From the first human presence to the Bronze Age

The earliest human traces found in Britain date back over half a million years. Modern humans (Homo sapiens) arrived there by about 31,000 years ago, and their traces have been found in the southern half of Britain, articularly in caves (stone or bone tools, occasionally bones, very rarely figurative art, like the carvings of birds and animals discovered in a cave in !erbyshire in "003). #or thousands of years the British $sles (%hich %ere not yet islands) %ere largely under ice, but human o ulation %as ossible during %armer eriods %hen the ice retreated, articularly from about 13,000 to about 11,000 years ago. &rctic conditions then returned for about 1,000 years, utting an end to this eriod of human occu ation. By around 10,000 years ago, the ice had gone. There %as ra id %arming. Tundra and ste e gave %ay to forests in the ne%ly e' osed land(first birch and ine, later ha)el, oak, elm and lime(, and eo le returned. The sea level fell in the north as the land %as freed from the %eight of the ice (leaving *raised beaches+ round the coast), but it rose in the south, eventually se arating Britain and $reland from each other and from the continent of ,uro e, by about -000 B.. This eriod of rehistory is kno%n as the Mesolithic (middle stone age). /ike their 0alaeolithic (old stone age) ancestors, eo le lived by hunting and gathering natural food. They had dogs, but no other domesticated animals. Many robably migrated seasonally to make the best use of the natural resources available, occu ying different sites at different times of year, but some traces of ermanent settlements have been found (for e'am le the house dated c. 1,200 B. discovered at 3tarr .arr, 4orkshire in "010). They seem to have managed their environment to some e'tent (clearing areas of %oodland to encourage deer, for e'am le). The 5eolithic *revolution+(the transition from hunter6gathering to farming(, reached Britain around 7200 B.. $mmigrants from the continent brought cereals, shee , goats and cattle, and the ne% %ay of life %as gradually ado ted by the e'isting o ulation. #orests %ere cleared to o en land for cultivation. 0ermanent settlements %ere established, and ermanent monuments %ere constructed in the landsca e. 8large communal tombs (long barro%s, assage graves) consisting of chambers made of large stones covered by mounds of stones or earth, sometimes aligned to the osition of the rising or setting sun at midsummer or mid%inter (e.g. Maesho%e in 9rkney, 5e%grange in $reland). These

monumental structures seem to have been used to house the bones of numerous individuals, resumably im ortant members of the community, over a long eriod of time: 8 ceremonial enclosures, including %hat archaeologists call *henges+ (circular areas surrounded by a ditch and an earth bank): 8 from around 3000 B., circles and ro%s of standing stones %ere erected, including the com le' arrangement of stones at .alanais (;estern $sles), the <ing of Brodgar (9rkney), the circles of massive stones inside the large henge at &vebury and erha s the first stones at 3tonehenge (both in ;iltshire). 8 in some laces, for e'am le in 9rkney, =ilmartin in %estern 3cotland, the Boyne valley in eastern $reland, and the ;esse' area of southern ,ngland, there are im ortant grou ings of 5eolithic tombs, earth%orks and standing stones, leading archaeologists to s eak of *ritual landsca es+. 5ormally little survives of 5eolithic domestic buildings, but at 3kara Brae (9rkney) there is a %ell6 reserved village of stone houses, com lete %ith stone furniture. By around "200 B. there is evidence of im ortant cultural changes, %ith the introduction of metal6%orking, first co er and gold, then bron)e (an alloy of co er and tin)> hence the eriod is called the Bron)e &ge. The henges %ere still in use and indeed some %ere further develo ed (notably at 3tonehenge), but the 5eolithic communal tombs %ere re laced by smaller *round barro%s+, %here a single individual %as buried, often %ith a ty e of decorated ottery vessel kno%n as a *beaker+, together %ith archer?s e@ui ment and bron)e obAects(the ossessions of a %arrior elite (at least some of %hom came from the continent of ,uro e, for e'am le the *&mesbury &rcher+ %hose grave %as discovered in "00"). #rom this eriod there is also evidence of the use of %oollen cloth (%hich could be dyed, making coloured clothes ossible(another mark of status). /ater in the Bron)e &ge there is evidence of a gro%ing o ulation, %ith more and more land used for agriculture. By the /ate Bron)e &ge (from c. 1"20 B.) more varied and more elaborate bron)e obAects %ere being made (including musical instruments and cauldrons) and fine gold Ae%ellery %as roduced in $reland. Many metal obAects have been found in bogs and lakes, %here they had been de osited, resumably as sacrifices. This also seems to have been a time of social instability and %arfare. 3ettlements included hill forts and crannogs (artificial islands in lakes and marshes), and the bron)e s%ord is a characteristic obAect. Borses had no% been introduced to Britain (originally from the 3te es), and the image of a horse can still be seen %here it %as first cut into the chalk hillside at Cffington around 1000 B. (thanks to its having been regularly *scoured+ every fe% years since then).

J. Brown - British Civilization 2013-2014

Cseful %ebsites for further information htt >DD%%%.dot6domesday.me.ukDinE re.htm htt >DD%%%.bbc.co.ukDhistoryDancientDbritishE rehistoryDovervie%EbritishE rehistoryE01.shtml (& short introduction to British rehistory, %ith links to other relevant ages on the BB. site and else%here) htt >DD%%%.bbc.co.ukDhistoryDscottishhistoryDmediaEmuseumDmediaEmuseumEinde'1EsectionsE1to3.shtml (short video e'tracts on 3cottish rehistory and early history> see articularly the *Mysterious &ncestors+ section) htt htt htt htt htt htt htt htt htt htt htt >DD%%%.avebury6%eb.co.ukDinde'.html (the great stone circle of &vebury, so large that it surrounds a modern village) >DDngm.nationalgeogra hic.comD"001D0-DstonehengeDale'ander6te't (3tonehenge, see also *0hoto Fallery+ and *3tage of 3tonehenge+) >DD%%%.stonehenge.co.ukD (3tonehenge) >DD%%%.bbc.co.ukDhistoryDarchaeologyDe'cavationsEtechni@uesDkingEstonehengeE01.shtml (the *&mesbury &rcher+) >DD%%%.ne%grange.comD (5e%grange, including images of the "010 %inter solstice) >DD%%%.kilmartin.orgD (the ancient monuments of =ilmartin Flen) >DD%%%.orkneyAar.comDhistoryDskarabraeD (3kara Brae) >DD%%%.bbc.co.ukDhistoryDancientDbritishE rehistoryDskaraEbraeEgalleryE01.shtml (3kara Brae) >DD%%%.museum.ieDenDe'hibitionDgalleryDirelands6gold6 hoto6gallery.as ' (an e'hibition of $rish gold obAects from the Bron)e &ge) >DD%%%.%iltshire%hitehorses.org.ukDuffington.html (the ;hite Borse of Cffington) >DD%%%.themodernanti@uarian.comDbro%seD (numerous images of rehistoric monuments in Britain, $reland, and other ;estern ,uro ean countries)

9n the history teacher %ho found that he shared !5& %ith a G,000 year6old skeleton> htt >DD%%%.inde endent.co.ukDne%sDthe6family6link6that6reaches6back63006generations6to6a6cheddar6cave61"H127".html 9n the *oldest house in Britain+ discovered at 3tar .arr in 4orkshire in "010, see for e'am le> htt >DD%%%.manchester.ac.ukDaboutusDne%sDdis layDIidJ-00G &nd on other discoveries and @uestions concerning life in the Mesolithic eriod, see> htt >DD%%%.bbc.co.ukDhistoryDancientDarchaeologyDoldestEhouseE01.shtml #or the latest discoveries in 9rkney (including the massive 5eolithic *cathedral+ recently e'cavated at 5ess of Brodgar), see htt >DD%%%.orkneyAar.comDarchaeologyD

J. Brown - British Civilization 2013-2014