View source for Prehistory

{{short description|Span of time before recorded history}}
{{other uses}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
[[File:PSM V44 D647 Delineations on pieces of antler.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Engraved images of animals on [[antler]]]]
{{Human history and prehistory}}

'''Prehistory''', also called '''pre-literary history''',<ref>{{cite journal |date=1973 |title=Prehistory as a Kind of History |jstor=202691 |last1=McCall|first1=Daniel F. |last2=Struever|first2=Stuart |last3=Van Der Merwe|first3=Nicolaas J.|last4=Roe|first4=Derek |journal=[[Journal of Interdisciplinary History]] |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=733–739 |doi=10.2307/202691}}</ref> is the period of [[human history]] between the first known use of [[stone tool]]s by [[hominin]]s {{circa|3.3}}&nbsp;[[million years ago]] and the beginning of [[recorded history]] with the invention of [[writing system]]s. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared {{circa|5,200}} years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing having spread to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently. It is based on an old conception of history that without written records there could be no history. The most common conception today is that history is based on evidence, however the concept of prehistory has not been completely discarded.

In the early [[Bronze Age]], [[Sumer]] in [[Mesopotamia]], the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]], and [[ancient Egypt]] were the first civilizations to develop their own scripts and keep historical records, with their neighbours following. Most other civilizations reached their end of prehistory during the following [[Iron Age]]. The [[three-age system|three-age division]] of prehistory into [[Stone Age]], [[Bronze Age]], and [[Iron Age]] remains in use for much of [[Eurasia]] and [[North Africa]], but is not generally used in those parts of the world where [[metalworking|the working of hard metals]] arrived abruptly from contact with Eurasian cultures, such as [[Oceania]], [[Australasia]], much of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], and parts of the [[Americas]]. With some exceptions in [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian civilizations]] in the Americas, these areas did not develop writing systems before the arrival of Eurasians, so their prehistory reaches into relatively recent periods; for example, 1788 is usually taken as the end of the [[prehistory of Australia]].

The period when a culture is written about by others, but has not developed its own writing system, is often known as the [[protohistory]] of the culture. By definition,<ref>{{cite web|title=Cambridge Dictionary Entry: Prehistory|url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/prehistory|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|access-date=8 August 2017|archive-date=8 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808114821/http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/prehistory|url-status=live}}</ref> there are no written records from human prehistory, which can only be known from material [[Archaeology|archaeological]] and [[Anthropology|anthropological]] evidence: prehistoric materials and human remains. These were at first understood by the collection of [[folklore]] and by analogy with pre-literate societies observed in modern times. The key step to understanding prehistoric evidence is dating, and reliable dating techniques have developed steadily since the nineteenth century.<ref>Graslund, Bo. 1987. ''The birth of prehistoric chronology.'' Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.</ref> The most common of these dating techniques is [[radiocarbon dating]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Carbon Dating? {{!}} University of Chicago News |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/what-is-carbon-14-dating#:~:text=Radiocarbon%20dating,%20or%20carbon-14,of%20the%20carbon-14%20isotope. |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=news.uchicago.edu |language=en}}</ref> Further evidence has come from the reconstruction of [[Proto-language|ancient spoken languages]]. More recent techniques include forensic chemical analysis to reveal the use and provenance of materials, and genetic analysis of bones to determine kinship and physical characteristics of prehistoric peoples.

==Definition==
{{multiple image|caption_align=left
 | total_width       = 220
<!--image 1-->
 | image2            = Loewenmensch1.jpg
 | width2            = 800
 | height2           = 1405
 | alt2              =
 | link2             =
 | caption2          = [[Lion-man|Lion-Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel]], [[Aurignacian|Aurignacian culture]], {{circa}} 41,000 BP
<!--image 2-->
 | image3            = Floete Schwanenknochen Geissenkloesterle Blaubeuren.jpg
 | width3            = 600
 | height3           = 1000
 | alt3              =
 | link3             =
 | caption3          = [[Paleolithic flute|Bone flute]] from [[Geissenklösterle|Geißenklösterle]]. [[Aurignacian|Aurignacian culture]], 43,000–35,000 BC
}}
[[File:Göbekli Tepe, Urfa.jpg|thumb|Massive stone pillars at [[Göbekli Tepe]], in southeast Turkey, erected for ritual use by early [[Neolithic]] people 11,000 years ago]]
[[File:Prehistoric man.jpg|thumb|A nineteenth century concept of early humans in a wilderness]]

=== Beginning and end ===
The beginning of prehistory is normally taken to be marked by human-like beings appearing on Earth.<ref name="renfrew">Renfrew, Colin. 2008. ''Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind.'' New York: Modern Library</ref><ref name="fagan07">Fagan, Brian. (2007). ''World Prehistory: A brief introduction'' New York: Prentice-Hall, (Seventh ed.), Chapter One</ref> The date marking its end is typically defined as the advent of the contemporary [[List of languages by first written accounts|written historical]] record.<ref>{{Cite book|title=World Prehistory: A brief introduction|last=Fagan|first=Brian|date=2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-27910-5|edition=Ninth|location=London|page=8|oclc=958480847}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Forsythe |first=Gary |url=https://archive.org/details/criticalhistoryo0000fors/page/12/mode/2up |title=A critical history of early Rome: from prehistory to the first Punic War |date=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-94029-1 |location=Berkeley |page=12 |oclc=70728478 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Both dates consequently vary widely from region to region. For example, in [[Europe]]an regions, prehistory cannot begin before {{Circa|1.3}}&nbsp;million years ago, which is when the first signs of human presence have been found; however, [[Africa]] and [[Asia]] contain sites dated as early as {{Circa|2.5}} and 1.8&nbsp;million years ago, respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Menéndez |first=Mario |title=Prehistoria de la Península Ibérica: el progreso de la cognición, el mestizaje y las desigualdades durante más de un millón de años |publisher=Alianza Editorial |year=2019 |isbn=978-84-9181-602-7 |location=Madrid |page=25 |language=es-es |oclc=1120111673}}</ref> Depending on the date when relevant records become a useful academic resource,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Connah|first=Graham|date=11 May 2007|title=Historical Archaeology in Africa: An Appropriate Concept?|journal=African Archaeological Review|volume=24|issue=1–2|pages=35–40|doi=10.1007/s10437-007-9014-9|s2cid=161120240|issn=0263-0338}}</ref> its end date also varies. For example, in [[Egypt]] it is generally accepted that prehistory ended around 3100&nbsp;BCE, whereas in [[New Guinea]] the end of the prehistoric era is set much more recently, in the 1870s, when the Russian anthropologist [[Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai]] spent several years living among native peoples, and described their way of life in a comprehensive treatise. In Europe the relatively well-documented classical cultures of [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]] had neighbouring cultures, including the [[Celts]]<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/2021/2/9/viewing-the-ancient-celts-through-the-lens-of-greece-and-rome|title=Viewing the Ancient Celts through the Lens of Greece and Rome|date=9 February 2021|website=GHD}}</ref> and the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]], with little writing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/etla/hd_etla.htm|title=Etruscan Language and Inscriptions &#124; Essay &#124; The Metropolitan Museum of Art &#124; Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|first=Authors: Theresa|last=Huntsman|website=The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History}}</ref> Historians debate how much weight to give to the sometimes biased accounts of these protohistoric cultures found in Greek and Roman literature.<ref name="auto"/>

=== Time periods ===
{{Main|Three-age system|Geologic time scale}}
In dividing up human prehistory in Eurasia, historians typically use the three-age system, whereas scholars of pre-human time periods typically use the [[chronostratigraphy|well-defined]] [[geologic record]] and its internationally defined [[stratum]] base within the [[era (geology)|geologic time scale]]. The three-age system is the [[periodization]] of human prehistory into three consecutive [[time period]]s, named for their predominant tool-making technologies: [[Stone Age]], [[Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]].<ref name="Minds">{{cite book |editor-first=Matthew Daniel |editor-last=Eddy |title=Prehistoric Minds: Human Origins as a Cultural Artefact |date=2011 |publisher=Royal Society of London |url=https://www.academia.edu/3088568 |access-date=19 September 2014 |archive-date=1 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401103717/https://www.academia.edu/3088568/Prehistoric_Minds_Human_Origins_as_a_Cultural_Artefact_1780_2010_London_Royal_Society_of_London_2011_ |url-status=live }}</ref> In some areas, there is also a transition period between Stone Age and Bronze Age, the [[Chalcolithic]] or Copper Age.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chalcolithic {{!}} British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x13740 |access-date=6 March 2023 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306184555/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x13740 |url-status=live }}</ref>

For the prehistory of the Americas see [[Pre-Columbian era]].

===History of the term===
The notion of "prehistory" emerged during the Enlightenment in the work of antiquarians who used the word "primitive" to describe societies that existed before written records.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Eddy |first=Matthew Daniel |title=The Line of Reason: Hugh Blair, Spatiality and the Progressive Structure of Language |journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society |year=2011 |volume=65 |pages=9–24 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1112084 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.2010.0098 |s2cid=190700715 |access-date=2 February 2014 |archive-date=1 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401103717/https://www.academia.edu/1112084/_The_Line_of_Reason_Hugh_Blair_Spatiality_and_the_Progressive_Structure_of_Language_Notes_and_Records_of_the_Royal_Society_65_2011_9_24 |url-status=live }}</ref> The word "prehistory" first appeared in English in 1836 in the ''Foreign [[Quarterly Review]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Eddy|first=Matthew Daniel|title=The Prehistoric Mind as a Historical Artefact|journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society|year=2011|volume=65|pages=1–8|url=https://www.academia.edu/1130650|doi=10.1098/rsnr.2010.0097|doi-access=free|access-date=2 February 2014|archive-date=1 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401103717/https://www.academia.edu/1130650/The_Prehistoric_Mind_as_a_Historical_Artefact_Notes_and_Records_of_the_Royal_Society_65_2011_1_8|url-status=live}}</ref>

The geologic time scale for pre-human time periods, and the [[three-age system]] for human prehistory, were systematised during the nineteenth century in the work of British, French, German, and Scandinavian [[Anthropology|anthropologists]], [[Archaeology|archaeologists]], and [[antiquarian]]s.<ref name=Invention>
{{cite book
|title=The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human Origins
|first=Stefanos
|last=Geroulanos
|date=2024
|publisher=[[Boni %26 Liveright#More recent developments|Liveright Publishing Corporation]]
|location=New York
|chapter=Chapter 4: Humanity, Divided by Three
|pages=63–72
|url={{GBurl|qQjHEAAAQBAJ|p=1845}}
|isbn=978-1-324-09145-5
}} [https://search.worldcat.org/title/1379265149 OCLC 1379265149].</ref><ref name="Minds"/> An old conception of history is that without written records there could be no history. The most common conception today is that history is based on evidence, however the concept of prehistory has not been completely discarded.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McCall |first=Daniel |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/writing-african-history/FB32EABC860F3200AE367888F9205353?pageNum=1&searchWithinIds=FB32EABC860F3200AE367888F9205353&productType=BOOK_PART&searchWithinIds=FB32EABC860F3200AE367888F9205353&productType=BOOK_PART&sort=mtdMetadata.bookPartMeta._mtdPositionSortable:asc&pageSize=30&template=cambridge-core/book/contents/listings&ignoreExclusions=true |title=Writing African History |date=2005 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=978-1-58046-164-1 |editor-last=Philips |editor-first=John Edward |series=Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora |chapter=Introduction}}</ref>{{rp|page=1}}

==Means of research==
The main source of information for prehistory is archaeology (a branch of anthropology), but some scholars are beginning to make more use of evidence from the natural and social sciences.<ref name="Iberia">The Prehistory of Iberia: Debating Early Social Stratification and the State edited by María Cruz Berrocal, Leonardo García Sanjuán, Antonio Gilman. Pg 36.</ref><ref name="Edge">''Historical Archaeology: Back from the Edge''. Edited by Pedro Paulo A. Funari, Martin Hall, Sian Jones. p. 8.ISBN 9780415518888</ref><ref name="Pal">''Through the Ages in Palestinian Archaeology: An Introductory Handbook''. By Walter E. Ras. p. 49.ISBN 9781563380556</ref>

The primary researchers into human prehistory are archaeologists and [[Physical anthropology|physical anthropologists]] who use excavation, geologic and geographic surveys, and other scientific analysis to reveal and interpret the nature and behavior of pre-literate and non-literate peoples.<ref name="fagan07"/> Human population [[geneticists]] and [[historical linguistics|historical linguists]] are also providing valuable insight.<ref name="renfrew"/> Cultural anthropologists help provide context for societal interactions, by which objects of human origin pass among people, allowing an analysis of any article that arises in a human prehistoric context.<ref name="renfrew"/> Therefore, data about prehistory is provided by a wide variety of natural and social sciences, such as [[anthropology]], [[archaeology]], [[archaeoastronomy]], [[comparative linguistics]], [[biology]], [[geology]], [[molecular genetics]], [[paleontology]], [[palynology]], [[physical anthropology]], and many others.

Human prehistory differs from history not only in terms of its [[chronology]], but in the way it deals with the activities of [[archaeological culture]]s rather than named [[nation]]s or [[individual]]s. Restricted to material processes, remains, and artefacts rather than written records, prehistory is anonymous. Because of this, reference terms that prehistorians use, such as "[[Neanderthal]]" or "[[Iron Age]]", are modern labels with definitions sometimes subject to debate.

== Stone Age ==
{{Main|Stone Age}}
The concept of a "Stone Age" is found useful in the archaeology of most of the world, although in the [[archaeology of the Americas]] it is called by different names and begins with a [[Lithic stage]], or sometimes [[Paleo-Indians|Paleo-Indian]]. The sub-divisions described below are used for Eurasia, and not consistently across the whole area.

=== Palaeolithic ===
[[File:Spreading homo sapiens la.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|Successive dispersals of {{color box|#e8e22c}} ''[[Homo erectus]]'' (yellow), {{color box|#e4ca30}} ''[[Neanderthal|Homo neanderthalensis]]'' (ochre) during ''[[Out of Africa I]]'' and {{color box|#e9252c}} ''[[Human|Homo sapiens]]'' (red, ''[[Out of Africa II]]''), with the numbers of years since they appeared ''[[before present]]''.]]

"Palaeolithic" means "Old Stone Age", and begins with the first use of [[stone tool]]s. The Paleolithic is the earliest period of the [[Stone Age]]. It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools by [[Hominini|hominins]] {{circa|3.3}}&nbsp;million years ago, to the end of the [[Pleistocene]] {{circa|11,650}}&nbsp;[[Before Present|BP]] (before the present period).<ref name="Thoth&Schick">{{cite book |chapter= Overview of Paleolithic Anthropology | doi= 10.1007/978-3-540-33761-4_64 |title= Handbook of Paleoanthropology|pages= 1943–1963|year= 2007 |last1= Toth |first1= Nicholas |last2= Schick |first2= Kathy |isbn= 978-3-540-32474-4 |editor1-last= Henke |editor1-first= H. C. Winfried |editor2-last= Hardt |editor2-first= Thorolf |editor3-last= Tatersall |editor3-first= Ian |volume= 3 |location= Berlin; Heidelberg; New York |publisher= Springer }}</ref>

The early part of the Palaeolithic is called the [[Lower Paleolithic]] (as in excavations it appears underneath the Upper Paleolithic), beginning with the earliest stone tools dated to around 3.3&nbsp;million years ago at the [[Lomekwi]] site in Kenya.<ref name="Harmand">{{cite journal|last1=Harmand|first1=Sonia|title=3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya|journal=Nature|date=2015|volume=521|issue=7552|pages=310–315|doi=10.1038/nature14464|display-authors=etal|pmid=25993961|bibcode=2015Natur.521..310H|s2cid=1207285|url=https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8697F75/download|access-date=31 May 2022|archive-date=9 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009162117/https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8697F75/download|url-status=live}}</ref> These tools predate the genus ''Homo'' and were probably used by ''[[Kenyanthropus]]''.<ref>Harmand et al., 2015, p. 315.</ref> Evidence of [[Control of fire by early humans|control of fire]] by early hominins during the Lower Palaeolithic Era is uncertain and has at best limited scholarly support. The most widely accepted claim is that ''H. erectus'' or ''[[Homo ergaster|H. ergaster]]'' made fires between 790,000 and 690,000&nbsp;BP in a site at [[Bnot Ya'akov Bridge]], [[Israel]]. The use of fire enabled early humans to cook food, provide warmth, have a light source, deter animals at night and meditate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/early-human-fire-natural-environment/|title=How Early Humans Shaped the World With Fire|date=28 May 2021|website=SAPIENS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/fire-good-make-human-inspiration-happen-132494650/|title=Fire Good. Make Human Inspiration Happen.|first=Smithsonian|last=Magazine|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

[[Early Homo sapiens|Early ''Homo sapiens'']] originated some 300,000 years ago,<ref name="Irhoud">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hublin JJ, Ben-Ncer A, Bailey SE, Freidline SE, Neubauer S, Skinner MM, Bergmann I, Le Cabec A, Benazzi S, Harvati K, Gunz P | display-authors = 6 | title = New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens | journal = Nature | volume = 546 | issue = 7657 | pages = 289–292 | date = June 2017 | pmid = 28593953 | doi = 10.1038/nature22336 | bibcode = 2017Natur.546..289H | s2cid = 256771372 | url = https://kar.kent.ac.uk/62267/1/Submission_288356_1_art_file_2637492_j96j1b.pdf | access-date = 27 July 2022 | archive-date = 8 January 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200108234003/ht