-
250,000 BCE
First evidence of humans
The earlier group made their tools from flakes of flint, similar in kind
to stone tools found across the north European
plain. The other group made tools from a central core of flint,probably the earliest method of human tool making, which spread from how to make pottery, They probably came from
either the Iberian (Spanish) peninsula or even the
North African coast. -
10,000 BCE
Britain is an island
Around 10, 000 BC, as the Ice Age drew to a close, Britain was peopled by small groups of hunters, gatherers and hers. Few had settled homes, and they seemed to have followed herds of deer which provided them with food and clothing. By about 5000 BC Britain had finally become an island, and had also become hea vily forested . For the wanderer-hunter culture this was a disaster, for [he
cold-loving deer and other animals on which they lived largely died out. -
3000 BCE
someones came
About 3000 BC Neolithic (or New Stone Age )
peopl e crossed the narrow sea from Europe in small
round boats of bent wood covered with animal
skins. Each could carry one or two persons. -
700 BCE
The celtis
Around 700 BC, another group of people began toarrive. Many of them were tall, and had fair or red hair and blue eyes. These were the Celts, who probably came from central Europe or further east,
from southern Russia, and had moved slowly westwards in earlier centuries. The Celts were technically advanced.It is possible th at they drove many of the o lder inh abitants westwards into
W" les, Scotland and Ireland -
690 BCE
The celtics live
They continued to arrive in one wave after another
over the next seven hundred years, The Celts are important in British history because
Celtic languages,
which have been continuously used in some areas
since that time, "re still spoken. T he British today
are often described as Anglo-Saxon. It would he
better to call them Anglo-Celtic. -
520 BCE
first communities
it all stared with some civilations who went all over the place. -
95 BCE
New arrivals
These were the first of several waves of invaders before the first arrival of the Romans in 55 BC. It used to be though t that these waves of invaders marked fresh srages in British development. however, al though they must have brought new ideasand methods, it is now thought th at the changing pattern of Britain's prehistory was the result of local economic and social forces. -
60
Women
During the Celtic period women may have had
more independence than they had for
hundreds of years. When the Romans invaded
Britain two of the largest tribes were ruled by
women who fought. The most powerful Celt to stand up to the Romans was a
woman , Boadicea. She had become queen of her
tribe when her husband had died.. Roman writers
commented on the courage and strength of women
in battle, and leave an impression of a measure of
equality between the sexes among the richer Celts. -
70
New Skills
The Romans brought the skills of reading and
writing to Britain. The written word was important
for spreading ideas and also for establishing power.
As early as AD 80, as one Roman at the time not ed,
the governor Agricola "trained the sons of chiefs in
the liberal arts. the result was th at the people
who used to reject Latin began to use it in speech
and writing. Further the wearing of our national
dress came to be valued and the toga [the Roman
cloak] came into fashion." -
80
The romans
The name "Britain" comes from the word
"Pretani ", the G reco-Rornan word for the
inhabitants of Britain. The Romans mispronounced
the word and called the island "Britannia".
The Romans had invaded because the Celts of
Britain were working with the Celts of Gaul against
them. the British Celts were giving the m food, and
allowing them to hide in Britain -
400
the invaders
The wealth of Britain by the fourth century, the
result of its mild climate and centuries of peace , was
a temptation to the greedy. At first the Germanic
iribes only raided Britain , but afte r AD 430 they
began to settle. The newcomers were warlike and
illiterate. We owe our knowledge of this period
mainly to an English monk named Bede, who lived
three hundred years later. His story of events in his
Ecclesiastical History of the English People has been
proved generally. -
550
Christianity
Christianity was accepted by the Roman Emperor
Consrantine . In the last hundred years of Roman government
Christian it became firmly established across
Britain , both in Roman-controlled areas and
beyond. However. the Anglo-Saxons belo nged to
an older Germanic religion . and they drove the
Celts into the west and north. In th e Ce ltic areas
Christian it continued to spread. bringing paganism
to an end . -
570
learning
The strength of Anglo-Saxon culture is obvious
even today. Days of the week were named after
Germanic gods: Tig (Tuesday), Wod in
(Wednesday), Thor (Thursday), Frei (Friday) -
800
The vikings
Towards the end of th e eigh th cent ury new raiders
were tempted by Britain 's wealth. These were the
Vikings, a word which probably means eirher
"pir ates" or "t he people of th e sea inlets", and the y
came from Norway and Denmark. Like the AngleSaxons
they only raided at first. They burnt
churches and monasteries along the east, north and
west coasts of Britain and Ireland. London was itself
raided in 842.
