prehistory

noun4

1. •
   The time before written records in any area of the world; the events and conditions of those times.

   • Along the way, elders of the Delaware, Lushootseed, Tsimshian, Colville, and Creek tribes have provided a comparative perspective on the long time frame of Keresan prehistory and culture. — 2007
2. •
   (humorous) Any past time (even recent) treated as such a distant, unknowable era.

   • I was a town boy through and through. The country belonged to a vague pre-history. — 1984
3. •
   The history leading up to some event, condition, etc.

   • Psychologists... are mostly bad historians, inventing—as Freud has done—their pre-history to suit their theories. — 1931
4. •
   The study of those times.