The term "prehistory" is used to refer to those groups of people across time who did not rely on written documents to record information about their society. Instead, these peoples often used other tools like oral tradition or pneumonic devices to forge a collective memory.
Prehistory does not occur in one particular time or place. In parts of the Near East, one must go back deep into the B.C. period to talk about prehistory, while in others like the Northeastern U.S. prehistory continues until the 16th century with the coming of Europeans.
Prehistory is not only used to talk about the lives of fully modern humans but is also applied to early hominids like Homo erectus and Neandertal who have been shown to engage in cultural expression (e.g. build shelters, use fire, tool making, ritual, etc.)
Concerned with prehistory world-wide, its membership is drawn from many countries. Newsletters online, lectures, events, grants, merchandise. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prehistoric/
Offers an overview of prehistory ranging from topics on early hominids to regional discussions of prehistory in the Near East and the American Southwest. http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/prehisty.html
Offers an overview of human evolution and prehistory with a particular emphasis on early human developments in the Old World. The graphically enhanced tours open with a discussion of the origins of the study of "hominid evolution". http://users.hol.gr/~dilos/prehis.htm
Portion of World History course, which provides an overview of both the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods as well as a section on different theoretical models used to conceptualize prehistory. http://www.stedwards.edu/bss/aflorek/phobj.htm
Early West and Native/Colonial America: artifacts, music, film clips, maps/time-lines, plus contributions from visual artists and historians. http://ancientgreece-earlyamerica.com
Robert C. Dunnell questions the validity of the concepts and assumptions of scientific classification of prehistoric societies based upon artifacts. A hypertext companion to the book with the same title that features chapter summaries and a glossary. http://darwin.anth.csulb.edu/rcd/book/
