archaeology, archeology - the branch of anthropology that studies prehistoric people and their cultures

period, period of time, time period - an amount of time; "a time period of 30 years"; "hastened the period of time of his recovery"; "Picasso's blue period"

Eolithic, Eolithic Age - the earliest part of the Stone Age marked by the earliest signs of human culture

Palaeolithic, Paleolithic, Paleolithic Age - second part of the Stone Age beginning about 750,00 to 500,000 years BC and lasting until the end of the last ice age about 8,500 years BC

Epipaleolithic, Mesolithic, Mesolithic Age - middle part of the Stone Age beginning about 15,000 years ago

Neolithic, Neolithic Age, New Stone Age - latest part of the Stone Age beginning about 10,000 BC in the middle east (but later elsewhere)

prehistoric culture, prehistory - the time during the development of human culture before the appearance of the written word