Protohistory vs. Prehistory

The period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted its existence in their own writings.

Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in Europe, the Celts and the Germanic tribes are considered to have been protohistoric when they began appearing in Greek and Roman sources.

(properly) History before written records, inclusive of both

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

The study of those times.

Any past time (even recent) treated as such a distant, unknowable era.

The history leading up to some event, condition, etc.

the time during the development of human culture before the appearance of the written word

Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins c. 3.3 million years ago and the invention of writing systems.