The Three Ages, the worldwide epochs of prehistory, made it easier to imagine other epochs that transcended city, region, or nation. By defining latitudes of history, man had enlarged his view of the world’s past and present. The invention of grand historical “Eras,” “Epochs,” or “Ages” which overreached political bounds would provide time receptacles ample enough to include the whole data of past communities of culture, yet small enough for persuasive definition. Few other concepts have done so much to deprovincialize man’s thinking.
