World, History of the. People have probably lived on Earth about 2 million years. In the earliest days, human groups established small societies throughout much of the world. People started to use writing about 5,500 years ago. The period before people began to write is usually called prehistory.
Archaeologists have pieced together the story of prehistory by studying what the people left behind, including artwork, tools, ruins of buildings, fossils, and even their own skeletons. Such objects provide the main evidence of what prehistoric people were like and how they lived.
The first traces of writing date from about 3500 B.C. From then on, people could record their own history. By writing down their experiences, they could tell future generations what they were like and how they lived. From these documents, we can learn firsthand about the rise and fall of civilizations and other important events. The history of the world
