Prehistoric fantasy (or prehistoric fiction) is a small but growing
literary genre. Its main characteristics are that the stories are set in
prehistoric times and describe the lives of
prehistoric people.
The
genre goes back to authors such as
Jack London,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and
William Golding, but it wasn't until
Jean M. Auel's "
Clan of the Cave Bear" that the genre became as
popular as it is now.
Baronian (in
Romans Prehistoriques) distinguishes between true
prehistoric novels, which take place entirely in
prehistory (e.g.
Jean M. Auel's "
Clan of the Cave Bear"), and "
time travel" prehistorics, which feature contact between modern times and
prehistory (e.g.
Julian May's "
Saga of the Pliocene Exile).
Currently novels dealing with
Native Americans are a popular third subcategory of
prehistoric fantasy. These novels describe the
prehistory of the
American continent rather than the European one, dealing with various
Native American Indian tribes. Major
authors are
W. Michael Gear,
William Sarabande and
Linda Lay Shuler.
Regarding the name of the genre: both prehistoric fantasy and prehistoric fiction are used. I agree with Clute in "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy", who states that "Most literary accounts of prehistoric life are best regarded as an extrapolation of historical fiction or as SF". Additionally, many of the stories feature shamanistic or magical elements. This is why I have placed this node under the title "prehistoric fantasy rather than fiction".