DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

SCHOOL OF ARTS
2022/2023 ACADEMIC YEAR
HIST 211: HISTORIOGRAPIIY (3 CREDITS)
Lecturer: Prof. Nicodemus Fru AWASOM, PhD

NOTES

What do you understand by Periodisation in History?

The past of humanity is very vast. How can we study it as historians? We can study
the past conveniently by partitioning it into periods that share characteristics or a
common denominator. Periodization therefore refers to the purposeful sequencing
of the past into smaller, distinct periods, each with their own characteristics and
focus, to make it possible to study each compartment or period. Periodisation is the
process of compartmentalising, partitioning, dividing, or categorising the past into
discrete, quantified and named blocks of time or period. Human history is periodised
in order to facilitate the study and analysis of historical processes and developments.
Historians took an interest in compartmentalising (partitioning) the past to facilitate
the study of history. One of the ways of periodising or compartmentalising history
was in terms of human civilization and development but there are other ways of
periodizing history. Historians therefore basically employed many kinds of
periodisation to compartmentalise or partition time to think about history. Let us
restrict ourselves to broad European and African periodization of history.

Examples of periodisation in History.

This is just one way of periodizing African and European history.

A, AFRICAN HISTORY. The African past can be periodised as follows:

1. The Prehistory Period
2. The Period of African State Formation and African Glory
3. The Era of Encounter with Europeans from 1450 to 1884
4. The Colonial Phase
 5. The Post-Colonial Period (or the Independence Era)

B. EUROPEAN HISTORY. European history cn be periodised as follows:

1. Classical Antiquity
2. The Middle Ages
3. Modern Times
4. Contemporary Times

The historical experiences of Africa and Europe are different. Consequently, the
periodisation of African and European history cannot be the same.