Do we use "early" or "late" to refer to the end of a decade in BCE?

So I'm writing an essay in which I want to refer to the years 483-480 BCE. Are these the late 480s or the early 480s? 83-80 are less than 89-84 in magnitude, but in BCE they are more recent than the latter period. So, is that period the late or early 480s?

Solution 1:

I don't know for sure, but I would say that later in time comes after earlier in time.

There 5 BCE is earlier in time than 1 BCE. 1 BCE is later in time than 5 BCE.

So I would say that 3-1 BCE is the later part of that decade (10-1 BCE).

I don't see how an instructor could mark me wrong if one time is later than another in chronology, not notation.