4 ms·
Is it not fair to call an society where writing existed but we can't read it prehistoric? From our perspective, we have no written history. Or is the distinctio
by tlb 4y ago
Is it not fair to call an society where writing existed but we can't read it prehistoric? From our perspective, we have no written history. Or is the distinction that they themselves could read it and therefore acted with historical awareness?
- irrational 4y agoNo. Was the Egyptian civilization (which lasted for 3000 years until the time of the Romans) prehistoric because we could not read the Egyptian hieroglyphics? Did it only cease to be prehistoric once we deciphered the language?
- ncmncm 4y agoYes, exactly. Before we have written history is prehistory. As we get more history, the boundary of prehistory moves back. So most of the American remnants are prehistoric, despite being coeval with history in the "old world".
- SiempreViernes 4y agoYou'd have to give up the notion that "prehistoric" refers to some fixed moment in time, but other than that you are of course free to try to change it's meaning.
- ncmncm 4y agoAbsolutely. If we can read their script, and they wrote a history, we can read that history. Without, we are reduced to relying on archaeology. We can read historical texts from Egypt and Mesopotamia from the time the Minoans , er, "flourished". In exactly that sense they are not prehistoric. I think Egyptians mentioned them. (It seems odd if Egyptians did not mention Santorini blowing up and wiping them out, but maybe they did. Somebody must have mentioned "Thera".)