Are hunter-gatherers from millions of years ago considered to be "prehistoric"?

Question

Are hunter-gatherers from millions of years ago considered to be "prehistoric"?

Answer 1

The term pre-historic refers to a time before written history.  So yes.

Answer 2

what are hunter-gatherers?

Answer 3

Yes. As with most things, it depends on your definitions

prehistoric

1. Of, relating to, or belonging to the era before recorded history.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/prehist...

Any period before written language some 5,000 years ago would be defined as "prehistoric." The term does suggest a period prior to the growth of civilizations (c. 3500 BCE)

At the same time, Ishi, called the last prehistoric American was discovered in 1911. Today there are still tribes that are termed "stone age" or "prehistoric"

If it would help, you could use the 3 age system. Human history is divided into the Old Stone Age, New Stone Age (Neo- new, Lithic- stone) Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some add a Copper Age and it has been suggested that our age be called the Silicon Age due to the heavy use of computers.

The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, generally covers the period from 10,000 years ago. It is marked by the "Neolithic Revolution" that coincided with the end of the last ice age. The revolution consisted of domestication of animals, intensive cultivation of certain food plants, and ground stone tools. This lead to the rise of permanent habitation.

Prior to that, was the Old stone Age or Paleolithic. The period from 10,000 years ago to about 40,000 years ago was marked by many innovations: extensive use of bone and antler for tools, the first representative art forms, spear throwers, needles and extensive colonization of the planet. However, the paleolithic goes back almost 2.4 million years to the first stone tools.

The establishment of the 3 age system is credited to Christian Thomsen of Denmark. He organized the exhibits in the Copenhagen Museum of Antiquities under Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. Generally the material the tool was made out of determined the age it was placed in. Later, the Stone Age was divided into the paleolithic and neolithic.

Answer 4

Depends on the era they're from.

Answer 5

Yes

Answer 6

Yes, since they lived before written records.

wl

Answer 7

Cave paintings.

@ iwillmocku: Dude, written history can include anything from latin to heiroglyphics - cave paintings are essentially what gave birth to written history.

Answer 8

Not "millions" of years ago, but rather tens of thousands of years ago!

Hunting/Gathering is how mankind subsisted exclusively, prior to farming (which is about 10,000 years old)...

Cave-paintings are considered art, and the advent of the "written word", is considered to be the beginning of "History"

The first Egyptian calendar, carved in stone, and which dates to appx. 6,250 years ago, can be considered the beginning of history. Before that, everything else recorded or found, is generally "pre-historic"...