Historical terms classification to chronicle times: prehistoric,ancient, medieval, modern, etc
I know some words for describing times in history in English, but don't know to clearly make a distinction of them.
I classify them as the following in the order of time sequence:
the historical term after 'prehistoric times' is 'ancient times' that includes the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age in sequence, and the next is 'medieval times(=middle ages)', and the last is 'modern times'

I think there should be another term between medieval times and modern times because there's a term for indicating the times in my language, but don't know the exact term.
Do you say the period of transition to medieval times(=middle ages) to modern times as a way of indicating times between 'medieval times' and 'modern times'? If not, which term do you use? And I'm not sure whether or not 'ancient times' follows 'prehistoric times'. Is this classification correct?

Question

Historical terms classification to chronicle times: prehistoric,ancient, medieval, modern, etc 
I know some words for describing times in history in English, but don't know to clearly make a distinction of them.
I classify them as the following in the order of time sequence:
the historical term after 'prehistoric times' is 'ancient times' that includes the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age in sequence, and the next is 'medieval times(=middle ages)', and the last is 'modern times'

I think there should be another term between medieval times and modern times because there's a term for indicating the times in my language, but don't know the exact term.
Do you say the period of transition to medieval times(=middle ages) to modern times as a way of indicating times between 'medieval times' and 'modern times'? If not, which term do you use? And I'm not sure whether or not 'ancient times' follows 'prehistoric times'. Is this classification correct?

Answer

Yes, 'ancient times' comes after 'prehistoric times'. As a Westerner, I think of Ancient Greece and Rome when I hear the term 'ancient times'.

As far as I know, there is not a transition period between medieval times and modern times. If you want to refer to the 17th-century, for example, and are not sure how to classify it, you would simply specify that it is the 17th-century.

I hope this helped!

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