Tibet's recorded history only goes back a mere 1,300 years, as prior to that time the Tibetans had no script. But existing records make mention of earlier history, and together with oral traditions and inscriptions from the Yin Dynasty provide evidence of human activity on the Tibetan plateau from a very early stage in history.

After their evolution from the monkey, the primitive people of the Land of Snows at first hived by gathering wild berries and fruit. Gradually they learned to fashion bows, arrows, knives and axes to protect themselves from wild beasts, and developed fishing and hunting skills. In other words, they were already engaged in nomadic production and by degrees a rudimentary form of agriculture was starting to emerge.

Their beliefs and social structure at that time were molded by the extremely backward mode of production. In those days, people did not understand natural phenomena and changes such as the weather, seasons, birth and death, and so they worshipped Nature, believing all earthly things were imbued with "spirits." This state of animism is called the period of primitive Bonism by Tibetan scholars. Tribes had not yet taken shape in this society and the people lived in simple communities, fixed by their geographical environment, which had no strict organization but were led by wise elders.

How then did the first tribe come into being? This forms the subject of another interesting folk legend. The story goes that the herdsmen of the Yarlung valley one day saw a fine youth on Mt. Tsantang Goshi. When they approached him, they discovered the young man spoke a different dialect from the native inhabitants. The herdsmen did not know what should be done with the stranger, and sent messengers back to explain the situation to the rest of the community. The elders then sent twelve intelligent men to the mountain to ask the young man where he had come from. But the youth merely pointed to the sky. Believing the stranger must have descended from heaven, the twelve rejoiced and proclaimed him a "heavenly son." The leader then offered to carry the "heavenly son," and amidst rejoicing and embraces, he was brought down the mountain seated on the leader's shoulders. The community rushed forward to greet this intelligent, handsome youth from heaven and made him the chieftain of the tribe as an honor. Thus the young man became the first leader of a tribe which later became known as the Tubo tribe.