What is a prehistory civilization

One of the keys of civilization is writing. Some historians look at the time before writing as prehistory, and at peoples with organized cultures but without written language as prehistoric civilizations.There were groups of individuals who worked together and formed human networks among other groups all without the benefit of written language. One of the most famous groups of folks are the native Australians, who lived the way they did for something approaching 40,000 years without scrolls or tablets or any written language.A link to the Wikipedia article on prehistory is provided.