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Since Herodotus, Has History Been a Valid Concept?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
Abstract
This paper argues: (1) that there is no meaningful philosophical and practical distinction between history and prehistory until sometime in the Lower Paleolithic; and (2) because history as we practice it is a human invention (usually attributed to Herodotus), perhaps prehistory should be reserved as a term to describe how humans dealt with the past prior to the fifth century B.C. Philosophical underpinnings for the argument are taken from Collingwood; practical examples are drawn from personal experiences in the archaeology and history of Greater Mesopotamia.
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- Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1988
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