Pre-Adamic Earth

I had heard teachings of the "Pre-Adamic Earth" when I was younger, and I have never heard of them since. In a nutshell I think it goes like this...

When God created the earth, he created all the elements to sustain life and I think even created living things. Then stopped and waited for thousands of years before creating Adam and Eve. My memory is really sketchy on this so if anyone could enlighten me I'd love to hear what this theory is really all about...

Save yourself and stay away from the bible.

It's only read because people want to believe they have a higher purpose.