Since the early years of the 19th century, when antiquarians were at a loss as to how to put archaeological finds and sites into any meaningful order (chronological or otherwise) we have progressed from using stratigraphy and typology to many more sophisticated methods of measuring time. It is the sheer ingenuity of many of these methods which is striking. They may appear obvious today, but at the time they represented substantial breakthroughs of methodology and put the study of the past on a sound (or sometimes controversial) chronological footing. Chronology is still a subject central to archaeology and the programme promises to be exciting.