{{Short description|Speculative fiction set in prehistoric times}} {{more citations needed|date=December 2017}} {{Speculative fiction sidebar|cTopic=all}} '''Prehistoric fiction''' is a science fiction subgenre in which the story is set during the long timespan of human, and even animal, prehistory<ref name="trussel">{{Cite web|url=http://www.trussel.com/f_prehis.htm|title=Prehistoric Fiction|last=Trussel|first=Stephen|date=|website=www.trussel.com|access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z82hsbk/articles/zpny34j|title=What was prehistoric Britain like?|work=BBC Bitesize|access-date=2020-04-05|language=en-GB}}</ref> e.g. from the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic up to the Copper Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
The genre has connections with speculative fiction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/prehistoric_sf|title=Prehistoric SF|last=|first=|date=|website=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction|access-date=2020-04-05}}</ref> In many such narratives for instance, humans and dinosaurs live together. The paleontologist and author Björn Kurtén coined the term "paleofiction" to define his works.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJVYAAAAYAAJ&q=%22paleofiction%22+dance+of+tiger |title=Annales zoologici fennici |date=1991 |publisher=Finnish Zoological and Botanical Pub. Board |language=en}}</ref> The genre dubbed "stonepunk" features the anachronistic use of high technology in prehistoric times.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Punkpunk: A Compendium of Literary Punk Genres|url=https://litreactor.com/columns/punkpunk-a-compendium-of-literary-punk-genres|access-date=2021-12-31|website=LitReactor|language=en}}</ref>
==List of prehistoric fiction== ===Print === [[File:Caveman 1.jpg|thumb|"A hunter attacking a brown bear.", art from ''The Cave Boy of the Age of Stone'', novel by Margaret A. McIntyre.]]
* ''Circle of Days'' (2025) by Ken Follett
* ''Sun Horse, Moon Horse'' (1977) by Rosemary Sutcliff * ''Warrior Scarlet'' (1958) by Rosemary Sutcliff * ''The Boy with the Bronze Axe'' (1968) by Kathleen Fidler * ''Shadow Valley: A Novel'' (2009) by Steven Barnes * ''Great Sky Woman: A Novel'' (2006) by Steven Barnes * ''The First Americans'' (1987-2000) by William Sarabande * ''North America's Forgotten Past'' (1990-2022) by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear * ''Wolves of the Dawn'' (1987) by William Sarabande * ''Warrior Daughter'' (2009) by Janet Paisley * ''The Gift of Stones'' (1988) by Jim Crace * ''Stonehenge'' (1999) by Bernard Cornwell * ''Pillar of the Sky: A Novel of Stonehenge'' ''(1985)'' by Cecelia Holland * ''Singletusk'' (1984) by Björn Kurtén * ''The Animal Wife'' (1990) by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas * ''Reindeer Moon'' (1987) by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas * ''The Last Neanderthal'' (2017) by Claire Cameron * ''The Dog Master'' (2015) by W. Bruce Cameron * ''The Gathering Night'' (2009) by Margaret Elphinstone *''Shaman: A Novel of the Ice Age'' (2013) by Kim Stanley Robinson *''Evolution'' (2003) by Stephen Baxter *''The Books of the Named'' (1983–2008) by Clare Bell *''Chronicles of Ancient Darkness'' (2004–2009) by Michelle Paver * ''Ivory Carver Trilogy'' (1990-1994) by Sue Harrison *''Earth's Children'' (1980-2011) by Jean M. Auel *''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<ref name="trussel" /> *''The Inheritors'' (1955) by William Golding *''The Mammoth Trilogy'' (1999–2001) by Stephen Baxter *''Mists of Dawn'' (1952) by Chad Oliver *''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'' (1911) by J.-H. Rosny, Joseph Henri Honoré Boex *''Raptor Red'' (1995) by Robert T. Bakker *''Sambaqui: A Novel of Pre-History'' (1975) by Stella Carr Ribeiro<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2009/cur0904.htm|title=Curiosities - Sambaqui: A Novel of Pre-History, by Stella Carr Ribeiro (1987)|last=de Sousa Causo|first=Roberto|date=|website=SF Site|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501083555/http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2009/cur0904.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 1, 2009|access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> *''Saga of Pliocene Exile'' (1981–1984) by Julian May *''The Story of Ab'' (1897) by Stanley Waterloo *''Paris Before Man'' (1861) by Pierre Boitard<ref name="trussel" /> *''Ivory and Bone'' (2016) by Julie Eshbaugh *''Shifting Sands'' (1977) by Rosmary Sutcliff *''The Pagans Trilogy'' (1978-1984) by Richard Herley *''Solutré ou les chasseurs'' ''de rennes de la France centrale'' (1872) by Adrien Arcelin
====Short stories and collections==== [[File:Amazing stories 194901.jpg|thumb|Dinosaur Destroy by C. M. Eddy Jr., ''Amazing Stories'', January 1949 cover art by J. Allen St. John]] *''The Scorpion God'' (1971) (two of its three short stories are set in prehistory) by William Golding *''A Story of the Stone Age'' (1897) by H. G. Wells *''The Grisly Folk'' (1921) by H. G. Wells *''Spear and Fang'' (1925) by Robert E. Howard<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://darkworldsquarterly.gwthomas.org/spear-and-fang-a-prehistoric-premiere/|title=Spear and Fang: A Prehistoric Premiere|last=Thomas|first=G. W.|date=2020-02-03|website=Dark Worlds Quarterly|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> * ''With Weapons of Stone'' (1924) by C. M. Eddy Jr. * ''Arhl-a of the Caves'' (1925) by C. M. Eddy Jr.
====Graphic novels and comics ====
* Sláine series (1983 onwards) by Pat Mills and Angela Kincaid *''Prehistoric Peeps'' (1893) by Edward Tennyson<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Appelbaum|first1=Stanley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kp0XWWxKTKoC&dq=prehistoric+peeps+%221893%22&pg=PP26|title=Great Drawings and Illustrations from Punch, 1841-1901: 192 Works by Leech, Keene, Du Maurier, May and 21 Others|last2=Kelly|first2=Richard Michael|date=1981-01-01|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=978-0-486-24110-4|language=en}}</ref> *''Anthro'' (1968) by Howard Post *''Devil Dinosaur'' (1978) by Jack Kirby *''Rahan'' series (1969–2010) by Roger Lécureux, André Chéret, and Jean-François Lécureux<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hominides.com/html/prehistoire/prehistoire-bd-bande-dessinee.php|title=BD de préhistoire - Pascal Semonsut - Hominidés|website=www.hominides.com|access-date=2020-04-05}}</ref> *''Tor'' series (1953–1993) by Joe Kubert *''The Cavern Clan'' series, Mauricio de Sousa and others (1961–present), graphic novels include ''Piteco – Ingá'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.epgrupo.com.br/shiko-faz-releitura-ousada-de-personagem-de-mauricio-de-sousa/|title=Shiko faz releitura ousada de personagem de Mauricio de Sousa|date=2013-11-19|website=EP Grupo|language=pt-BR|access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> by Shiko and ''Piteco – Fogo'', by Eduardo Ferigato<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.omelete.com.br/turma-da-monica/piteco-fogo-preview-da-graphic-msp-mostram-luta-de-tribos-confira|title=Piteco - Fogo {{!}} Preview da Graphic MSP mostra luta de tribos; confira|last=Avila|first=Gabriel|date=2019-06-05|website=Omelete|language=pt-br|access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> *''Mezolith: Stone Age Dreams and Nightmares #1'' (2010) by Ben Haggarty and Adam Brockbank *''Mezolith: Stone Age Dreams and Nightmares #2'' (2014) by Ben Haggarty and Adam Brockbank
===Film and television series === In chronological order: [[File:When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) trailer - Rhamphorhynchus 2.png|thumb|Scene from ''When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth'']] *''One Million B.C.'' (1940)<ref name=":0" /> *''The Flintstones'' (1960–1966) *''One Million Years B.C.'' (1966)<ref name=":0" /> *''Mighty Mightor'' (1967–1968) * ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) *''Korg: 70,000 B.C.'' (1974–1975) * ''Caveman'' (1981) *''Quest for Fire'' (1981)<ref name=":0" /> *''The Clan of the Cave Bear'' (1986) * ''Pathfinder'' (1987) * ''Missing Link'' (1988) * ''Rapa-Nui'' (1994) * ''The 13th Warrior'' (1999) * ''Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner'' (2001) * ''RRRrrrr!!!'' (2004) * ''Ten Canoes'' (2006) *''10,000 BC'' (2008) * ''Year One'' (2009) *''Ao: The Last Hunter'' (2010)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hominides.com/html/prehistoire/prehistoire-cinema.php|title=La préhistoire sur grand écran - Pascal Semonsut - Hominidés|website=www.hominides.com|access-date=2020-04-05}}</ref> * ''The Dead Lands'' (2014) *''Iceman'' (2017)<ref>{{Cite news|last=Catsoulis|first=Jeannette|date=2019-03-14|title='Iceman' Review: Retribution in the Neolithic Age|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/movies/the-iceman-review.html|access-date=2021-05-06|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> *''Alpha'' (2018)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gleiberman|first=Owen|date=2018-08-15|title=Film Review: 'Alpha'|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/alpha-review-kodi-smit-mcphee-1202904941/|access-date=2021-05-06|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref> *''Primal'' (2019) * ''Out of Darkness'' (2022) * ''65'' (2023)
===Games=== ====Tabletop games==== * ''GURPS Ice Age'' (1989) by Kirk Wilson Tate *''Stone Age'' (2008) Michael Tummelhofer *''Cavemaster'' (2012) by Jeff Dee and Talzhemir Mrr *''Würm'' (2017) by Emmanuel Roudier, Olivier Castan, and Éric Gilleron
====Video games==== *''NetHack'' (1987) *''UnReal World'' (1992) *''Far Cry Primal'' (2016) *''Roots of Pacha'' (2023)<ref>{{Cite web|title='Roots of Pacha' |language=en-US|url=https://rootsofpacha.com/|access-date=2023-05-19}}</ref>
== See also == {{Portal|Speculative fiction}} * Ancient astronauts in popular culture *Caveman * Historical fiction * Lost World (genre) *Stonepunk
==Further reading== * Ruddick, Nicholas. The Fire in the Stone: Prehistoric Fiction from Charles Darwin to Jean M. Auel. Middletown, CT. Wesleyan University Press, 2009.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.trussel.com/f_prehis.htm Prehistoric Fiction] *[http://readerscorner.wikidot.com/prehistoric-fiction Reader's Corner's page] *[http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/prehistoric_sf Prehistoric SF] at ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' – with linked entries on "Origin of Man" and related themes *[http://www.historicalnovels.info/Prehistoric.html#PreAmMyst Novels Set in Prehistoric Times and Time-Sweep Novels] *[https://www.actuabd.com/Entre-pedagogie-et-parodie-la-prehistoire-dans-la-bande-dessinee-francophone-1 Entre pédagogie et parodie, la préhistoire dans la bande dessinée francophone] {{in lang|fr}}
{{Speculative fiction all}}
Category:Literary genres Category:Prehistoric people in popular culture Category:Fiction set in prehistory Category:Science fiction themes Category:Speculative fiction