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here are no written records from human prehistory which can only be known from material archaeological and 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 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 3 the word prehistory first appeared in english in 1836 in the foreign quarterly review 4 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 anthropologists archaeologists and antiquarians 5 6 an early conception of prehistory arose suggesting that without written records there could be no history and no way to speak meaningfully about the people who left behind no writing the most common conception today is that history is based on a wide range of evidence and while some historians have been uncomfortable with using prehistory as a term the concept of prehistory has been questioned but not discarded archaeologist in particular view the term as a meaningful and necessary distinction of the type of work they do and the stories they can convey about the past 7 1 means of research the main source of information for prehistory is the archaeological record frequently studied in context with research from other disciplines such as the natural sciences 8 9 10 the primary researchers into human prehistory are anthropologists archaeologists and 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 11 human population geneticists and historical linguists are also providing valuable insight 12 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 12 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 the key step to understanding prehistoric evidence is dating and reliable dating techniques have developed steadily since the nineteenth century 13 the most common of these dating techniques is radiocarbon dating 14 further evidence has come from the reconstruction of 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 lion man of hohlenstein stadel aurignacian culture c 41 000 bp bone flute from geißenklösterle aurignacian culture 43 000 35 000 bc massive stone pillars at göbekli tepe in southeast turkey erected for ritual use by early neolithic people 11 000 years ago 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 12 11 the date marking its end is typically defined as the advent of the contemporary written historical record 15 16 both dates consequently vary widely from region to region for example african prehistory begins c 2 5 million years ago while prehistoric asia date back to 1 8 million years ago and european prehistory begins c 1 3 million years ago upon the first arrival of humans to the region 17 depending on the date when relevant records become a useful academic resource 18 its end date also varies for example in egypt it is generally accepted that prehistory ended around 3100 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 19 and the etruscans with little writing 20 historians debate how much weight to give to the sometimes biased accounts of these protohistoric cultures found in greek and roman literature 19 time periods main articles three age system and 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 well defined geologic record and its internationally defined stratum base within the geologic time scale the three age system is the periodization of human prehistory into three consecutive time periods named for their predominant tool making technologies stone age bronze age and iron age 6 in some areas there is also a transition period between stone age and bronze age the chalcolithic or copper age 21 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 neighbors following most other civilizations reached their end of prehistory during the following iron age the 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 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 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 for the prehistory of the americas see pre columbian era stone age main article 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 indian the sub divisions described below are used for eurasia and not consistently across the whole area the period lasted for roughly 3 4 million years and ended between 4000 bc and 2000 bc with the advent of metalworking it was followed by the copper age then the bronze age because of its enormous timescale the stone age encompasses 99 of human history palaeolithic main article paleolithic successive dispersals of homo erectus yellow homo neanderthalensis ochre during out of africa i and 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 tools the paleolithic is the earliest period of the stone age it extends from the earliest known use of stone tools by hominins c 3 3 million years ago to the end of the pleistocene c 11 650 bp before the present period 22 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 million years ago at the lomekwi site in kenya 23 these tools predate the genus homo and were probably used by kenyanthropus 24 evidence of 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 h ergaster made fires between 790 000 and 690 000 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 25 26 early homo sapiens originated some 300 000 years ago 27 ushering in the middle palaeolithic anatomic changes indicating modern language capacity also arise during the middle palaeolithic 28 during the middle palaeolithic era there is the first definitive evidence of human use of fire sites in zambia have charred logs charcoal and carbonized plants that have been dated to 180 000 bp 29 the systematic burial of the dead music prehistoric art and the use of increasingly sophisticated multi part tools are highlights of the middle paleolithic the upper paleolithic extends from 50 000 and 12 000 years ago with the first organized settlements and blossoming of artistic work throughout the palaeolithic humans generally lived as nomadic hunter gatherers hunter gatherer societies tended to be very small and egalitarian 30 although hunter gatherer societies with abundant resources or advanced food storage techniques sometimes developed sedentary lifestyles with complex social structures such as chiefdoms 31 and social stratification long distance contacts may have been established as in the case of indigenous australian highways known as songlines 32 mesolithic main article mesolithic dugout canoe the mesolithic or middle stone age from the greek mesos middle and lithos stone was a period in the development of human technology between the palaeolithic and neolithic the mesolithic period began with the retreat of glaciers at the end of the pleistocene epoch some 10 000 bp and ended with the introduction of agriculture the date of which varied by geographic region in some areas such as the near east agriculture was already underway by the end of the pleistocene and there the mesolithic is short and poorly defined in areas with limited glacial impact the term epipalaeolithic is preferred 33 regions that experienced greater environmental effects as the last ice age ended have a much more evident mesolithic era lasting millennia in northern europe societies were able to live well on rich food supplies from the marshlands fostered by the warmer climate such conditions produced distinctive human behaviours that are preserved in the material record such as the maglemosian and azilian cultures these conditions also delayed the coming of the neolithic until as late as 4000 bce 6 000 bp in northern europe remains from this period are few and far between often limited to middens in forested areas the first signs of deforestation have been found although this would only begin in earnest during the neolithic when more space was needed for agriculture the mesolithic is characterized in most areas by small composite flint tools microliths and microburins fishing tackle stone adzes and wooden objects such as canoes and bows have been found at some sites these technologies first occur in africa associated with the azilian cultures before spreading to europe through the iberomaurusian culture of northern africa and the kebaran culture of the levant however independent discovery is not ruled out neolithic main article neolithic entrance to the ġgantija phase temple complex of ħaġar qim malta 3900 bce 34 an array of neolithic artefacts including bracelets axe heads chisels and polishing tools neolithic stone artefacts are by definition polished and except for specialty items not chipped the neolithic period meaning new stone age began around 10 200 bce in some regions of the middle east or later in other parts of the world 35 and ended between 4 500 and 2 000 bce although there were several species of humans during the paleolithic by the neolithic only homo sapiens sapiens remained 36 this was a period of technological and social developments which established most of the basic elements of historical cultures such as the domestication of crops and animals and the establishment of permanent settlements and early chiefdoms the era commenced with the beginning of farming which produced the neolithic revolution it ended when metal tools became widespread in the copper age or bronze age or in some geographical regions in the iron age the term neolithic is commonly used in the old world its application to cultures in the americas and oceania is complicated by the fact that standard progression from stone to metal tools as seen in the old world does not neatly apply 37 early neolithic farming was limited to a narrow range of plants both wild and domesticated which included einkorn wheat millet and spelt and the keeping of dogs sheep and goats by about 6 900 6 400 bce it included domesticated cattle and pigs the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements and the use of pottery the neolithic period saw the development of early villages agriculture animal domestication tools and the onset of the earliest recorded incidents of warfare 38 the monumental building at luni sul mignone in blera italy 3500 bce settlements became more permanent some with circular houses made of mudbrick with a single room these settlements may have a surrounding stone wall to keep domesticated animals in and hostile tribes out later settlements have rectangular mud brick houses in which families lived in single or multiple rooms burial findings suggest an ancestor cult with preserved skulls of the dead the vinča culture may have created the earliest system of writing 39 the megalithic temple complexes of ġgantija are notable for their gigantic structures although some late eurasian neolithic societies formed complex stratified chiefdoms or even states states evolved in eurasia only with the rise of metallurgy and most neolithic societies on the whole were relatively simple and egalitarian 40 most clothing appears to have been made of animal skins as indicated by finds of large numbers of bone and antler pins which are ideal for fastening leather wool cloth and linen might have become available during the later neolithic 41 42 as suggested by finds of perforated stones that depending on size may have served as spindle whorls or loom weights 43 44 45 chalcolithic main article chalcolithic artist s impression of a copper age walled city los millares iberia in old world archaeology the chalcolithic eneolithic or copper age refers to a transitional period where early copper metallurgy appeared alongside the widespread use of stone tools during this period some weapons and tools were made of copper this period was still largely neolithic in character it is a phase of the bronze age before it was discovered that adding tin to copper formed the harder bronze the copper age is seen as a transition period between the stone age and bronze age 46 chalcolithic copper mine in timna valley negev desert israel an archaeological site in serbia contains the oldest securely dated evidence of copper making at high temperature from 7 500 years ago the find in 2010 extends the known record of copper smelting by about 800 years and suggests that copper smelting may have been invented independently i...