1. Scholars or specialists who study protohistory, the period of human history between prehistory and written history.
Usage: plural form of protohistorian; academic/scholarly term; used in archaeology and historical studies

Examples

• Protohistorians examine artifacts and oral traditions to understand societies that left few written records.
• The conference brought together protohistorians from universities across Europe to discuss early Iron Age settlements.
• Protohistorians rely on a combination of archaeological evidence and fragmentary written sources.
• Many protohistorians focus on the transition from oral to written cultures in ancient civilizations.
• The team of protohistorians discovered pottery shards that helped date the settlement to the Bronze Age.