The period of history before written records were kept. Ends with the Roman colonisation of Britain.
The period of human history before the advent of written records. In the British Isles this comprises the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and all but the later parts of the Iron Age which were described by the Romans.
time before writing was invented; all Native American cultures found archaeologically in California are considered prehistoric because they left no written records. Sites occupied by Native Americans during the period after the Spanish arrived are considered protohistoric (of the early historic period) when they contain non-native historic artifacts, such as trade beads, ceramics or metal items.
The time before which there are no historical records, either in writing or by oral tradition. Which time that is depends on where you are. Mesopotamia and Egypt had writing already ca 3000 BC, while other civilizations relied on just oral tradition until the 19th century.
Prehistoric is usually taken to mean the time period before writing. In this country this is before the Roman conquest, which began in 43 AD.
the period of human history before the invention of writing
The period of human experience prior to written records; in the Americas prehistory refers to the period before Europeans and their writing systems arrived, covering at least 12,000 years.
Prehistory (Latin word præ = before and Greek word στοÏία = history) is a term often used to describe the period before written history. Paul Tournal originally coined the term Pré-historique in describing the finds he had made in the caves of southern France. It came into use in French in the 1830s to describe the time before writing, and was introduced into English by Daniel Wilson in 1851.
