Prehistory
(or
pre-history
) is the time before people began to
write
. The word comes from the
Ancient Greek
words προ (
pre
= "before") and ιστορ?α (
historia
= "
history
"). Paul Tournal first used the
French
word
Prehistorique
. He found things made by humans more than ten thousand years ago in some caves in
France
. The word was first used in France around 1830 to talk about the time before writing. Daniel Wilson used it in
English
in 1851.
The term is mostly used for the period from 4.5 billion
BC
? 3000 BC, roughly speaking, the
Neolithic
. Sometimes the term "prehistoric" is used for much older periods, but scientists have more accurate terms for those more ancient times.
Less is known about prehistoric people because there are no written records (history) for us to study. Finding out about pre-history is done by
archaeology
. This means studying things like tools, bones, buildings and
cave drawings
. Pre-history ends at different times in different places when people began to write.
In the more ancient
stone age
pre-history, people lived in
tribes
and lived in caves or
tents
made from animal skin. They had simple tools made from wood and bones, and cutting tools
from stone
such as
flint
, which they used to hunt and to make simple things. They made fire and used it for
cooking
and to stay warm. They made
clothing
out of animal skins, and later by
weaving
.
Society
started when people began doing specialized jobs. This is called the
division of labour
. The division of labor made people depend on one another and led to more complex
civilizations
.
Some important
sciences
that are used to find out more about pre-history are
palaeontology
,
astronomy
,
biology
,
geology
,
anthropology
, and
archaeology
. Archaeologists study things left over from prehistory to try to understand what was happening. Anthropologists study the traces of human behavior to learn what people were doing and why.
After people started to record events, first by drawing symbols (called
pictographs
) and then by writing, it became much easier to tell what happened, and history started. These records can tell us the names of leaders (such as
Kings
and Queens), important events like floods and wars, and the things people did in their daily lives. The time when
prehistory
ended and
history
started is different in different places, depending on when people began to write and if their records were kept safe or lost so they could be found later on. In places like
Mesopotamia
,
China
, and
Ancient Egypt
, things were recorded from very early times (around 3200 BC in Ancient Egypt) and these records can be looked at and studied. In
New Guinea
, the end of prehistory came much later, around 1900.
- 4.5 billion years ago ? Earth formed out of smaller rocks flying around the sun
- 3,500 million years ago ? first very simple and tiny forms of life in the seas
- 600 million years ago - first animals, also in the seas
- 500 million years ago - first plants and animals on land
- 230 million years ago ? first dinosaurs appear
- 65 million years ago ? dinosaurs disappear; mammals take their place as dominant animals
- 30 million years ago - first apes
- 2.5 million years ago - first humans
- 2.5 million years ago ? Start of Lower
Palaeolithic
age, during which a type of early pre-human called
Australopithecus
lived. These people made
tools
out of bones and stones and made shelters out of branches.
- 1 million years ago ? A type of early human called
Homo erectus
lived. People made
hand axes
and wooden spears.
- 250,000 years ago ? First
Homo sapiens
(modern people). People make fire. People use
bolas
. People hunt elephants.
- 100,000 years ago ? Middle Palaeolithic age.
Neanderthal
people lived. People live in caves and make
cave drawings
. People begin to bury dead people.
- 40,000 years ago ? Upper Palaeolithic age.
Cro-Magnon
people lived. People make spears from antlers. People make houses from hides (animal skins). People paint
cave drawings
and make things out of clay. People make needles out of antlers. People make jewellery.
- 10,000 years ago ? The last
Ice age
ends.
- 10,000 BC ? 4000 BC ?
Mesolithic
age. In North-west
Europe
people make
bows and arrows
. People use dogs to hunt and to carry things.
- 9,000 BC ?
Neolithic
age. People in the
Near East
start to change from hunting and gathering food to growing crops and using farm animals.
- 7,000 BC ? People in South-west Europe begin using
copper
to make tools.
- 6,000 BC ?
British Isles
move away from
Europe
.
- 2,580 BC ? The
Egyptians
build the
Great Pyramids
in
Giza
. People in the
Middle East
use iron and make plows.
- 2,400 BC ? People make
Stonehenge
in England.
- 3,300 BC ? 1,200 BC ? Bronze Age (in Britain). People make tools out of
bronze
.
- 1,200 BC ? 400 AD ? Iron Age (in Britain). People make tools out of
iron
.
Roman Empire
rises and falls.