Should we still use the term 'The Dark Ages'

[Mark G]

Is this why we still can't date the pharaohs accurately?

[Justin Swanton]

Interesting perspective! I always thought that its adoption was intended to do the opposite by not 'forcing' other cultures and religions to use the Christian nomenclature.

That always amused me. I'm waiting for people of that persuasion to start violently objecting to the obligatory honouring of the goddess Diana and the gods Tiwes, Woden, Thor, Frea (another goddess), Saturn and Sol Invictus, on a weekly basis to boot. Very offensive. No? Anyone?

[RichT]

At some point, when you have time, I suppose you will review the Slingshot guidelines on the website to ensure they fit ?

I suppose I will! Guidelines are here: https://soa.org.uk/joomla/advice-to-contributors

There is no mention of dates and there doesn't really need to be - do what you like! But - be consistent! To be fair it almost all is - I just happened to spot this case.

If anyone goes crazy with their dating, 'the editor reserves the right' to put it right. So there.

[Imperial Dave]

Well said lol....

[Erpingham]

Interesting perspective! I always thought that its adoption was intended to do the opposite by not 'forcing' other cultures and religions to use the Christian nomenclature.

That always amused me. I'm waiting for people of that persuasion to start violently objecting to the obligatory honouring of the goddess Diana and the gods Tiwes, Woden, Thor, Frea (another goddess), Saturn and Sol Invictus, on a weekly basis to boot. Very offensive. No? Anyone?

I think it is only fair to say that different cultures are allowed their own names of days of the week.  We are, however, perhaps losing the original point about historical periods and their nomenclature?

[Jim Webster]

I think it is only fair to say that different cultures are allowed their own names of days of the week.  We are, however, perhaps losing the original point about historical periods and their nomenclature?

I think one thing we're seeing is the argument made that calendars, eras and days of the week are cultural or even political artefacts. The start date for an era is a cultural/political decision. The number of days in the week is also not fixed, so the French revolutionary calendar had  twelve 30-day months, each divided into three 10-day cycles similar to weeks, plus five or six intercalary days at the end. South American calendars were also different.
We currently use an entirely different era simultaneously. BP, "BP is a unit of measurement that indicates how many years ago an event occurred relative to the start of practical radiocarbon dating in 1950."
At some point they will either have to change the date of 1950 or we will start seeing dates given AP for finds found that are dated after 1950.

[Erpingham]

Nothing wrong with an arbitrary start to a dating system but BP is a one that needs renaming. The further we get from 1950, the more risk of confusion occurs.

[Jim Webster]

Nothing wrong with an arbitrary start to a dating system but BP is a one that needs renaming. The further we get from 1950, the more risk of confusion occurs.

Don't worry, in a century or two's time when we're using AP as well, virtually nobody will remember what the letters stand for 

[RichT]

I guess that BP is based on the premise that the dates are long enough ago that they aren't going to need to change for the foreseeable future as the passage of time falls within the existing margin of error. Dating the modern human presence in Europe to 60,000 BP is fine. Dating the Battle of Waterloo to 210 BP would be madness.

Though reading about prehistory you do encounter the slightly awkward transition from the paleontologists' 5000 BP to the archaeologists 3000 BC(E) which can be confusing. Ah what's to be done?

[RichT]

Don't worry, in a century or two's time when we're using AP as well, virtually nobody will remember what the letters stand for 

I have always felt that changing what the letters stand for is so much better a solution than changing the letters. For example:

BC = 'Before' Chronology
AD = 'After' Dating

Then everyone is happy.

[Justin Swanton]

The idea was mooted some time ago that everyone should choose something that each culture has in common and base dating on that. We all agreed (I think) that there's one thing every society likes doing and that's clobbering other societies on the head. Warfare is the great common denominator of humanity.

The SoA is the only organisation in the world that specifically deals with warfare throughout human history so why not start a dating system from the Society's foundation, i.e. 1965? Which by happy coincidence is the year of my birth    (heck, I'll be a senior citizen in a few months  ).

[Jim Webster]

The SoA is the only organisation in the world that specifically deals with warfare throughout human history so why not start a dating system from the Society's foundation, i.e. 1965? Which by happy coincidence is the year of my birth    (heck, I'll be a senior citizen in a few months  ).

In all candour, the kid has suggested something no more unreasonable than any other system in use 

[Justin Swanton]

To refine things, we could speak of pre-1965 as Ante Juditium Societatis (before the jurisdiction/authority of the Society), and post-1965 as Post Juditium Societatis (after the jurisdiction/authority of the Society). AJS and PJS. One tries to be helpful.