The Prehistory is the period in which the human beings appeared, about 5 million years BC and finishes with the invention of writing, about 3000 BC. It is a long period for the humankind, not so long in the existance of the Earth. The prehistory is divided in three ages: the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic Age. The term originally comes from the French 'Pré-historique', specially coined to describe the finds in caves in the South of France. It indicate the period before the invention of writing and later introducted into English in 1851 AD by Daniel Wilson.

The boundary for the dates can be disputed. Normally prehistory commence with the first use of stone tools by hominins (± 3,3 million yrs. BC). We chose to add the human-like beings to our prehistory. on this page. The Paleolithic starts about the use of stones by our ancestors.

For any culture, prehistory is the period from which no written sources have survived. We get everything we know from objects of use and art. For each culture, history starts at a different time, depending on when writing was introduced. For our regions, in Europe, prehistory lasted until ± 50 yrs. BC, the moment when Julius Caesar brought our forefathers into contact with writing. For general history, prehistory ended with the emergence of writing ± 3000 yrs. BC. in Egypt and Sumeria. Eventhough, earlier known writing systems appeared ± 5300 yrs. BC. It took thousands of years to be widely adopted.

Prehistoric man lived in caves or in tent camps. They hunted mammoths and reindeer for meat and hide. As a kind of preparation for the hunt, the first humans made drawings with soft rocks, charcoal and clay. The drawings were often about the hunt or a deceased person. Man was a hunter-gatherer and led a vagrant life. Gradually, he began to settle and establish settlements. Prehistory is followed by the History with the Ancient Age, at the origin of writing.