Dictionary
pro•to•his•to•ry
Pronunciation: (prō"tō-his'tu-rē, -his'trē), [key]—
n.,
—pl. -ries.
1. a branch of study concerned with the transition period between prehistory and the earliest recorded history.
2. the period in a culture immediately before its recorded history begins.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.