![[Jebens,_Adolf_-_Leopold_von_Ranke_(detail)_-_1875.jpg]] *Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886), the father of source-based history.* There was roughly a millennium from the collapse of the Bronze Age through the period just before the start of the "Common Era" on our calendars. For many of the first modern historians (the modern profession of History began in Germany in the second half of the 19th century), this was the earliest period they considered legitimately "historical"; because this was the period during which lots of written records became available they could use as their sources. As we get closer to the present, of course, the number of written records grows exponentially. Due to that wealth of documents, as we get closer to our own times, we will "slow down" and consider shorter periods of time each week. In a sense, this chapter is a sort-of transition from moving very quickly and taking a very "50,000 foot view", to zooming in on the details. This made the chapter extra challenging to write. And longer. After the collapse, not all of the civilizations that had existed in the Bronze Age ceased to exist. As I mentioned previously, several places didn't even have a collapse at all; so cultures in China, India, and the Americas continued growing and changing. In the Mediterranean world, some new societies emerged in places that had been hard hit by famine or invasion. Other regions like Egypt and Mesopotamia saw a change in dynasties or ruling cities, but things probably didn't change that much for regular people. One note: You may have noticed I've been describing things so far as having happened a certain number of years ago. I've said things like "the Bronze Age Collapse happened about 3,200 years ago" instead of "it happened around 1200 BCE." The reason for this is that I wanted to remind you of how long ago the events really were. There's an unconscious tendency, I think, *not to add* the 2,000 years of the Common Era when we think about this, and this can cause us to not appreciate the ancientness. However, as we enter this fully-historical period on either side of the BCE-CE shift, I'm going to start using those designations. Sometimes I might also remind you of how long ago that is, in parentheses. ----- Next: [[5.2 - Dorians]]