population lived within the confines of the regional civilizations. But a
major development was the standardization of cultures within these regions.
The societies became more complex, reorganizing human societies in long lasting patterns. All civilizations end
through nomadic movements leaving behind cultures which form the basis of major traditions today. This period
includes the development and codification of religious and cultural traditions, the development of states and
empires as well as the emergence of trans-regional networks of communication and exchange. These contacts
include a new development – syncretism or the blending of cultures as exhibited by the Hellenistic Age in Africa,
Southwest, Central and South Asia.
This period ends much later in the Americas than elsewhere in the world. The Classical Mayans and
Teotihuacan represent the height of the Pre-Columbian classical civilizations which includes Chimu,
Mohica, and other Andean Indian civilizations (note: some historians would not include many of the Andean
cultures as civilizations).
The biggest impetus for change or catalyst was the development of iron metallurgy. This development facilitated
the development of better tools – for conquest and farming. Not only did iron weapons make larger conquest
states possible but iron farming tools cleared more land and allowed crops and agriculture to spread.
Nevertheless, peasants remained the largest class and usually did not use iron tools while rural culture remained
apart from the urban, cosmopolitan cultures of the elites in the cities. Additionally, patriarchal culture remained
and deepened.
II. REGIONAL AND TRANSREGIONAL INTERACTIONS 600 - 1450 CE
Themes include expansion and intensification of communication and exchange networks, the continuity and
innovation of state forms and their interactions as well as the increased economic production capacity and its
consequences. In many ways the dominant theme was the prevalence and spread of major world religions making
this an Age of Faith. Within societies, religious institutions often became the dominant players impacting all
aspects of a civilization’s life and culture.
The Post-Classical Age followed the decline of the classical states. As control slipped from traditional sources of
power, older patterns reemerged and people sought new ways including new faiths to overcome economic,
political and social disorder. The collapse of older classical states included a collapse of their borders as new
peoples migrated into and settled older lands. Consequently, commerce and religion became major triggers for
change during this era.
A. EARLY POST-CLASSICAL 600 TO 1000 CE
This sub-period saw the rise of Islam and the development of Dar al Islam. Counterbalancing the Muslim world
was a revived China. Civilization spread to peripheral zones including Northern Europe, Eastern Europe,
Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Nevertheless, Islam was at the center of the known, civilized world at
this time and all neighboring civilizations had to accommodate itself in some way or another to Islam and
Muslims.
This period is dominated by the spread of universalizing faiths, aristocratic traditions, and trans-regional
exchanges such as trade and ideas. States tended towards centralization but there were other, looser forms of
organization present in the same geographic areas. And major commercial centers developed within some of the
wealthier regions. This in turn stimulated newer designs in ships and navigational technologies.
B. HIGH POST-CLASSICAL 1000 - 1250 CE
During this sub-period, the larger cultural zones fragmented into regional groupings and developed regional
styles yet all regions were linked through trade and other contacts. This development of regular trade routes
created a coherent world network linking parts into a geophysical region called “Afro-Eurasia”. And it led to the
exchanges and spread of new technologies, ideas, peoples and diseases. Still there was no world economy yet.
C. LATE POST-CLASSICAL 1250 - 1450 CE
This period begins with the rise of the Mongols and the reorganization of Afro-Eurasia caused by their
movements, trade connections, and expansion of technologies. It ends with the collapse of the Mongols, the Black
Death and the end of many post-classical traditions including the only surviving classical civilization, the
Byzantine Empire.
D. THE POST-CLASSICAL AMERICAS AND THE PACIFIC (C. 900 - 1521 CE)
Both the Americas and the Pacific lands and islands remained outside the world system of Afro-Eurasia. So too
did much of Africa and Northern Eurasia as well as Australia. Their development is often different from the rest
of the globe if not delayed. And there were few extra regional contacts.
The American civilizations in Meso-America (Post-Classical Mayans, Toltecs, and Aztecs) as well as the Incas
represent the height of post-classical American development. Nevertheless their civilization is often not much
advanced over the Classical Period and often not nearly as advanced as Post-Classical Civilizations in other parts
of the world.
III. EARLY MODERN 1450 - 1750 CE
Major themes include global interactions, globalizing networks of communications and exchanges; new forms of
social organization and modes of production; and state consolidation and imperial expansion. An interesting
development was the rise of diplomacy and alliances as a new tool of international politics.
A. THE AGE OF GUNPOWDER EMPIRES 1450 - 1600 CE
Guns heralded the rise of large centralizing state structures and new styles of rulers; consequently the name of
this sub-period. Alternate names for the period are the Age of Reconnaissance (due to the circumnavigation of
the globe and explorations), The Commercial Revolution, the First Age of Colonialism, and the Age of
Columbian Exchanges. These last names signify the importance of global connections and international trade.
New institutions and traditions arose from commerce, intellectual pursuits including the Scientific Revolution,
and changes in religion. It also represented the appearance of Europeans on the world stage, which however at
this time they could not dominate except for the Americas. This period also saw a Demographic Transition in the
Americas due to the massive deaths caused by disease.
The Columbian Exchange and the inclusion of the Americas in the wider world represent a globalizing trend
which had impacts around the world. This involved the exchanges of peoples, crops, animals, diseases, and ideas.
It led to the rise of trans-regional trade across the globe for the first time in world history. Silver is a primary
example of the commercialization and globalization of the trades and exchanges. And the creation of the TransAtlantic Slave trade and well as the spread of slavery and serfdom represent a commercialization of economies
and its impact on labor markets.
One major catalyst for change was the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 which set the Europeans on their
course for explorations and overseas empires. These movements were reflected in the naval and military
revolutions called the Gunpowder Empires.
Despite the change there was great continuity. In the face of change many areas resisted change especially in
areas of religion, gender and social norms.
B. THE BEGINNING OF EUROPEAN DOMINANCE 1600 - 1750 CE
European technology and institutions gradually began to give European states a predominant influence
including in their commercial operations. Within Europe changes in state structures and institutions heralded
many future revolutions. Outside of Europe, the Europeans established their first trans-oceanic empires in the
Americas, Africa and Asia. Globally this period was an Age of Absolutism as well as increased attempts to fend
off European influences and advances. And the period saw the rise of a new great power, Russia and the decline
of the Muslim world’s great powers, the Ottoman and Mughal Empires.
IV.
MODERN 1750 - 1914 CE
Themes include industrial and global integration, industrialization and global capitalism, imperialism, and
new ideologies including nation-state formation, nationalism, revolution, and reform, as well as global
migration. One increasingly common theme throughout this period was that industrialization had drastic
impacts on the environment.
Throughout the period the world experienced a series of political revolutions. Often caused hardships and
repression as well as by economic, political and nationalistic ideologies including reforms, most decades saw
revolutions ranging from the American and French to the Russian, Mexican and Chinese Revolutions. These
were influenced by the Enlightenment as well as socialism.
A. EARLY ATLANTIC REVOLUTIONS 1750 - 1800 CE
Beginning with intellectual revolutions specifically the Enlightenment, many nations in the Americas, Europe
and Africa experienced political, economic or industrial, and social changes. This was also the height of the
Slave Trade from Africa.
B. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS 1800 - 1870 CE
During this sub-period, Europe, the Americas including the United States, and Japan were transformed
by radical industrial revolutions, numerous wars and revolutions as the Age of Steel began. These changes often
provided the basis for future imperialistic expansion. The period saw liberal reforms including the end of the
Slave Trade and the abolition of serfdom as well as increased immigration around the world or to cities often as
labor to replace former slave or serf systems.
The period begins a worldwide period of intellectual transitions and developments covering all aspects of life
including politics and economics, the arts, and sciences. Nevertheless all of these innovations and inventions
increased Western Europe’s and the United States’ economic advantages where many aspects of daily life was
changed radically. This included the increasing power of the middle class and middle class groups as well as
workers which all sought a voice in politics.
C. EUROPEAN HEGEMONY AND RESPONSES 1870 - 1914 CE
This era represents the second age of European global imperialism and the Asian, African, and
Muslim responses to Westernization and Modernization. Three new actors on the international scene included
the United States, Germany, and Japan. It is also the era of the Second Industrial Revolution. Alternative names
for this period are the Age of Imperialism.
Due to the emergence of the telegraph, steamship, railroads, Suez and Panama Canals when married with
Western industrial and military power created the first full emergence of globalization including banks and
systems of economic exchange. This was reflected in international postal unions, international agreements on
diseases and armaments and trans-national sports such as the Olympics.
The epoch saw the rise of leisure and free time not only in the West but around the world. Many forms of
entertainment which had once been elite practices began to spread to the middle and lower classes.
As a continuity many societies “dug their heels in” and emphasized traditions and traditional ways of doing
things. While the goal was to industrialize and if possible modernize, this did not necessarily mean westernize.
V. CONTEMPORARY 1914 CE – PRESENT
Themes include accelerated global integration and realignment, science and environment, global conflicts and
consequences, as well as new conceptualizations of global economy, society, and culture.
Perhaps the three greatest themes were decolonization including the eclipse of Western Europe as a power and
the rise of the nation-state. This saw the rise of the USA as a superpower. But one trend at the end of the 20th
century has been attempts to transcend the nation-state with supranationalism such as the European Union. The
last two themes include massive technological innovation that shrunk the world to seconds, minutes and hours
away from any other destination. Along with a demographic explosion including a revolution in health care and
massed immigration, both have created a united world greater than ever before. And both together have
significantly impacted the environment.
A. 1914 - 1945 THE ERA OF THE WORLD WARS
This period is dominated by two world wars, the intervening armistice of 20 years and revolutions which led to
the shattering of European world hegemony, the rise of the United States and USSR to superpower status, the
collapse of traditional monarchies, the end of the dominance of landed aristocracies, the rise of the service sector
and factory workers, and changes in patriarchal gender systems. It also represented increased attempts by nonWestern peoples to organize their lives and cultures in light of western dominance and collapse. This period
includes the Great Depression and continued intellectual developments from the previous period. Alternate
names for this period include the Age of Totalitarianism.
This period saw the victory of the Middle Class in the West, the rise of a leisure class and vacations, the explosion
of mass media in the form of movies, newspapers, mass produced literature and radio, and mass followings of
sports including baseball, soccer, cricket and other activities. Cars led to the development of suburbs and
vacations outside of the area in which people were born. A scientific revolution in physics transformed
understanding of the universe and psychology as a medical practice was born. Arts broke traditional confines
and conventions and previously elite forms of entertainment began to merge with mass forms of entertainment.
B. 1945 - 1990 THE COLD WAR AND DECOLONIZATION
While the USA, USSR and their allies waged "cold" wars for international dominance among the new nations
throwing off western dominance, the rest of the world rejected a bi-polar perspective and searched for a middle or
third way encouraging modernization and industrialization without necessarily westernization. This period is
dominated by tensions as peoples attempted to define their states and identities including the rise of the welfare
state. Most of the older and newly independent nations sought changes in their economic systems and increasing
inclusion in the larger economic system. Exports surged as did attempts to cooperate and standardize economic
systems creating a new globalism. This was facilitated by radical technological changes and innovations
including the computer, the Internet, and the cell phone. And trans-oceanic travel courtesy of the airplane
became common.
It is also an Age of Consumerism as well as a globalization of culture (music, movies, the arts) and saw the rise of
environmental issues and non-governmental organizations such as the United Nations. Secularism spread
widely; even in states with traditional religious structures many public systems operated without reference to
religion. Alternate systems to religion included Marxism and Democratic Socialism while nationalism often had
similar effects. Belief systems changed too if not modernized as in Vatican II which transformed the Catholic
Church. Yet fundamentalism in religion and cultural traditions especially in some Christian and Islamic groups
as well as Hinduism and Judaism resisted change, secularism, democracy, and gender changes.
C. 1990 - PRESENT GLOBALIZATION AND RESPONSES
Following the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet bloc, and the breakup of the USSR, nations became
increasingly linked by globalizing influences as they struggled to maintain local identities.
This era also represents the spread of democracy as a model for many nations. It is also a time of conflict
between models of consumerism and secularization and older, more traditional systems.