BRITAIN’S PREHISTORYEARLIEST TIMES; THE CELTS AND THE ROMANS

PREHISTORY IN BRITAIN

Archaeologists and historians have divided Prehistory into three

main phases which reflect technological achievements:

PALEOLITHIC (Old Stone Age)- 500,000 years ago in Europe

MESOLITHIC (Middle Stone Age)- 100,000 years ago the

Neanderthal man appeared; 9,000 years ago after the retreat of

glaciers new animals were hunted; around 5,000 BC Britain was

cut off from the mainland and became an island

NEOLITHIC (New Stone Age)- around 3,500 BC

THE NEW STONE AGE

• Farming comes to Britain around 3,500 BC

• Main farming regions: the chalk hills of Sussex and the South

of England- the first farmers settle down

• Bread was made

• Wild cattle and pigs were tamed

• Pottery and barrows (large mound graves) discovered

indicate the presence of the first settlers in Britain

ARCHAEOLOGIC SITES

• SKARA BRAE in the Orkney Islands, the foundations of a

neolithic village was found.

THE GREAT STONE PEOPLE

• The Megalith People (called like that because their graves

were marked with huge slabs)

THE BRONZE AGE

• It started around 2,400 BC

• The Beaker Folks were the first poeople who brought the technology of smelting bronze into Britain- they made bronze tools

• They introduced barley into Britain.

• Trade increased and was controlled by the chieftains of Wessex.

• There is evidence of trade with distant places: beads from Egypt and amber from the Baltic.

• They burried their dead in large barrows with a sword or dagger

THE CELTS (THE IRON AGE)

• They came to Britain around 700 BC from Central Europe or south Russia and settled in the lowlands and arrived in vawes in the next seven hundred years.

• Celts are said to have been tall, fair or red haired with blue eyes, clean and neat however poor.

• They are known to have been technologically advanced (they knew how to work with iron and could make better weapons).

• The Celts were usually organised into tribes and tribal chiefs were chosen from each family or tribe.

• They were successful farmers (the use of iron technology introduced more advanced ploughing methods).

THE CELTIC TRIBES

The Celtic tribes were ruled over by a

warrior class of which the priests or druids

were important members.

The druids from different tribes met once a

year in sacred places.

CELTIC WOMEN

• Women had more independence and enjoyed equality with men in rich tribes.

• The most powerful woman to stand up to the Romans was a woman Broadicea, who became chieftan of the tribe after her husband died.

• In 61 AD she led her tribe against the Romans.

THE ROMANS

There are two main reasons why the Romans invaded Britain:

1. The Celts of Britain were working with the Celts of Gaul

against the Romans by providing them with food and

allowing them to hide in Britain.

2. Under the Celts, Britain had become an important food

producer because of its mild climate, exporting corn and

animals

The Romans called the island BRITANNIA.

THE ROMAN INVASION

• Julius Caesar first came to Britain in 55 BC, but it was not

until 43 AD that a Roman army occupied Britain under

Emperor Claudius.

HADRIAN’S WALL

• Whereas it was easy for the Romans to conquer the South

and the South Eastern part of Britain, they could not conquer

Caledonia (Scotland).

• The Romans built a strong wall to keep the Scots from coming

south.

• Hadrian’s Wall (73 miles long) from Newcastle to Solway Firth

was built between AD 122 and AD 128. Today it still marks

the border between Scotland and England.

ROMANS LEAVE BRITAIN

• Roman control of Britain came to an end as the empire began

to collapse.

• It was increasingly difficult for the Romans to stop the raiders

(the Celts from Caledonia) from crossing Hadrian’s Wall.

• In AD. 409 Rome pulled its last soldiers out of Britain and the

Romano-British (the Romanised Celts) were left alone to fight

against the Scots, the Irish and Saxon raiders from Germany.

POSITIVE OUTCOMES OF ROMAN’S OCCUPATION

1. Romans brought the skills of writing and reading to

Britain. However, Latin completely disappeared when the

Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain in the 5th century AD.

2. The Roman roads were built, some of which are still in use

today.

3. The Romans founded many towns (originally castra= army

camp): Lancaster, Gloucester, Wincester, Manchester and

London