The term prehistoric is used in Britain for that period of human activity which ended with the arrival of Rome in the 1st century AD. It lasted for over half a million years and is conventionally divided into the stone age (paleolithic, mesolithic and neolithic), the bronze age and the iron age. Pottery was first used in Britain only towards the very end of this period - with the onset of the neolithic around five and a half thousand years ago.
There have not been large quantities of prehistoric pottery found in Herefordshire, but examples can be found from most periods. It is likely that the relative paucity of this material is related to the amount of archaeological activity in the county rather than the amount of prehistoric activity. Certainly, many more prehistoric sites have been discovered in Herefordshire since the turn of the century, not least through aerial photography and also by members of the public using such tools as 'Google Earth'.