ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Prehistoric France

Prehistoric France is all about the time long, long ago, before people knew how to read and write or had fancy buildings to live in. Imagine when dinosaurs roamed the Earth - it was even before that! People in Prehistoric France were known as the "pre-French" because they lived in what would eventually become France, but before it was even a country.

These pre-French people lived in caves and used rocks and sticks as their tools. They were really good at making fire, which was a big deal because it meant they could keep warm and cook their food. They also hunted animals for food and would gather berries, fruits, and nuts from nature. They didn't have any stores to buy food from like we do today.

They were also very artistic! They drew pictures on cave walls called "cave paintings" that showed animals they saw and even some they didn't, like woolly mammoths! These paintings are still around today because the caves where they are found were hidden and preserved for thousands of years.

Prehistoric France lasted for a long time, from about 40,000 years ago up until around 2,000 BCE (before the common era). During this time, people learned how to make better tools and even started farming, which meant they could grow their own food instead of having to hunt and gather it.

Eventually, the pre-French people evolved into different tribes and cultures, and over time the land they lived on became the country we now know as France. So every time we talk about the history of France, we have to remember that it all started a very, very long time ago with these prehistoric people who lived in caves and made cool cave paintings.