Prehistoric Britain was a period in the human occupation of Great Britain that extended throughout prehistory, ending with the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43.
- prehistoric britain - Preface
- Britain has been inhabited by members of the homo genus for hundreds of thousands of years and by homo sapiens for tens of thousands of years. However, none of the pre-Roman inhabitants of Britain had any written language, so their history, culture and way of life are known only through archaeological finds.
- prehistoric britain - The Palaeolithic
- Palaeolithic Britain is the period from almost 750,000 years ago until around 10,000 years ago. This huge length of time saw many changes in the environment, encompassing several glacial and interglacial periods which greatly affected human settlement in the region. Providing dating for this distant period of time is difficult and contentious. The inhabitants of the region at this time were bands of hunter-gatherers who roamed all over northern Europe following herds of animals.
- prehistoric britain - Mesolithic
- Around 10,000 years ago the ice age finally ended. Temperatures rose, probably to levels similar to those today, and forests expanded further. By 8,500 years ago, the rising sea levels caused by the melting glaciers cut Britain off from continental Europe for the last time. The warmer climate changed the arctic environment to one of pine, birch, and alder forest; this less open landscape was less conducive to the large herds of reindeer and wild horse that had previously sustained humans. Those animals were replaced in people's diets by less social animals such as elk, red deer, roe deer, wild boar and aurochs which would have required different hunting techniques in order to be effectively exploited. Tools changed to incorporate barbs which could snag the flesh of a hunted animal, making it harder for it to escape alive. Tiny microliths were developed for hafting onto harpoons and spears. Woodworking tools such as adzes appear in the archaeological record, although some flint blade types remained similar to their Palaeolithic predecessors. The dog was domesticated because of its benefits during hunting and the wetland environments created by the warmer weather would have been a rich source of fish and game. It is likely that these environmental changes were accompanied by social changes with the groups that inhabited Britain at this time. Humans spread and reached the far north of Scotland during this period. Sites from the British Mesolithic include Star Carr in Yorkshire and Oronsay in Orkney. Excavations at Howick in Northumberland uncovered evidence of a large circular building dating to c. 7,600 BC which is interpreted as a dwelling. A further example
has also been identified at Deepcar in Sheffield. The view of Mesolithic Britons as being exclusively nomadic is now being replaced with a more complex picture of seasonal occupation or in some cases, permanent occupation and attendant land and foodsource management where conditions permitted it.
- Around 10,000 years ago the ice age finally ended. Temperatures rose, probably to levels similar to those today, and forests expanded further. By 8,500 years ago, the rising sea levels caused by the melting glaciers cut Britain off from continental Europe for the last time. The warmer climate changed the arctic environment to one of pine, birch, and alder forest; this less open landscape was less conducive to the large herds of reindeer and wild horse that had previously sustained humans. Those animals were replaced in people's diets by less social animals such as elk, red deer, roe deer, wild boar and aurochs which would have required different hunting techniques in order to be effectively exploited. Tools changed to incorporate barbs which could snag the flesh of a hunted animal, making it harder for it to escape alive. Tiny microliths were developed for hafting onto harpoons and spears. Woodworking tools such as adzes appear in the archaeological record, although some flint blade types remained similar to their Palaeolithic predecessors. The dog was domesticated because of its benefits during hunting and the wetland environments created by the warmer weather would have been a rich source of fish and game. It is likely that these environmental changes were accompanied by social changes with the groups that inhabited Britain at this time. Humans spread and reached the far north of Scotland during this period. Sites from the British Mesolithic include Star Carr in Yorkshire and Oronsay in Orkney. Excavations at Howick in Northumberland uncovered evidence of a large circular building dating to c. 7,600 BC which is interpreted as a dwelling. A further example
- prehistoric britain - The Neolithic
- Traditionally the arrival of the Neolithic in Britain has been seen as a wave of immigration from the continent, supplanting the local hunter-gatherers. Modern archaeology now considers that farming along with pottery and settled living was in fact adopted by the native population who were related to the similarly newly-farming Neolithic people across the water. Knowledge of farming and ceramics probably passed between kinfolk through intermarriage, trade and other cultural ties. Links with continental Europe are demonstrated by finds of axes made from exotic stone such as jadeite.
- prehistoric britain - The Bronze Age
- Picture of Extent of the Beaker culture
- prehistoric britain - The Iron Age
- In around 750 BC iron working techniques reached Britain from southern Europe. Iron was stronger and more plentiful than bronze, and its introduction marks the beginning of the Iron Age. Iron working revolutionised many aspects of life, most importantly agriculture. Iron tipped ploughs could churn up land far more quickly and deeply than older wooden or bronze ones, and iron axes could clear forest land far more efficiently for agriculture.
- prehistoric britain - Late pre-Roman Iron Age (LPRIA)
- The last centuries before the Roman invasion saw an influx of refugees from Gaul (modern day France and Belgium) known as the Belgae, who were displaced as the Roman Empire expanded.
- prehistoric britain - See also
- List of prehistoric structures in Great Britain
- prehistoric britain - External links
- prehistoric britain - Bibliography
- British History Encyclopedia. Paragon 1999, ISBN 1-4054-1632-7
- prehistoric britain - Related topics