History of the UK Course 1 Prehistory

1. BRITAIN’S PREHISTORY
EARLIEST TIMES; THE CELTS AND THE ROMANS

3. 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

4. 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

5. ARCHAEOLOGIC SITES
• SKARA BRAE in the Orkney Islands, the foundations of a
neolithic village was found.

6. THE GREAT STONE PEOPLE
• The Megalith People (called like that because their graves
were marked with huge slabs)

7. 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

9. 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).

10. 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.

11. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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