HISTORY TIMELINES

 

Colour and black and white photographs illustrating the following historical periods are available from the Werner Forman Archive.

 

EUROPE: ARCHAEOLOGY, SITES, ARCHITECTURE, ART AND ARTEFACTS

Skara Brae, Orkney

          STONE AGE

Palaeolithic & Neolithic burials & objects from the Czech Republic
Skara Brae, Orkneys 3000-2600 BC
Cycladic figures, Greece 2600-2400 BC
Malta. Hal Saflieni 4000-2500 BC

 

 

Hallstatt horse/ Moravian Museum Brno
BRONZE AGE
Early Bronze Age-Hallstatt culture 2300-1800 BC
Middle Bronze Age-La Tene & artefacts from Denmark c.1800-1600 BC
Late Bronze Age petroglyphs, Bohuslan, Sweden c.1200-1000 BC

 

 

Scythian Horseman/ Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
SOUTHERN RUSSIA
Artefacts from Scythian burials c.500-300 BC

 

 

Parthenon frieze/ British Museum
GREECE
Archaic period sculpture c.550-400 BC
Classic period sculpture and Parthenon c.480-420 BC

 

The Broighter ship/ National Museum of Ireland
IRON AGE
Tollund Man c.300-200 BC
Western Celts. A comprehensive collection of art & artefacts c.100 BC-100 AD

 

The Roman Forum
ROME
Roman art, architecture and artefacts c.200 BC-400 AD
Roman Forum
Pompeii & Herculaneum
Ostia and Cuma
Roman Empire

 

 Serpent Brooch / Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm
SCANDINAVIA
A comprehensive collection of sites, ships, art & artefacts
Pre-Viking and Migration periods 400-800 AD
Viking Age 800-1100 AD
Early Christian period After 1100 AD

 

The Court of the Myrtles
SPAIN
Art, architecture & artefacts of Islamic Spain from Arab Conquest 710-712 AD
to end of Nasrid dynasty 1230-1429 AD

 

Mosaic of Christ from the South Gallery of the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
BYZANTIUM
Art, architecture & artefacts 400-1400 AD
   
 
 

AFRICA: ARCHAEOLOGY, ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ARTEFACTS

 

Banquet scene from the tomb of Nebamun/ British Museum, London
ANCIENT EGYPT
Pre-dynastic period c.4000-3000 BC
Archaic period 1st & 2nd dynasties 3000-2700 BC
Old Kingdom 3rd-6th dynasties 2700-2190 BC
Middle Kingdom 11th & 12th dynasties 2106-1786 BC
New Kingdom 18th-2Oth dynasties 1550-1069BC
Late Period 21st-31st dynasties 1069-332 BC
Graeco-Roman Period 332 BC-641 AD

Textile depicting 'bird in glory'/ Musee d'Art et d'Histoire, Fribourg

COPTIC EGYPT from 6th C AD

 

Plate with a seated figure/ Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA

ISLAMIC EGYPT

 

Meroitic pyramid

          KINGDOM OF NUBIA 600BC-400AD

 

Roman baths at Carthage

          PHOENICIAN & ROMAN CARTHAGE 9th C BC

 

El Atteuf, Berber city

         ANCIENT BERBER / NUMIDIA 2nd C BC

 

Koran with Kufic script/ Mrs Bashir Mohamed Collection

           NORTH AFRICA 7-11th C AD

 

 AFRICA SOUTH OF THE SAHARA: ARCHAEOLOGY, ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ARTEFACTS 

Idia, the Queen Mother/ British Museum, London

  WEST AFRICA

Jenne-Jeno/Songhai kingdom before 1000 AD
Jenne-Mopti 11-13th C AD
          Nok 500 BC-200 AD
Ife 1000-1500 AD
          Igbo Ukwu 8-9th C AD 
          Benin kingdom 16-19th C AD
          Ashanti kingdom

Acheulian hand axe/ British Institute of History and Archaeology, Dar-es-Salam
EAST AFRICA
Paleolithic rock drawings, Tanzania
Zinjanthropus skull. Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Axum 4th -8th C AD, Ethiopia
Lalibela 13th C AD, Ethiopia
Kilwa, Kunduchi & Gedi 13th C AD, Kenya

Gelede mask of a European in sun glasses/ H.Storrer Collection
SOUTHERN AFRICA
Great Zimbabwe 14-15th C AD
A comprehensive collection of art from all regions of Africa. 
Cultural Encounters - Exploration, Trade and Colonialism.

 

MIDDLE EAST:  ARCHAEOLOGY, ARCHITECTURE, ART AND ARTEFACTS 

Fertility figure/ Schimmel Collection, New York
PREHISTORY 6000-3000 BC
Fertility figures from Sumeria & Anatolia

 

Jewellery of Queen Pu-Abi/ British Museum, London
SUMERIA 3500-2500 BC
Grave goods from Ur
Standard of Ur

 

 Rhyton in the form of a stag/ Schimmel Collection, New York
HITTITE 1400-1200 BC
Figurines & vessels from Empire period

 

The goddess Ishtar/ Iraq Museum, Baghdad
ASSYRIA
Palace reliefs. Ashurnasirpal 850-620 BC
Shalmaneser III 858-824 BC
Sennacherib 704-681 BC
Ashurbanipal 668-627 BC
Phoenician ivories from Assyrian palaces 8th C BC

 

Brick from the gates of Ishtar at Babylon/ State Museum, Berlin
BABYLONIA 626-539 BC
Gates of Ishtar, Babylon
Figurines, jewellery

 

Relief of tribute bearers from Persepolis 
ANCIENT PERSIA
Site and reliefs from Persepolis Artefacts from Achaemenid period c.510-330 BC

 

Roman temple at Baalbek
ROMAN PERIOD
Syria & Lebanon 2nd C BC-4th C AD
Dura Europus & Baalbeck

 

Sultan Mehmet II/ Topkapi Palace Library, Istanbul
ISLAMIC PERIOD
Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen & United Arab Emirates 8th-20th C AD
Art, architecture & artefacts

 

ASIA & AUSTRALASIA: ARCHAEOLOGY, SITES, ARCHITECTURE, ART AND ARTEFACTS 

Musician from Konarak
INDIA
Deccan Golgonda 16-17th C AD
Rajasthan  12-17th C AD
Hindu art & architecture 7th - 13th C AD
Moghul art & architecture 16th - 17th C AD
 Buddhist, Jain, Hindu sculpture, Gandhara 1st C BC-18th  C AD
Art & Artefacts  & Local Schools 16th -19th C AD
including a special collection of erotica
Cultural Encounters-Exploration, Trade & Colonialism 16-19th C AD
Portuguese, Dutch and English in India
 

Polo player/ Courtesy Sotheby's, London
CHINA
Archaeology, art, architecture & artefacts from the following periods:
Neolithic c.7000-1600 BC
Shang dynasty 1600-1027 BC
Han 206 BC-220 AD
Wei 220-580 AD
Tang (an important collection) 618-906 AD
Sung 960-1125 AD
Yuan 1271-1368 AD
Ming 1368-1644 AD
Ching 1644-1912 AD
Cultural Encounters - Exploration and Trade

 

TIBET AND NEPAL

A special collection of bronze icons from Buddhist Tibet & Nepal c.l4th-l8th C AD

 

The Supreme Buddha and his consort/  Philip Goldman Collection
JAPAN
Archaeology, art, architecture & artefacts from the following periods:
Jomon (Neolithic) 4000-250 BC
Tumulus (Haniwa figures) 200 BC-700 AD
Nara from 710 AD
Heian 784-1185 AD
Kamakura 1185-1333AD
Muromachi 1333-1573 AD
Momoyama 1568-1600 AD
Edo 1615-1867 AD
Cultural Encounters - Exploration and Trade

 

 Silla period crown/ San Francisco Museum of Asiatic Art
KOREA
Tomb paintings, ceramics & art from the following periods:
Han colony of Lelang c.300 AD
Three Kingdoms 37 BC-668 AD
Unified Silla dynasties 668-918 AD
Choson dynasty 1392-1910 AD

 

Dong Son tomb figure/ Historical Museum, Hanoi
VIETNAM
Dong-Son culture c.500-200 BC
Art & architecture from 12-19th C AD

 

Borobudur stupas
INDONESIA
Borobudur 8th C AD
Prambanan 10th C AD
 Special collection of Indonesian art, textiles and the art and architecture of Bali.

 

Portrait of the Maori chief  Raharuhi Rukupo/ National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington

 
AUSTRALASIA AND PACIFIC ISLANDS
Oceanic art
Pacific landscapes
Australian aborigine art.
Easter Island 1100-1500 AD
Comprehensive coverage of Maori art and artefacts
New Zealand landscapes.
 

  THE AMERICAS: ARCHAEOLOGY, SITES, ARCHITECTURE, ART AND ARTEFACTS

Drag float plug/ Alaska Museum of Eskimo Art
ARCTIC
Denbigh flints c.3000-2000 BC
Dorset culture 1000-800 BC
Old Bering Sea 200- 100 BC
Ipiutak before 500 AD Thule 1000-1300 AD
Comprehensive collection of post-contact Eskimo art and artefacts.

 

The Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde

         NORTH AMERICA

Clovis points 9000-7000 BC
Folsom points 8500-7000 BC
Danger Cave 8300BC-20 AD
Bison kills/jumps Prehistoric
Eastern Woodlands/Hopewell Cult 400BC-400 AD
Mississippian Southern Cult 700-1300 AD
Desert West/ Danger Cave, Utah 8300BC-20 AD
Fremont culture c.1000 AD
Southwest/ Mogollon, Hohokam, Sinagua & Mimbres cultures c.500-1200 AD
Anasazi culture/pueblo period
Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon,
Canyon de Chelly c.950-1600 AD
Athapascans Post-contact Apache/historical period
Great Plains Historical period after 17th C AD
Pacific NW Coast
Prehistoric stone tools
Comprehensive collection of Pacific Indian art and artefacts 18th - early 20th C AD.
Cultural Encounters - Exploration, Trade and Colonialism
 

  MESOAMERICA: ARCHAEOLOGY, SITES, ARCHITECTURE, ART AND ARTEFACTS

Stone warrior figures, Tula.
MEXICO
Olmecs c.1250-100 BC
Teotihuacan c.100 BC-700 AD
Totonacs c.500-900 AD
Toltecs c.700-900 AD
Zapotec c.500 BC-700 AD
Maya, Classic, Late & Post Classic c.250 AD-1300 AD
Aztecs c.1170-1450 AD
 

Burial mask/ Dallas Museum of Art
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
Colombia/Calima 1-1300 AD
Sinu 1100-1600 AD
Darien 900-1200 AD
Panama/ Cocle 800-1100 AD
Andean Civilizations
Chavin 850-400 BC
Paracas 600-200 BC
Moche/Mochica 0-700 AD
Nazca 0-700 AD
Tiahuanaco 700-900 AD
Huari 800-1000 AD
Sican 800-1450 AD
Chimu 1000-1476 AD
Chancay 1200-1400 AD
Inca 1430-1532 AD
Cultural Encounters - Exploration, Trade & Colonialism