Prehistory Vocabulary

Prehistory

The time before written records

Archaeologists

People who study human life in the past by examining the things that people left behind

Hunter-gatherer

A person who lives by hunting animals and gathering plants for food

Technology

Tools and skills that people use to meet their needs and wants

Nomads

People who move place to place without a permanent home

Fertile Crescent

A region with good conditions for growing crops in the Middle East

Surplus

Having more than enough

Revolution

A complete change in the ways of thinking, working, or living

Scarcity

Having a limited amount of resources to meet unlimited wants

Fossils

Hardened remains or imprints of living things that existed long ago

Sickle

A tool for cutting grass

Domesticate

Change the growth of plants or behavior of animals in ways that are useful for humans

Culture

Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people

Artifact

an object made by a human being, typically an item of historical interest.

Specialization

when people spend most of their time working on a single job or craft

Excavate

to dig; or to remove earth carefully and systematically in order to find buried remains or artifacts

-logy

suffix that means the study of

-ist

suffix that means a person who

ex-

prefix that means out of

“arch”

root word meaning to rule, earliest, first, original or earliest in time