Board Thread:Theories/@comment-26472215-20160222034906/@comment-24036697-20160301015109

GodKingReiss wrote: I've just recalled a detail from the manga that supports the idea that AOT takes place in a far future rather than in an alternate past.

In Chapter 44, Hange compares the Armored Titan's plated skin to plated armor used "in wars long ago". Hange appears to be describing European plate armor. Based on Isayama's illustration, she's specifically referring to the variety used in the 15th and 16th centuries, long after the 9th century.

It's unlikely that she's referring to any period of time of humanity's history within the walls, since the Interior Military Police Brigade was keeping heavy restrictions on technological progress and nearly everything we see in AOT is more advanced than early medieval technology. Good observation! I had forgotten about that scene.