Protohistory

 ( Historical Eras ) 

Protohistory is the period between prehistory and written history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures that have developed writing have noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings.

Protohistoric may also refer to the transition period between the advent of literacy in a society and the writings of the first historians. The preservation of oral traditions may complicate matters, as they can provide a secondary historical source for even earlier events. Colonial sites involving a literate group and a nonliterate group are also studied as protohistoric situations.

The term can also refer to a period in which fragmentary or external historical documents, not necessarily including a developed writing system, have been found. For instance, the Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea, the Yayoi,Bahn, Paul (ed.) The Penguin Archaeology Guide Penguin Books Ltd (29 Nov 2001) p. 368 recorded by the Three Kingdoms, and the Mississippian groups, recorded by early European explorers, are protohistoric.

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Use of term In The Oxford Illustrated History of Prehistoric Europe,

Barry Cunliffe (2025). 9780192854414, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192854414

an article

Timothy Taylor (1994). 9780198143857, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780198143857

by Timothy Taylor stated:

In the abstract of a later paper on "slavery in the first millennium Aegean, Carpatho-Balkan and Pontic regions", Taylor, primarily an archaeologist, stated,

For other examples, see also the writings of Brian M. Fagan on the protohistory of North America

and the work of Muhammed Abdul Nayeem on that of the Arabian Peninsula.

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Chronology As with prehistory, determining when a culture may be considered prehistoric or protohistoric is sometimes difficult for . Data varies considerably from culture to culture, region to region, and even from one system of reckoning dates to another.

In its simplest form, protohistory follows the same chronology as prehistory and is based on the technological advancement of a particular people with regard to metallurgy:

• Copper Age, or Chalcolithic
• The Bronze Age
• The Iron Age

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Civilizations and peoples The best-known protohistoric civilizations and are those for whom the term was originally coined: the barbarian tribes mentioned by European and Asian writers. Many protohistoric peoples also feature in prehistory and in history:

• Alans
• Balts
• Bulgars
• Dacians
• Erie people
• Germanic peoples
• Huns
  Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen (1973). 9780520015968, University of California Press. . ISBN 9780520015968
• Kofun period
• Magyars
• Mosopelea
• Timucua
• Sarmatians
• Slavic peoples
• Susquehannock
• Thracians
• Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea
• Yamatai (Japan)
• Yarlung dynasty (Tibet)

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See also

• Ancient history
• , recorded in Sumerian records, possibly identical with the Indus civilisation
• The Collection of Pre- and Protohistoric Artifacts at the University of Jena

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