Prehistory

~6 mins

Prehistory means the stretch of human existence before writing was invented. The term comes from the Latin prefix "pre-" meaning "before" and the Greek word "historia" meaning "inquiry" or "knowledge acquired by investigation." Writing systems like cuneiform in Mesopotamia (around 3200 BC) mark the beginning of history, but humans had already lived, hunted, farmed, and made art for tens of thousands of years. Prehistory is studied through archaeology (the study of material remains) and anthropology (the study of human cultures).

1) The Stone Age is the earliest and longest era of prehistory, divided into the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), and Neolithic (New Stone Age). Tools and lifestyles changed across these stages, shaping how humans survived and advanced. The Palaeolithic stretches from about 2.5 million years ago to around 10,000 BC, when early humans like Homo habilis and Homo erectus used chipped stone tools to cut meat and scrape hides. These were simple but crucial for survival.

Related: Stone Age | Palaeolithic | Homo erectus

2) Fire was one of the most transformative discoveries. Evidence shows Homo erectus controlled fire around 1 million years ago. Fire provided warmth, protection, a way to cook food, and a gathering point for social life. Cooking made food easier to digest and gave humans more energy. This discovery allowed humans to expand into colder climates and develop more complex social structures around hearths, fundamentally changing human evolution and culture.

3) Hunter-gatherers lived in small bands, moving to follow animals and seasonal plants. Social life was cooperative; survival required sharing skills and resources. Cave shelters and temporary huts gave protection, while clothing from hides allowed humans to live in colder climates. Language likely developed during the Palaeolithic, though exact timing is debated. Speech allowed planning hunts, teaching skills, and creating myths. Language made culture possible, turning survival knowledge into traditions that could be passed on.

4) Prehistoric art is our first record of imagination. Cave paintings in Lascaux (France) and Altamira (Spain) show animals like bison, horses, and deer. Artists used charcoal and ochre (red pigment made from earth minerals), sometimes blowing pigment through hollow bones to stencil hands. These images may have been hunting magic, teaching tools, or spiritual rituals. Portable art also existed, like the Venus of Willendorf (c. 28,000 BC), small limestone statues with exaggerated features thought to symbolise fertility or life-giving power.

5) The Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age, came after the last Ice Age (around 10,000–8,000 BC). Climate warming created forests and lakes. People developed microliths — tiny, sharp stone blades that could be set into wood or bone handles to form arrows, spears, or sickles. Fishing and hunting became more efficient. Domestication began in the Mesolithic and accelerated in the Neolithic. Wolves gradually became dogs, helping humans hunt and guard, while plants like wheat and barley were cultivated.

6) The Neolithic, or New Stone Age (around 8,000–3,000 BC depending on region), was marked by settled villages and farming. People built permanent houses from mudbrick or stone. Agriculture meant food surpluses, which allowed populations to grow and societies to become more complex. Pottery was invented to store grain, water, and cooked food. Clay pots could be fired in kilns (simple ovens) to harden them. Decoration on pottery also shows the beginning of aesthetic culture in daily objects.

7) Megaliths, meaning "large stones," were built during the late Neolithic. Stonehenge in England is the most famous, with massive upright stones arranged in circles. These structures were used for rituals, burials, or astronomy, showing cooperation on a scale far larger than small bands of hunter-gatherers. Farming villages created new social roles. Some people farmed, others crafted tools or pottery, while leaders organised building projects. This division of labour marked the first steps toward urban life.

8) The Bronze Age began when people learned to smelt copper and tin to make bronze around 3,000 BC. Bronze tools and weapons were stronger than stone, giving communities an advantage in farming and warfare. This shift marked the end of the Stone Age. The ability to work metals required specialised knowledge and trade networks to obtain raw materials, leading to more complex societies and the emergence of early civilisations.

Related: Bronze Age | Bronze | Smelting

9) Prehistoric religion can be glimpsed in burial practices. Graves with tools, ornaments, and food suggest belief in an afterlife. Painted caves may have served as ritual sites. Shamans or spiritual leaders likely guided ceremonies, linking humans to the unseen world. Evidence from sites like Göbekli Tepe in Turkey shows that complex religious structures predated agriculture, suggesting that spiritual beliefs may have driven early human cooperation and settlement.

10) The Ice Ages shaped prehistory deeply. During glacial periods, massive ice sheets covered large parts of Earth, forcing humans to adapt. In cold climates, mammoth bones were used for shelters and fur for clothing. Warmer interglacial periods allowed expansion into new lands. These climate changes drove human innovation, migration patterns, and the development of new survival strategies that shaped the course of human evolution.

11) Migration spread humans across the world. Modern humans (Homo sapiens) first appeared in Africa around 200,000 years ago and gradually spread to the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Australia, and finally the Americas. By the end of prehistory, humans lived on every continent except Antarctica. This great migration required adaptation to diverse environments, from tropical forests to arctic tundra, demonstrating human flexibility and ingenuity.

12) Tools evolved from simple flakes to polished stone axes and sickles. Flint knapping — striking stones to make sharp edges — was a key skill. Later, grinding and polishing gave tools durability. These innovations shaped how efficiently humans could hunt, build, and farm. The development of composite tools, combining stone, wood, and bone, showed increasing sophistication and the ability to plan and create complex implements.

13) Early human species evolved over millions of years. Australopithecus lived 4-2 million years ago in Africa, walking upright but with ape-like brains. Homo habilis (2.8-1.4 million years ago) made the first stone tools. Homo erectus (2-0.3 million years ago) controlled fire and spread beyond Africa. Neanderthals (400,000-40,000 years ago) lived in Europe and Asia, had large brains, and buried their dead. Modern humans (Homo sapiens) emerged around 300,000 years ago and eventually became the only surviving human species.

14) Shelter evolved from natural caves to constructed dwellings. Early humans used rock overhangs and caves for protection from weather and predators. Later, they built simple huts using mammoth bones, wood, and animal hides. In the Neolithic, permanent houses were made from mudbrick, stone, or timber. Çatalhöyük in Turkey (7500 BC) shows early urban planning with houses built side by side, entered through roof openings. These developments reflect growing social organisation and the need for secure food storage.

15) Food procurement changed dramatically across prehistory. Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers followed seasonal migrations of animals and gathered wild plants, berries, and nuts. They developed sophisticated hunting techniques using spears, traps, and coordinated group hunts for large game like mammoths. The Mesolithic saw the invention of bows and arrows, fishing nets, and canoes. The Neolithic revolution introduced farming: people learned to plant seeds, tend crops, and domesticate animals, creating reliable food sources that supported larger populations.

16) Clothing and personal adornment developed for both practical and social purposes. Early humans used animal skins and furs for warmth, learning to tan hides to make them flexible and durable. Needles made from bone allowed for sewn garments around 40,000 years ago. Jewellery appeared early: shell beads, carved bone ornaments, and painted body decoration showed group identity and individual status. Ötzi the Iceman (3300 BC) wore sophisticated layered clothing including a grass cloak, leather leggings, and bearskin hat, showing advanced textile skills.

17) Trade networks existed surprisingly early in prehistory. Obsidian (volcanic glass) from specific locations was traded hundreds of miles away for making sharp tools. Amber from the Baltic Sea reached Mediterranean communities. Shells from coastal areas were found far inland as decorative items. These exchanges show that prehistoric groups were not isolated but connected through complex networks. Trade required cooperation, communication, and the development of value systems that laid foundations for later economic systems.

18) Social organisation grew more complex over time. Palaeolithic bands were small (20-50 people) and egalitarian, with shared resources and informal leadership. Evidence from burials suggests some individuals gained special status through age, skill, or spiritual roles. Neolithic villages had hundreds of residents with specialised crafts, requiring coordination and possibly formal leadership. The appearance of rich grave goods in some burials suggests emerging social hierarchies, while communal projects like Stonehenge required unprecedented cooperation across multiple groups.

19) Music and ritual likely played important roles in prehistoric life. Bone flutes from Germany date to 40,000 years ago, showing early musical expression. Cave paintings often appear in acoustically resonant chambers, suggesting they were used for ceremonies with singing or drumming. Ritual deposits of tools and ornaments in rivers and bogs indicate offerings to spirits or gods. Shamanism probably existed, with spiritual specialists conducting healing rituals, communicating with ancestors, and guiding communities through seasonal ceremonies that reinforced social bonds.

20) Climate and environment shaped human development throughout prehistory. The Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) was marked by repeated ice ages that forced adaptation and migration. During cold periods, humans developed warm clothing, controlled fire, and built insulated shelters. Warm interglacials allowed expansion into new territories. The end of the last ice age (11,700 years ago) brought the Holocene epoch with stable, warmer climate that made agriculture possible, fundamentally changing human civilisation.

21) Death and burial practices reveal prehistoric beliefs about life and afterlife. Early humans began burying their dead around 100,000 years ago, sometimes with tools, food, and ornaments. Red ochre was often sprinkled on bodies, possibly symbolising life or blood. Elaborate burials like the "Red Lady of Paviland" (actually a young man) show ritual care for the deceased. Megalithic tombs of the Neolithic, like passage graves and dolmens, required enormous communal effort and suggest beliefs in ancestral spirits watching over the living.

22) The transition from prehistory to history occurred gradually and at different times worldwide. Writing systems emerged independently in several regions: cuneiform in Mesopotamia (3200 BC), hieroglyphs in Egypt (3200 BC), Chinese characters (1250 BC), and Mesoamerican glyphs (600 BC). These systems allowed complex information storage, legal codes, religious texts, and historical records. However, many societies remained prehistoric much longer - some Pacific islands, parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Americas only developed writing after contact with literate civilisations, making prehistory a relative concept.

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