as a historian, the pre-history question is new to me. it's all history. no one invention marks the beginning of history. the field of study question is highly debatable too. it's a bit like claiming democracy was invented in greece when many tribal societies had been practising it for thousands of years.
You have a point, but there is a difference. Understanding a paleolithic ivory flute does not require writing - it’s obvious what it’s for. What are not obvious however, are the reasons behind the object’s creation and use. Who made it? Who played it? When was it used - was music ceremonial, spiritual or was it a leisure activity, a part of everyday life? What musical notes and melodies did they play? It is only with the advent of writing that future generations would have any real understanding of ancient motivations.
Pre-historic literally means before writing.
In fact, this is the very reason Galen and Hippocrates are credited as the “first” practitioners of medicine. While people undoubtedly practised medicine long before this, they were among the first to write it down. You have countered your own objection!
I'm worried that as historian you don't know that history is the study of written documentation as left by humans throughout time. Within the discipline of history, anything that predates the invention of the written word is prehistory. That's one of the things you learn very early on when studying history and any historian should know this as a matter of course. Or are you using the word 'historian' rather loosely?
I teach world history in college, and the first slide on day 1 covers the difference between history and prehistoric times. Then we begin with Mesopotamia and the invention of writing. It's standard stuff.
And while I can't speak for 1500s Italian, in Middle English and as late as the 17th century, "apple" was used to refer to any kind of fruit that wasn't a berry. you see it pop up in other places, like pineapple (which actually used to refer to pine cones, and only later got applied to the tropical fruit), how pomegranate comes from the Medieval Latin for "apple with many seeds," or how the French for "potato" is pomme de terre (apple of the earth).
I feel like calling the Khmer rouge communist is a bit disingenuous when we know Pol Pot was planted by the Americans to make communism look bad, his actions are more like far right reactionary fascism.
I missed out on the prehistory/history boundary question because I couldn't figure out the wording of the answer. I realise now that that was a bit stupid, but maybe accept “script” as a type-in?
After reading the clue again I finally found the right answer.
Pre-historic literally means before writing.
In fact, this is the very reason Galen and Hippocrates are credited as the “first” practitioners of medicine. While people undoubtedly practised medicine long before this, they were among the first to write it down. You have countered your own objection!
Italy: it's quite tasty and red
Italy: it's very squishy as well
Italy:
Italy: GOLDEN APPLE
Reconsider to accept some of these?