What is the distinction between “prehistoric” and “historic”?
Prehistoric archaeology covers the study of human occupation between the Paleo-Indian periods circa 9000 B.C. to the Late Woodland period circa A.D. 1550. For the northeast section of North America the prehistoric era is any cultural development before European arrival. The “historic” era begins in the late sixteenth century when the first European-made artifacts were traded into northern New York, followed shortly thereafter by contact between the indigenous Native population and European explorers and missionaries, who left written accounts of their travels and contacts (i.e. the writings of Samuel de Champlain, edited by H.P. Biggar and published in 1926; and The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, edited by R.G. Thwaites and published between 1896 and 1901). A main distinction between historic and prehistoric is the existence of written records as opposed to an oral history tradition.
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