prehistorians
Pre-writing era experts
Prehistorians are scholars who study human history before the invention of writing.
They rely on archaeological evidence, fossils, and artifacts rather than written records: Prehistorians debate when humans first used fire.
The term distinguishes them from historians proper, whose work depends on documents and texts.
Scientists studying past cultures
- anthropologistsScholars of human cultures
- paleoanthropologistsScholars of ancient human species
- researchersThose who study systematically
- scholarsExperts in a field
excavators · academics · faculty · professors · specialists · experts · fieldworkers · investigators
Study of rock layers
- excavationAct of unearthing
- dating techniquesWays to determine age
- carbon-14Radioactive isotope for dating
- typologyClassification by shared traits
seriation · surveying · fieldwork · documentation · classification · interpretation · reconstruction · comparative analysis
Earliest tool-making period
- neolithicFinal Stone Age period
- bronze ageNotable but subprime period
- megalithsLarge prehistoric stones
- cave paintingsPrehistoric artwork on stone
hunter-gatherers · early humans · hominins · ancient settlements · burial sites · rock art · petroglyphs · Lascaux
archaeologists
Scientists studying past cultures
- anthropologistsScholars of human cultures
- paleoanthropologistsScholars of ancient human species
- researchersThose who study systematically
scholars · excavators · academics · faculty · professors · specialists · experts · fieldworkers · investigators · scientists
stratigraphy
Study of rock layers
- excavationAct of unearthing
- dating techniquesWays to determine age
- carbon-14Radioactive isotope for dating
typology · seriation · surveying · fieldwork · documentation · classification · interpretation · reconstruction · comparative analysis · chronology
paleolithic
Earliest tool-making period
- neolithicFinal Stone Age period
- bronze ageNotable but subprime period
- megalithsLarge prehistoric stones
cave paintings · hunter-gatherers · early humans · hominins · ancient settlements · burial sites · rock art · petroglyphs · Lascaux · Stonehenge
Leakey
Renowned fossil-hunting clan
prehistoriansmodern historians
Current scholars of the past
medievalists · futurists · futurologists · classicists · ancient historians