Editing Chronology (section)

==Prehistory==
While of critical importance to the historian, methods of determining chronology are used in most disciplines of science, especially [[astronomy]], [[geology]], [[paleontology]] and [[archaeology]].

In the absence of [[written history]], with its [[chronicle]]s and [[:Category:Regnal lists|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. This method of dating is known as [[Seriation (archaeology)|seriation]].

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 artifacts 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 artifacts to be placed into sequences.<ref>{{cite book | last =Greene | first =Kevin | title =Archaeology : An Introduction | publisher =University of Newcastle Upon Tyne | date =November 2007 | pages =Chapter 4 | url =http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/kevin.greene/wintro/chap4.htm | access-date =2008-01-04 | no-pp =true | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20050329085720/http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/kevin.greene/wintro/chap4.htm | archive-date =2005-03-29 | url-status =dead }}</ref>

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.