ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Timeline of prehistory

Hello there! Let me explain the timeline of prehistory to you like you are five years old.

First, we need to understand what "prehistory" means. Prehistory is the time before people started writing things down on paper.

So, a long, long time ago, there were no people on Earth. Then, over thousands of years, things started to change. People evolved from other animals and started living together in groups called tribes.

The earliest humans are called hominids, and they lived about 7 million years ago. They were very different from us! They walked on all fours and had big, sharp teeth. They slowly started to change over time, getting taller and smarter.

Around 2.5 million years ago, the first hominids started to make tools out of rocks. They used these tools to help them hunt and gather food. Over time, they got better at making tools, and their brains also started to get bigger.

About 10,000 years ago, humans started to discover agriculture. This means they learned how to plant seeds and grow their own food instead of just hunting and gathering. They started to settle in one place and build houses.

This period is called the Neolithic Age, and it is the end of prehistory because it's when people started to write things down. They used pictures and symbols to communicate, which eventually evolved into writing.

So, to sum it up, prehistory is the time before people wrote things down. It started with hominids, who slowly evolved over millions of years. Then, humans started to make tools and learn how to grow their own food. Finally, they started to settle in one place and write things down, marking the end of prehistory.