Ancient Britain
Ancient Britain is a period in the history of Great Britain, which is generally considered to extend from prehistory through to the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43.
Preface
Britain has been inhabited by humans for tens of thousands of years. None of the pre-Roman inhabitants of Britain had any written language so what is know about them and their culture and way of life is through archeological finds.
Located at the fringes of Europe, Britain remained to the rear of technological and cultural progress, throughout the ancient period and played no significant role in European history.
The story of ancient Britain is one of successive waves of settlers from the continent, bringing with them new cultures and technologies.
The first written record of Britain and its inhabitants was written by the Greek navigator Pytheas, who explored the coastal region of Britain in around 325 BC.
Ancient Britons were however involved in extensive trade with the rest of Europe from the bronze ages onwards, especially in tin and other metals which were in abundant supply.
Early human habitation
There is some evidence that human life existed in what is now Britain up to 400,000 years ago. At this time, Britain was linked to continental Europe by a land bridge allowing humans to cross. Stone hand axes found in Somerset in the 1970s suggest Paleolithic habitation by Homo erectus an ancestor of modern man.
From around 230,000 BC Neanderthal man inhabited what is now Britain and displaces the Homo erectus. Evidence of Neanderthal toolmaking from flint has been found in the Kent area of southern England.
Modern man (Homo Sapiens) first apeared in Britain in c.30,000 BC. Early human inhabitants of Britain would have been hunter gatherer tribes.
During much of this period most of Britain was uninhabitable due to glaciation.
Britain becomes an island
In around 6,500 BC, the end of the Ice age produced rising sea levels, which cut Britain off from continental Europe and turned it into an island.
Britain had large reserves of tin in the areas of Cornwall and Devon in what is now southwest England, and thus tin mining began. By around 1,600 BC, the southwest of Britain was experiencing a trade boom, as British tin was exported across Europe.
The Beaker people were also skilled at making ornaments from gold, and many examples of these have been found in graves of the wealthy.
The Beaker people buried their dead in stone mounds known as barrows, often with a beaker alongside the body. They were also largely responsible for building many famous pre-historic sites such as Stonehenge (although an earlier wooden circle had existed at the site) and a number of other stone circles.
From around 1,500 BC, the power of the Beaker people began to decline.
There is some debate amongst archeologists as to whether the Beaker people were a race of people who migrated to Britain en-masse from the continent. Or whether the Beaker "culture" which was common across Europe, was spread to Britain's existing inhabitants through trade and cultural links. Modern thinking tends towards the latter view.
The Celts lived in highly organised tribal groups, typically ruled by a Cheiftan. Their groups were organised into an "upper class" of warriors (who typically grew long moustaches) and a "lower class" of slaves and labourers. Typically, Celts lived in simple huts.
Celtic warriors were renown as being fierce and fearless, female warriors and war leaders were not unknown. The most famous being Boudicca.
The Celts practiced paganism under the guidance of druids (priests). The druid class was almost as powerful as the warriors in Celtic tribes. Celtic culture had no written language and so laws and rituals were passed on by word of mouth.
As Celts became more numerous, fights broke out between opposing tribes. This lead to the building of hill forts, although the first hillforts had been built in around 1,500 BC. Hillfort building peaked during Celtic times.
Typically hillforts consited of an area of raised ground, surrounded by a deep trench, with the earth heaped into a bank, there would also be a fence surrounding the area. This layout was easily defended from attackers, the hillforts were initially designed as temporary places of refuge. However within time the larger hillforts grew into permanent settlements and trading centres.
Most of these hillforts were built in western and south-western England, although examples have been found as far north as northern Scotland.
From around 175 BC they settled in the areas of Kent, Hertfordshire and Essex and brought with them pottery making skills far more advanced than anything produced previously. The Belgae were partially Romanised and were responsible for creating the first settlements large enough to be called towns.
Although there was nothing approaching political unity amongst the various tribes which inhabited Britain, evidence suggests that life became more settled and less war-like.
The last centuries before The Roman invasion, saw increasing sophistication in British life. Iron bars began to be used as currency from around 100 BC, internal trade and trade with continental Europe flourished, largely due to Britain's extensive mineral reserves.
As the Roman Empire expanded northwards, it is perhaps due to the fact that a lot of refugees from Roman occupied Europe inhabited Britain, or Britain's large mineral reserves, that Rome began to take an interest in Britain.
Early settlement
Around 4,500 BC the first farming settlements began to emerge, as immigrants from Europe bring farming know how with them. By 3,500 BC farming settlements existed in most of Britain. Clay pots have been found dating from as far back as 4,100 BC.The Bronze Age and the Beaker people
In around 2,500 BC a new culture arrived in Britain by a group known as the Beaker people. Believed to be of Iberian origin (modern day Spain and Portugal) these people brought to Britain the skill of making tools and weapons out of metal at first they made things from copper, but from around 2,150 BC, smiths had discovered how to make bronze (which was much harder than copper) by mixing copper and tin. And thus the bronze age arrived in Britain. Over the next thousand years bronze gradually replaced stone as the main material for tool and weapon making.The Iron Age and the Celts
In around 750 BC ironworking techniques reached Britain from southern Europe, and the iron age arrived. Iron was stronger and more plentiful than bronze, and 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.The Celts
In around c900 BC a new wave of settlers began arriving in Britain known as the Celts by 500 BC they had colonised most of Britain. The Celts were highly skilled craftspeople and produced intricately patterned gold jewellery and weapons in bronze and iron.200BC - 43AD
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.See also
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