What periods of archaeology are there?

Archaeologists divide time into periods in order to make it easier to understand. For more details, see our Timeline.

Since the last Ice Age ended (about 10,200 years ago) the most important of these periods in Britain are:

The Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age which began around 10,000 years ago. Again, there is very little from this period as most communities seem to have lived in temporary places at coastal zones next to the sea or rivers. Their settlements have now been flooded by rising water levels.

The Neolithic or New Stone Age which began around 6,000 years ago. In this period, we can start to see permanent farming settlements and pottery.

The Bronze Age which began around 4,000 years ago. Use of smelting and metals in tools and weapons.

The Iron Age which began around 2,500 years ago. Use of iron over stone tools, trade with the Romans in the later part.

The Romano-British or Roman Britain which began around 2,000 years ago.

The Medieval which began around 1,500 years ago. This is then sub-divided in Early (Saxons, Vikings); Middle (Normans); High (Tudors, Stuarts etc); Late.

The Post-Medieval and Modern periods which began around 500 years ago and includes the Tudors, the Elizabethans, the 18th Century, the Georgians, the Victorians, the Industrial period and 20th Century.