| Early Prehistory | |
|---|---|
| Lower Paleolithic | Homo antecessor[1][2] Homo heidelbergensis |
| Middle Paleolithic | Homo neanderthalensis |
| Upper Paleolithic | Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens population of all regions |
| Mesolithic | Hunter-gatherers |
| Neolithic | Agriculture, herding, pottery |
| Late Prehistory | |
| Chalcolithic | Old Europe (archaeology), Indo-Europeans, Varna culture |
| Bronze Age | Minoan Crete, Mycenaean civilization, Korakou culture, Cycladic culture, Lusatian culture, Yamnaya culture |
| Iron Age | Ancient Greece, Thracians, Ancient Rome, Iberians, Germanic tribes, Hallstatt culture |
 Europe portal | |
Prehistoric Europe refers to Europe before the start of written records,[3] beginning in the Lower Paleolithic. As history progresses, considerable regional unevenness in cultural development emerges and grows. The region of the eastern Mediterranean is, due to its geographic proximity, greatly influenced and inspired by the classical Middle Eastern civilizations, and adopts and develops the earliest systems of communal organization and writing.[4] The Histories of Herodotus (from around 440 BC) is the oldest known European text that seeks to systematically record traditions, public affairs and notable events.[5]
- ^ "Oldest Human Fossil in Western Europe Found in Spain". Popular-archaeology. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- ^ Carbonell, Eudald; et al. (27 March 2008). "The first hominin of Europe" (PDF). Nature. 452 (7186): 465–469. Bibcode:2008Natur.452..465C. doi:10.1038/nature06815. hdl:2027.42/62855. PMID 18368116. S2CID 4401629.
- ^ "Prehistory – definition of prehistory in English". oxford dictionaries. Archived from the original on September 25, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- ^ "Ancient Scripts: Linear A". Ancientscripts.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
- ^ "Herodotus – Ancient History". History com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.