Glossary · Dating

BCE / CE and BP

Stratum records years astronomically: negative for BCE, positive for CE, no year zero, and prints “8000–6000 BCE” or “100 BCE–50 CE”.

Stratum records years astronomically: negative for BCE, positive for CE, no year zero, and prints “8000–6000 BCE” or “100 BCE–50 CE”. BP (before present) counts back from 1950 and belongs to radiocarbon reports; convert before entering it.

Sources

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "BCE / CE and BP" (Glossary). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16. https://stratum.black/study/glossary/bce-ce. Accessed 2026-09-21.

@misc{stratum-bce-ce,
  title        = {BCE / CE and BP},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/glossary/bce-ce}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Glossary article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16; sources: stratum. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

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Sources for this article: Stratum editorial (Stratum editorial). As of 2026-09-16; Study pack 2026.09. Written by Stratum in our own words; the works cited are where the science lives, and none of their text is reproduced here.

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Stratum is the inventory, provenance and certificate system for fossil, mineral and shell collections. Study is its open reference: every fact cites its source, and the credits page lists each one with its licence.