The terms anno Domini (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord" but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", taken from the full original phrase "anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi", which translates to "in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ". The form "BC" is specific to English, and equivalent abbreviations are used in other languages: the Latin form, rarely used in English, is Ante Christum natum (ACN) or Ante Christum (AC).
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 1582 and 1923.
Stratigraphy is a key concept to modern archaeological theory and practice. Modern excavation techniques are based on stratigraphic principles. The concept derives from the geological use of the idea that sedimentation takes place according to uniform principles. When archaeological finds are below the surface of the ground, the identification of the context of each find is vital in enabling the archaeologist to draw conclusions about the site and about the nature and date of its occupation. It is the archaeologist's role to attempt to discover what contexts exist and how they came to be created. Archaeological stratification or sequence is the dynamic superimposition of single units of stratigraphy, or contexts.
The term ante Christum natum, usually abbreviated to a. Chr. n., a.Ch.n., a.C.n., A.C.N., or ACN, denotes the years before the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a Latin equivalent to the English "BC". The phrase ante Christum natum is also seen shortened to ante Christum, similarly abbreviated to a. Chr., A. C. or AC. A related phrase, p. Chr. n., p. Ch. n., or post Christum natum complements a. Ch. n. and is equivalent to Anno Domini (AD).
Notable Last Facts is a book published by the American librarian/writer William B. Brahms in 2004 and was the first relatively comprehensive collection of important lasts.
Absolute dating is the process of determining an age on a specified chronology in archaeology and geology. Some scientists prefer the terms chronometric or calendar dating, as use of the word "absolute" implies an unwarranted certainty of accuracy. Absolute dating provides a numerical age or range, in contrast with relative dating, which places events in order without any measure of the age between events.
Ballaios was an Illyrian king of the Ardiaei tribe. Attested only in coinage, Ballaios is considered as the predecessor of Agron. He is considered to have been a powerful and influential king as testified by the abundance of his silver and bronze coinage found along both coasts of the Adriatic. A hoard found in 2010 is one of the biggest hoards of ancient coins known, not only from Illyria. The capital of Ballaios' kingdom was Rhizon.
The old wood effect or old wood problem is a pitfall encountered in the archaeological technique of radiocarbon dating. A sample will provide misleading or confusing results if materials of different ages are deposited in the same context.
Elginhaugh Roman Fort was a Roman fort of the 1st century AD, located in Midlothian, Scotland.
The Chronica Naierensis or Crónica najerense was a late twelfth-century chronicle of universal history composed at the Benedictine monastery of Santa María la Real in Nájera. In Latin it narrates events from Creation to its own time, with a focus on the Bible, classical history, the Visigothic in Spain, and the kingdoms of Castile and León. It was an important model for later Spanish Latin historiographers, notably the De rebus Hispaniae of Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, the Chronicon mundi of Lucas de Tuy, and the Estoria de España of the patronage of Alfonso X of Castile.
The Korjenić-Neorić Armorial is a 1595 copy of the lost original of the Ohmučević Armorial commissioned by Petar Ohmučević, a Spanish admiral of Ragusan origin, at some point between 1584 and 1594. It is an example of the earliest ("Interconfessional") form of Illyrism, which formed the ideological basis for the later rise of South Slavic nationalism in Southeast Europe.
Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District of Belize. It is situated approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and 15 km (9.3 mi) from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau, at an elevation of 500 m (1,600 ft) above sea-level, in the foothills of the Maya Mountains. Long thought to be a tertiary center, it is now known that the site was one of the most important regional political centers of the Maya Lowlands during the Classic Period. Caracol covered approximately 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi), covering an area much larger than present-day Belize City, the largest metropolitan area in the country, and supported more than twice the modern city's population.
Chronological dating, or simply dating, is the process of attributing to an object or event a date in the past, allowing such object or event to be located in a previously established chronology. This usually requires what is commonly known as a "dating method". Several dating methods exist, depending on different criteria and techniques, and some very well known examples of disciplines using such techniques are, for example, history, archaeology, geology, paleontology, astronomy and even forensic science, since in the latter it is sometimes necessary to investigate the moment in the past during which the death of a cadaver occurred. These methods are typically identified as absolute, which involves a specified date or date range, or relative, which refers to dating which places artifacts or events on a timeline relative to other events and/or artifacts. Other markers can help place an artifact or event in a chronology, such as nearby writings and stratigraphic markers.
Gaius Minicius Fundanus was a Roman senator who held several offices in the Emperor's service, and was an acquaintance of Pliny the Younger. He was suffect consul in the nundinium of May to August 107 AD with Titus Vettennius Severus as his colleague. Fundanus is best known as being the recipient of an edict from the emperor Hadrian about conducting trials of Christians in his province.
Three extensive underground collective burial columbaria were discovered at Vigna Codini in the mid-nineteenth century, near the Aurelian Walls between the via Appia and via Latina in Rome, Italy. Although this area on the outskirts of Rome was traditionally used for elite burials, these columbaria that emerged in the Augustan era seem to have been reserved for non-aristocratic individuals, including former slaves. Not to be confused with the later phenomenon of catacomb inhumations, these subterranean chambers contained niches for cremation urns. The columbaria at Vigna Codini are among some of the largest in Rome.
Noumenios was a Seleucid general and satrap of the Province of Mesene, who is said to have defeated the Persians sometime in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. Pliny describes his ruler as being "Antiochos", but it is unknown if this is referring to Antiochos I, Antiochos II or Antiochos III, although the battle necessarily took place before 190-189 BCE, date of the Battle of Magnesia where Antiochos III was vanquished by the Romans. Alternatively, these events may have taken place during the reign of Antiochos IV.
The Valley of the Tombs is a necropolis at the west of Palmyra, Syria. It is one of the three necropoleis present around the ancient city. It is one kilometre long, and easily recognizable by its tower-tombs, among which the former towers of Atenatan, Kitot, Iamblichus and Elahbel where the earliest finds of silk were made and that were destroyed by ISIS in 2015.
Oratio ad Graecos is a short Christian apologetic treatise in Greek from the first half of the third century. It consists of five chapters in which the author describes his abhorrence of the ancient Greek religion and its immorality and justifies his decision to convert to Christianity. It ends with an appeal to his fellow Greeks to convert also. It was translated into Syriac before the seventh century.
