Comment by Noumenon72
13 hours ago
I think specifying "recorded history" would remove the confusion. Human history could refer to the history of anatomically modern humans, including before farming.
13 hours ago
I think specifying "recorded history" would remove the confusion. Human history could refer to the history of anatomically modern humans, including before farming.
History is recorded, that's the definition of the word. Prehistory is not recorded which is what the 500 kya to 10 kya refers to.
The wikipedia for "Recorded history"[1] draws the distinction this way:
- Before writing: prehistory
- After writing: recorded history
- Both together: human history[2]
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recorded_history
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_history
History is a bit of a confusing word that way; I suppose I can see it can be used in an informal sense to refer to any timeline outside of just historiography, which does tend to refer to a distinct study from archaeology and anthropology. Noted.
You used the word correctly don't worry. Seems like the initial replyer meant prehistory.