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 Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

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, and the genre also has connections with speculative fiction. 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, cultu ...

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 t ...

s live together, despite the extinction of the dinosaurs and the evolution of humans being separated by millions of years. The paleontologist

Björn Kurtén Björn Olof Lennartson Kurtén (19 November 1924 – 28 December 1988) was a Finnish vertebrate paleontologist, belonging to the Swedish-speaking minority of his country. Early life and education Kurtén was born in Vaasa. Career He was a profe ...

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 uni ...

. 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 Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...

*''

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

'' (2003) by Stephen Baxter *''

The Books of the Named ''The Books of the Named'' (also known as the ''Ratha series'') is a series of young adult prehistoric fiction Prehistoric fiction is a literary genre in which the story is set in the period of time prior to the existence of written record, k ...

'' *''

Chronicles of Ancient Darkness ''Chronicles of Ancient Darkness'' is a series of historical fantasy novels by the British people, British author Michelle Paver; her first books for children. The books chronicle the adventures of Torak, an adolescent boy, and his friends Renn ...

'' (2004–2009) by

Michelle Paver Michelle Paver (born 7 September 1960) is a British novelist and children's writer, known for the historical fantasy series ''Chronicles of Ancient Darkness'', set in prehistoric Europe. For the sixth book of the series, '' Ghost Hunter'' (2009 ...

*''

The Clan of the Cave Bear ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'' is a 1980 novel and epic work of prehistoric fiction by Jean M. Auel about prehistoric times. It is the first book in the '' Earth's Children'' book series, which speculates on the possibilities of interactions b ...

'' (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-Mag ...

*'' The Cave Boy of the Age of Stone'' (1907) by Margaret A. McIntyre *''

Dance of the Tiger ''Dance of the Tiger'' (Swedish: ''Den Svarta Tigern'') is a novel by Finnish palaeontologist Björn Kurtén, published in 1978 and English translation in 1980. It is a prehistoric novel dealing with the interaction between Neanderthals and C ...

'' (1978) by

*'' Darkwing'' (2007) by

Kenneth Oppel Kenneth Oppel (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian children's writer. Biography Oppel was born in Port Alberni, and spent his childhood in Victoria, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He also lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, England, ...

*''

The Eternal Lover ''The Eternal Lover'' is a fantasy-adventure novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. The story was begun in November 1913 under the working title ''Nu of the Niocene''. It was first run serially in two parts by ''All-Story Weekly''. The ...

'' (1913) by Edgar Rice Burroughs *'' The Inheritors'' *'' The Mammoth Trilogy'' *'' Mists of Dawn'' *'' The Land That Time Forgot'' (1918) by Edgar Rice Burroughs *'' The People That Time Forgot'' (1918) by Edgar Rice Burroughs *'' Out of Time's Abyss'' (1918) by Edgar Rice Burroughs *''

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 ''Raptor Red'' is a 1995 American novel by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker. The book is a third-person account of dinosaurs during the Cretaceous Period, told from the point of view of Raptor Red, a female ''Utahraptor''. ''Raptor Red'' feature ...

'' *''Sambaqui: A Novel of Pre-History'' (1975) by Stella Carr Ribeiro *''

Saga of Pliocene Exile The Saga of Pliocene Exile (or the Saga of the Exiles) is a series of science / speculative fiction books by Julian May, first published in the early 1980s. It consists of four books: '' The Many-Colored Land'', ''The Golden Torc'', ''The Nonbo ...

'' by Julian May *'' The Scorpion God (two of its three short stories are set in pre-history)'' *''

The Story of Ab ''The Story of Ab'', or ''The Story of Ab: A Tale of the Time of the Cave Man'', is a novel written by Stanley Waterloo in 1897. Plot summary Ab is a Stone Age boy who grows to young manhood amid the many dangers of his times. With his friend, Oa ...

'' (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 Pierre Boitard (27 April 1787 Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire – 25 August 1859) was a French botanist and geologist. As well as describing and classifying the Tasmanian devil, he is notable for his fictional natural history ''Paris avant les homm ...

*''Spear and Fang'' (1925) by Robert E. Howard

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 Devil Dinosaur is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as resembling an enormous, crimson colored ''Tyrannosaurus''-like theropod dinosaur. Created by Jack Kirby, the chara ...

'' by

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

*'' Rahan'' series (1969-2010) by Roger Lécureux,

André Chéret André Chéret (27 June 1937 – 5 March 2020) was a French comic book artist. He is best known for creating '' Rahan'' in 1969 alongside Roger Lécureux. Biography Chéret was placed in the care of farmers in Allier during World War II. Passio ...

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 kno ...

*'' 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: ...

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 Epip ...

'' (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 neighb ...

'' (1960-1966) *'' Iceman'' (2017) *'' Korg: 70,000 B.C.'' (1974-1975) * Mighty Mightor (1967-1968) *''

Quest for Fire ''Quest for Fire'' may refer to: * '' The Quest for Fire'', a 1911 novel by J. H. Rosny * ''Quest for Fire'' (film), a 1981 film adaptation of the 1911 novel * "Quest for Fire", a song by Iron Maiden from 1983's ''Piece of Mind ''Piece of Min ...

'' (1981) *

One Million B.C. ''One Million B.C.'' is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles ''Cave Man'', ''Man and His Mate'' and ''Tumak''. The film stars Victor Mature as protagonist ...

(1940) *''

One Million Years B.C. ''One Million Years B.C.'' is a 1966 British adventure fantasy film directed by Don Chaffey. The film was produced by Hammer Film Productions and Seven Arts, and is a remake of the 1940 American fantasy film ''One Million B.C.''. The film star ...

'' (1966) * Alpha (2018) * ''Primal'' (2019)

Games

Tabletop

* Cavemaster * GURPS Ice Age *Planegea * Stone Age * Würm * Wolf-Packs and Winter Snow

Video

* Far Cry: Primal *

UnReal World ''UnReal World'' is a roguelike survival freeware (shareware before 2013) video game set in a fictionalisation of Iron Age Finland. The game was first released in 1992 and continues to receive regular updates as of 2022. The game was released ...

* 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, continu ...

'' – 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