Unit IX

I. Look through the words and expressions and learn them:

• locating related events relative to each other – розташування пов'язаних між собою подій відносно одна одної;

• the two blurs –дві нечіткі риси;

• to be blurred by use of different calendars – бути розмитим при використанні різних календарів;

• coherent system of numbered calendar years – логічно послідовна система пронумерованих календарних років;

• to reckon back to any supposed year – вести літочислення від якогось умовного року;

• to pioneer sequence dating – першим запровадити послідовне датування;

• to penetrate times – зрозуміти часи;

• wares discovered at strata – товари знайдені у пластах землі;

• to extend the network of chronologies – розширити схему хронології;

• an axiom of corroborative evidence – аксіома підкріплюючого свідчення;

• to be routinely applied in – регулярно пристосовуватися;

• to assign unrealistically long lifespan – встановлювати неправдоподібно довгу тривалість життя;

• potent explanation – ефективне пояснення

II. Read and translate the text: chronology

Chronology is the science of locating events in time. An arrangement of events, from either earliest to latest or the reverse, is also called a chronology or, particularly when involving graphical elements, a timeline or a living graph. Unlike chronometry (i.e. timekeeping), which is part of physics, (general) chronology, as the science of locating historical events in time, is part of the discipline of history.

A chronology may be either relative—that is, locating related events relative to each other—or absolute—locating these events to specific dates in a Chronological Era. In that these dates are themselves events, the difference between the two blurs a little: an absolute chronology just includes a strange sort of event called a date which is common to all absolute chronologies covering the same period of time. Even this distinction may be blurred by use of different calendars. In Judeo-Christian cultures, historical dates in an absolute chronology are understood to be referred to the Christian era, in combination with the (proleptic) Julian calendar (originally) and the Gregorian calendar respectively.

Calendar and Era

The familiar terms ‘calendar’ and ‘era’ (within the meaning of a coherent system of numbered calendar years) concern two complementary fundamental concepts of chronology. For example during eight centuries the calendar belonging to the Christian era, which era was taken in use in the eighth century by Bede, was the Julian calendar, but after the year 1582 it was the Gregorian calendar. Dionysius Exiguous (about the year 500) was the founder of that era, which is nowadays the most widespread dating system on earth.

Anno Urbis Conditae Era

Though in Roman antiquity one frequently reckoned back to any supposed year of foundation of the city of Rome, the Anno Urbis Conditae era, which like the Anno Domini era did not in reality exist yet in antiquity, was used systematically for the first time only about the year 400, namely by the Iberian historian Orosius; pope Boniface IV (about the year 600) seems to have been the first who recognized the connection between these two eras (i.e. AD 1 = AUC 754).

Astronomical Era

Dionysius Exiguous’ Anno Domini era (which contains only calendar years AD) was extended by Bede to the complete Christian era (which contains in addition all calendar years BC but no year zero). Ten centuries after Bede the French astronomers Philippe de la Hire (in the year 1702) and Jacques Cassini (in the year 1740), purely in order to simplify certain calculations, put the Julian Dating System (proposed in the year 1583 by Joseph Scaliger) and with it an astronomical era into use which contains a leap year zero, which the year 1 (AD) precedes but does not exactly coincide with the year 1 BC. Astronomers never proposed seriously to replace our era with their astronomical era (which for that matter coincides exactly with the Christian era where it concerns the calendar years after the year 4).

Other chronological subjects

Other familiar chronological subjects are for example: timeline, linear timescale, French revolutionary era, leap year, Jewish calendar. Subjects of the Christian chronology are for example: Dionysius Exiguous' Easter table, Paschal full moon, lunar cycle, solar cycle, Easter cycle, lunar phase number, millennium question.

Prehistoric chronologies

In the absence of written history, with its chronicles and king lists, late 19th century archaeologists found that they could develop relative chronologies based on pottery techniques and styles. In the field of Egyptology, William Flinders Petrie pioneered sequence dating to penetrate pre-dynastic Neolithic times, using groups of contemporary artefacts deposited together at a single time in graves and working backwards methodically from the earliest historical phases of Egypt.

Known wares discovered at strata in sometimes quite distant sites, the product of trade, helped extend the network of chronologies. Some cultures have retained the name applied to them in reference to characteristic forms, for lack of an idea of what they called themselves: "The Beaker People" in northern Europe during the 3rd millennium BCE, for example. The study of the means of placing pottery and other cultural artefacts into some kind of order proceeds in two phases, classification and typology: Classification creates categories for the purposes of description, and typology seeks to identify and analyse changes that allow artefacts to be placed into sequences.

Laboratory techniques developed particularly after mid-20th century helped constantly revise and refine the chronologies developed for specific cultural areas. Unrelated dating methods help reinforce a chronology, an axiom of corroborative evidence. Ideally, archaeological materials used for dating a site should complement each other and provide a means of cross-checking. Conclusions drawn from just one unsupported technique are usually regarded as unreliable.

Bayesian analysis has recently started to be routinely applied in the analysis of chronological information, including radiocarbon-derived dates.

Several legendary sources tend to assign unrealistically long lifespan to pre-historical heroes and monarchs (e.g. Egypt, Hebrews, Japanese), if the number of years there reported are understood as years of more than 340 days. One potent explanation for this has been that there have been more than one harvest during the actual year, and memories evolving to legends tend to count each growth period as separate year.

Though chronologies formulated before the 1960s are subject to serious scepticism today, more recent results are more robust than readily appears to journalists and enthusiastic amateurs.