Prehistoric fiction is a literary genre in which the story is set in the period of time prior to the existence of written record, known as

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

. As a fictional genre, the realistic description of the subject varies, without necessarily a commitment to develop an objective anthropological account. Because of this, it is possible that the author of prehistoric fiction deals with his subject with much more freedom than the author of a

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ...

, and the genre also has connections with

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, nat ...

. In many narratives,

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

s and

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is ...

s live together, despite the extinction of the dinosaurs and the evolution of humans being separated by millions of years. The paleontologist Björn Kurtén coined the term "paleofiction" to define his works. One of the derivatives of cyberpunk is stonepunk, a subgenre of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univ ...

. Stonepunk is a neologism born from the contraction between a stone and cyberpunk. This is an uchronia that refers to the massive use of technology in prehistoric times.

List of prehistoric fiction

Print

Novels and series

*''

Shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...

'' (2013) by Kim Stanley Robinson *''

Evolution Evolution is change in the heredity, heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the Gene expression, expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to ...

'' (2003) by Stephen Baxter *'' The Books of the Named'' *'' Chronicles of Ancient Darkness'' (2004–2009) by Michelle Paver *'' The Clan of the Cave Bear'' (1980) by

Jean M. Auel Jean Marie Auel (; ; born February 18, 1936) is an American writer who wrote the '' Earth's Children'' books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores human activities during this time, and touches on the interactions of Cro-Ma ...

*'' The Cave Boy of the Age of Stone'' (1907) by Margaret A. McIntyre *'' Dance of the Tiger'' (1978) by Björn Kurtén *'' Darkwing'' (2007) by Kenneth Oppel *'' The Eternal Lover'' (1913) by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, ...

*'' The Inheritors'' *''

The Mammoth Trilogy ''The Mammoth Trilogy'' is a series of books by hard science fiction author Stephen Baxter. The books in it were published between 1999 and 2001. It contains the novels ''Silverhair'', ''Longtusk'' and ''Icebones''. An omnibus volume containing ...

'' *'' Mists of Dawn'' *'' The Land That Time Forgot'' (1918) by

*'' The People That Time Forgot'' (1918) by

*'' Out of Time's Abyss'' (1918) by

*''

The Quest for Fire ''The Quest for Fire'' (french: La Guerre du feu, literally ''The War for Fire'') is a 1911 Belgian fantasy novel by " J.-H. Rosny", the pseudonym of two brothers; the author was actually the elder of the two, Joseph Henri Honoré Boex (1856� ...

'' (1911) by J.-H. Rosny aîné *'' Raptor Red'' *''Sambaqui: A Novel of Pre-History'' (1975) by Stella Carr Ribeiro *'' Saga of Pliocene Exile'' by

Julian May Julian Clare May (July 10, 1931 – October 17, 2017) was an American science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and children's writer who also used several literary pseudonyms. She is best known for her '' Saga of Pliocene Exile'' (''Saga of ...

*'' The Scorpion God (two of its three short stories are set in pre-history)'' *'' The Story of Ab'' (1897) by Stanley Waterloo *'' A Story of the Stone Age'' (1897) by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Pierre Boitard *''Spear and Fang'' (1925) by

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subg ...

Comics

* '' Prehistoric Peeps'' (1893) by Edward Tennyson *''

Alley Oop ''Alley Oop'' is a syndicated comic strip created December 5, 1932, by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced a cast of colorful characters an ...

'' series (1932–present) by V. T. Hamlin and others *'' Anthro'' *'' Devil Dinosaur'' by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential c ...

*'' Rahan'' series (1969-2010) by Roger Lécureux, André Chéret and Jean-François Lécureux *'' Tor'' series (1953-1993) by

Joe Kubert Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Polish-born American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. He is also ...

*'' The Cavern Clan'' series,

Mauricio de Sousa Mauricio Araújo de Sousa (; born October 27, 1935) is a Brazilian cartoonist and businessman who has created over 200 characters for his popular series of children's comic books named "Turma da Mônica" or "Monica's Gang (Currently known as: M ...

and others (1961–present), graphic novels include '' Piteco - Ingá'', by Shiko and ''Piteco - Fogo'', by Eduardo Ferigato.

Film, television, and video

*''

10,000 BC The 10th millennium BC spanned the years 10,000 BC to 9001 BC (c. 12 ka to c. 11 ka). It marks the beginning of the transition from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic via the interim Mesolithic (Northern Europe and Western Europe) and Epipale ...

'' (2008) *'' Ao: The Last Hunter'' (2010) *''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbo ...

'' (1960-1966) *'' Iceman'' (2017) *'' Korg: 70,000 B.C.'' (1974-1975) * Mighty Mightor (1967-1968) *'' Quest for Fire'' (1981) * One Million B.C. (1940) *'' One Million Years B.C.'' (1966) *

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , w ...

(2018) * ''Primal'' (2019)

Games

Tabletop

* Cavemaster * GURPS Ice Age *Planegea *

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with th ...

* Würm * Wolf-Packs and Winter Snow

Video

* Far Cry: Primal * UnReal World * Roots of Pacha

References

External links

Prehistoric FictionReader's Corner's pagePrehistoric SF
at ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, contin ...

'' – with linked entries on "Origin of Man" and related themes
Novels Set in Prehistoric Times and Time-Sweep NovelsEntre pédagogie et parodie, la préhistoire dans la bande dessinée francophone
{{Speculative fiction all Literary genres Science fiction themes Speculative fiction