Prehistoric archaeology deals with the earliest evidence of human presence in the Near East in general and within the modern boundaries of the state of Israel in particular. We will review the very long sequence of human culture at this area, starting at 1.5 million years before present and ending with the Neolithic revolution some 10,000 years ago. In the course of this long journey of human cultural and biological evolution we will have a chance to shed light on the establishment and crystallization of many of the concepts now considered primordial, "natural" or "human" such as religion, art, violence, cultural complexity, technological innovation, exploitation of nature and more.