Using QCD-inspired time dependent cross sections for pre-hadrons we provide a combined analysis of available experimental data on hadron attenuation in DIS off nuclei as measured by HERMES with 12 and 27 GeV and by EMC with 100 and 280 GeV lepton beam energies. We extract the complete four-dimensional evolution of the pre-hadrons using the JETSET-part of PYTHIA. We find a remarkable sensitivity of nuclear attenuation data to the details of the time-evolution of cross sections. Only cross sections evolving linearly in time describe the available data in a wide kinematical regime. Predictions for experimental conditions at JLAB (5 and 12 GeV beam energies) are included.