PAS Dating Conventions
The Scheme uses the following dating conventions to assign artefacts to periods.
Period: Palaeolithic
Date range: 500,000 BC to 8,300 BC
Sub-periods:
- Lower= 500,000 BC to 40,000 BC
- Upper= 40,000 BC to 8,300 BC
Notes: Generally split into Lower and Upper, which we will translate into Early and Late.
Period: Mesolithic
Dates: 8,300 BC to 4,500 BC
Sub-periods:
- Early = 8300 BC to 6500 BC
- Late = 6500 BC to 3500 BC
Period: Neolithic
Dates: 3500 BC to 2100 BC
Sub-periods:
- Early = 3500 BC to 2900 BC
- Middle = 2900 BC to 2500 BC
- Late = 2500 BC to 2100 BC
Notes: As far as artefacts are concerned, the Neolithic is usually split into Early and Late; Middle Neolithic is generally only used for monuments.
There is an overlap of 50 years for the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age
Period: Bronze Age
Dates: 2150 BC to 800 BC
Sub-periods:
- Early= 2150 BC to 1500 BC
- Middle = 1500 BC to 1150 BC
- Late = 1150 BC to 800 BC
Period: Iron Age
Dates: 800 BC to 100 AD
Sub-periods:
- Early = 800 BC to 300 BC
- Late = 300 BC to 100 AD
There is an overlap of up to a century (depending on which part of the country you are in) during which artefacts can be either culturally Roman or culturally Iron Age.
Period: Roman
Dates: 43 AD to 410 AD
Sub-periods:
- Early = 43 AD to 200 AD
- Late = 200 AD to 410 AD
There is an overlap of at least a decade (depending on which part of the country you are in) during which artefacts can either be culturally Roman or culturally early-medieval.
Period: Early-Medieval:
Dates: 400 AD to 1066 AD
Sub-periods:
- Early= 400 AD - 720 AD
- Middle = 720 AD - 850 AD
- Late = 850 AD - 1066 AD
Notes: In general, you will be able to date things more closely than this. Most early Anglo-Saxon object types will be quoted as mid fifth to mid sixth century (450-550), or late fifth or sixth century (475-600). Thereafter, dates tend to be quoted in centuries.
Period: Medieval
Dates: 1066 AD to 1500 AD
Sub-periods:
- Early = 1066 AD - 1400 AD
- Late = 1400 AD - 1500 AD
Notes: Early medieval' (soon after the Norman Conquest) can be hard to distinguish from early-medieval' (before the Norman Conquest). The term middle medieval' is not used. There is debate as to what constitutes the late medieval period. It is best to stick simply to medieval' and qualify it using calendar dates.
Period: Post-Medieval
Dates:1500 AD - 1800 AD
Sub-periods:
- Early = 1500 AD - 1600/1700 AD
Notes: Early post-medieval is generally used for the 16th century and sometimes for the 17th century. The comments for the medieval period also apply here.
There is debate as to the relationship between post-medieval' and modern'.
Period: Modern
Date:1800 AD - to the present day
Notes: We do not use early, middle and late qualifiers for this period
Period: Unknown
Notes: Self explanatory
