This article presents a study of how groups of 7-year-old pupils in a Swedish primary school with little or no experience of history education expressed historical consciousness. The results of the study show that a perception of linear time where the past is seen as distinct and separated from the present is a key characteristic among the children that showed indication of historical consciousness. These results suggest a view of historical consciousness as something individuals may develop, rather than something that is innately human and anthropologically universal, and that a focus on the fostering of a perception of linear time and the epistemological challenges this poses, may be key in enabling and developing children’s historical consciousness. © Wochenschau Verlag, Frankfurt/M.