prehistories
Times before records
Prehistories is the plural of prehistory, the period of human existence before written records.
Different regions have different prehistories depending on when writing emerged there.
The term also refers to the background or developmental period before something began in earnest: the prehistory of the internet, the prehistory of jazz.
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- digUnearth by shoveling
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
- siteDesignated location
potsherds · midden · settlements · ruins · carbon-dating · trowel · flintknapping · neolithic
Preserved ancient organism traces
- dinosaurExtinct Mesozoic reptile
- trilobiteExtinct segmented marine arthropod
- paleontologyStudy of ancient organisms
- extinctNo longer existing
megafauna · amber · petrification · sediment · cretaceous · mammoth · pterosaur · ammonite
Ordered display of events
- epochDistinct historical period
- eraDistinct historical period
- eonsImmense spans of time
- millenniaThousand-year periods
ages · periods · chronology · antiquity · sequence · succession · quaternary
Point of creation
- beginningsInitial stages of something
- dawnDay's first glow
- emergenceComing into existence
- rootsUnderground nutrient absorbers
antecedents · provenance · nascence · foundation · inception · primeval · ancestral · primal
Study of universal origins
- folkloreInherited cultural narratives
- legendsTraditional stories or icons
- dreamtimeSleep phase with visions
- primordialExisting from the start
excavation
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- digUnearth by shoveling
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
site · potsherds · midden · settlements · ruins · carbon-dating · trowel · flintknapping · neolithic · paleolithic
fossils
Preserved ancient organism traces
- dinosaurExtinct Mesozoic reptile
- trilobiteExtinct segmented marine arthropod
- paleontologyStudy of ancient organisms
extinct · megafauna · amber · petrification · sediment · cretaceous · mammoth · pterosaur · ammonite
timeline
Ordered display of events
millennia · ages · periods · chronology · antiquity · sequence · succession · quaternary
genesis
Point of creation
- beginningsInitial stages of something
- dawnDay's first glow
- emergenceComing into existence
roots · antecedents · provenance · nascence · foundation · inception · primeval · ancestral · primal
cosmogony
Study of universal origins
prehistorieshistories
Accounts of past events
chronicles · annals · historical records · archives · historiography
prehistoriesfutures
Contracts for future delivery
modernity · posterity · modern era · modern times · contemporary era
- prehistoric toolsImplements predating written records
- prehistoric monster
- prehistoric timesEra predating written records
- prehistoric lifeOrganisms predating human records
- prehistoric humansHumans before recorded history
- prehistoric creatureAnimal from ancient eras