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Protohistory

The term "protohistoric" refers to several distinct concepts: first, it has a methodological sense and applies to people who do not have themselves the writing , but which are mentioned in texts from other people contemporaries on the other hand, it has a chronological sense and refers to Europe , Scandinavia and Central Asia the period of the Metal Age ( Bronze Age and Iron Age ). In addition, the meaning of the term now includes the economic and social parameters and now applies to people who have adopted a production economy.

Summary

/ / Emergence and Evolution of the concept of Protohistory

The Prehistory was originally defined as the period between the onset of Man and the first appearance of written documents. If the history begins with the writing , it does not, however, simultaneously in all regions of the world. The notion of Protohistory has been initially introduced to name the stage in which people do not have their own writing, but are mentioned in texts from other contemporary peoples: the case for example the Gauls before the Roman conquest , described by Greek and Latin authors.

Applied to Western Europe, the protohistoric (as defined methodology) has taken a chronological sense to refer to a period after the Prehistory and pre-history, corresponding to the age of metals: the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some writers sometimes include the Copper Age or Chalcolithic Protohistory but the latter is often attached to the end of prehistory. The schematic table below refers only cons to this sense of chronological Protohistory.

Current definition

Subsequently, the definition of the protohistoric has integrated economic and social parameters. Thus, the protohistoric means today for most authors a period during which the livelihoods of human populations is ensured by the production. Groups of herders and farmers, often sedentary, exploit the resources they possess and they manage in part. According to this understanding, the chronological period includes the following subdivisions ^{Groups of people and peoples protohistoric}

References

Marcel Otte, Early History, De-Boeck / 2008, p. 8 to 11, ISBN 978-2-8041-5923-8 read online

Bibliography

Leclerc, J. and Tarrte, J. (1988) - "protohistoric", in: Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Leroi-Gourhan, A. (Ed.), PUF, p. 905.
Otte, M., protohistoric, De Boeck, / 2008, ( ISBN 978-2-8041-5923-8 )