In the course of the 19th century,
emerges and develops the knowledge of
Prehistory as the remotest period of
History and as a specific area of expertise.
The Atlantic circulation of news
about ideas, concepts, sites and prehistoric
remains, along with the construction
of a western affiliation for our
country, as a modern nation, resulted in
the first official prescription of Prehistory
under the Republic. The compendium
Historia Antiga, by João Ribeiro,
adopted by the Ginasio Nacional (the
republican name given to the Imperial
Collegio de Pedro II) in 1892, is a central
document for understanding the
writing process of a basic school Prehistory
in that school in the 1890s. In this
compendium lies the construction of a
Prehistory along the lines of the scientific
debate of the time. This paper places
its prescription in that school’s teaching Programs and identifies the guidelines of its Prehistory
