History Vs. Prehistory?? What's the difference?

Question

please explain both terms to me and also what's the difference between cities and city-states?

I would appreaciate it very much if it's detailed, thank you!

Answer 1

As for history, events and periods are considered regular history if there is some sort of written record, be it a book, etching, etc.  Prehisotry generally covers time periods and events where there is no written evidence and only theories, particularly the jurrasic period and such eras.  As for city states and cities I can't really explain those in the manner that you would like, sorry...

Answer 2

i really am not fer sure on this but i think histery is like recorded events about things ppl did or said. and i think prehistery is like stuff that happened be4 ppl were around cuz like the dinasoars were like alive in the prehistoric age or whatever it was. something to do with prehistoric.

Answer 3

Here, I'll lay it down for ya ;p :

Prehistory - We are talking about the paleolithic ages here. (Stone ages for people who don't know) Mostly everything here is debated of what/who the people were back then, and what they did...Of course all of this is pure theoretical speculation. These times were before the Neolithic Revolution, which in turn, helped develop agriculture, and better communication...

Now for History hehe :

History - Languages, were created by Sumerian's/and other civilizations (Mostly river civilizations, at least I think that's it...) Cities were like the cities today. But not until Hammurabi and moral code or whatever it's called. City-States on the other hand, I think they were like, "Self-Governed" villages. But were still under rule from a bigger one.

Okay...Well I hope this helped...

Answer 4

The simplest definition of "prehistory" is a time before written records.  This span of time is different for different cultures in different parts of the world, depending on when writing was developed.  Archaeologists and historians can still learn a great deal about various cultures even if they did not leave us written records.  Conversely, written records are not always as useful as we may wish them to be as the tend to focus on elites, on economy (rather than, say, daily life), and may be biased in their accounts of events.

A city is a large, complex settlement usually with public spaces as well as private dwellings and multiple different social groups and classes living in it.

A city-state is essentially a city but it is also the "capital" of a small "country."  In other words, the city controls not only the area within its walls (for example) but also a fairly extensive amount of land around it, as well as smaller settlements like towns and villages.

Many cultures in the ancient world were or are thought to have operated as city states.  The Greeks are a primary example of this, two famous examples being Sparta and Athens.  The two cities shared some basic elements of culture, but were also in intense competition with each other from time to time.

Ancient Mesopotamia is thought to have been essentially a group of city states.  Culture and language was shared throughout the region but it was only rarely a unified territory.  Instead, the city-states seem to have competed with one another for access to resources, prestige, etc.