“New Kingdom,” “18th Dynasty,” “reign of Amenhotep III” and a calendar range can overlap without being interchangeable.
Read the unit before the number.
A ruler’s reign is a political chronology; a dynasty is a historical grouping; a century is a calendar interval; an archaeological phase may be defined by material patterns. Each carries different assumptions.
A narrow range is not automatically more reliable. It may depend on a contested reign chronology, while a broader range honestly represents the evidence.
Dates are assembled.
Find context can establish relative sequence. Inscriptions can name a ruler or office. Style and typology compare forms. Radiocarbon and other scientific methods provide measured ranges with uncertainty. None should be reduced to “the museum guessed.”
Manufacture is only T₁.
An object can be made, used, repaired, reinscribed, deposited, excavated, conserved and displayed at different times. The label usually foregrounds the date most relevant to classification.
- Manufacture: material becomes the object.
- Use: wear and social function accumulate.
- Deposition: burial, discard or loss creates context.
- Discovery: excavation begins a documented modern history.
- Display: new neighbours produce a present interpretation.
A changed date can be progress.
New parallels, re-read inscriptions or scientific analysis can revise attribution. Record the inventory number, source date and qualifier rather than averaging two ranges or choosing the more precise one.
Research note
Object dating combines relative and absolute methods. The correct citation includes the evidence basis and source revision date where available.