1Ancient britain

Ancient britain THE EARLIEST TIMES Britain has not always been an island. It became an island after the end of the last ice age, about 8000 years ago THE EARLIEST PEOPLE The people living in Britain were descendants of the first homo sapiens who arrived in Europe 30000 – 40000 years ago They lived by fishing, hunting and collecting fruit, nuts, berries, etc. NEOLITHIC: INTRODUCTION OF FARMING The introduction of farming, when people learned how to produce food, is considered one of the biggest changes in human history Farming started to develop in Britain between 5000BC and 4500 BC NEOLITHIC: INTRODUCTION OF FARMIN The introduction of farming into Britain is probably the result of migration of people from the continent. It took about 2000 years to spread across the island When they produced food, they needed a place to store it, so they stopped moving around the country every season and settled down. NEOLITHIC: INTRODUCTION OF FARMING The introduction of farming into Britain is probably the result of migration of people from the continent. It took about 2000 years to spread across the island When they produced food, they needed a place to store it, so they stopped moving around the country every season and settled down. EARLY SETTLEMENTS From about 3800 BC people started to settle down and we find the first large communal tombs (called barrows or mounds) EARLY SETTLEMENTS There are also ceremonial monuments, where people from a particular region gathered together. Some of these monuments, called henges, were built according to the position of the sun during the winter or summer solstice. The most famous of these monuments is Stonehenge, developed about 3000 BC STONEHENGE Stonehenge is a circular arrangement of standing stones built in prehistoric times and located near Salisbury The stones were put in place in three main phases c. 3100–c. 1550 BC. There are many theories about the reason for the building of Stonehenge but none has been proved. People generally believe that it was a place of worship and ritual and there seems to be some connection with the summer solstice BRONZE AGE About 2500 BC the Bronze Age starts. Henges continue in use, but communal tombs are replaced by individual ones. Important men and women were buried separately with objects like metal daggers or axes and pieces of pottery (beakers) At this time people lived in settlements consisting of round houses grouped together Metalwork improves. The first field systems are developed in Britain about 1500-1250 BC THE IRON AGE (800 BC) The Celts probably came from Central Europe and were technically advanced. They could work with iron, and could make better weapons than the people who used bronze. They took new crops (new varieties of barley and wheat), peas, beans. They used new farming techniques (iron plough). As a consequence, the population grew. Before the Romans, there were no cities in Britain. The Celts lived in small agricultural villages. An extended family lived in a dark and smoke-filled “Round House,” made of mud and branches, called wattle and daub. CELTIC ROUND HOUSES For defensive purposes, the Celtic village was sometimes made part of a hill fort. Remains of these Hill Forts can still be seen in Britain today. CELTIC LIFE The Celts didn't leave books behind because they didn't read and write But the Greeks and Romans wrote about the Iron Age Celts. They tell us that the Celts lived in tribes, they wore gold and loved to fight and drink wine. They also wrote about the power of the Celts' priests, who were called druids. The druids knew how to keep their gods happy - they sacrificed food, precious objects, and even people to their gods and goddesses. Archaeologists have found lots of Celtic jewellery The Celts used bronze and gold as well as iron. The heads of the tribe would wear jewellery to show how important they were. They also needed sharp objects like spears, as well as shields, to defend themselves from enemy attack The Romans say that the Celts were fierce warriors. The farmers had to be ready to fight whenever the head of the tribe called on them. The Celts often fought naked - and it's believed that women would fight as well. Their main weapons were the sword and spear, and they sometimes fought in horse-drawn war chariots. Even though the Celts were proud, brave and skilled fighters, they were rather undisciplined. They could not fight against the Romans' order and power. And, of course, in the end they were defeated by the Romans. Most of the time, the Celts were involved in quiet agricultural life, raising their crops and tending their cattle. However, there was always the constant danger of warfare with another tribe. Therefore, Celtic men – and often women -were trained as warriors. Their basic weapons were the shield and the long sword Warrior society The Celtic tribes were led by chieftains, but the most powerful class of people were priests known as the Druids. RELIGION AND BELIEF: THE DRUIDS The druids were the Celts' priests, responsible for all sorts of religious ceremonies. They were educated and powerful members of the tribe The Druids instructed young men, supervised sacrifices, judged fights, and decreed penalties; they didn’t go to war and paid no tribute. The Druids were suppressed by the Romans but survived as poets, historians, and judges. The Druids preserved the ancient traditions of the tribe. They administered the law, and they conducted various rituals, often held in sacred groves of oak trees. The Celts sometimes resorted to human sacrifice, in order to insure a good harvest or to ward off danger from the tribe. We have discovered remains of sacrificed “bog men”. Another form of human sacrifice involved burning a victim in a “wicker man.” RELIGION AND BELIEF The Celts had a variety of gods and goddesses, usually associated with aspects of nature. For instance, the god of the forest was the horned god Cernunnos. ROMAN BRITAIN (AD 43-410) Roman Invasions 55 BC Julius Caesar invaded Britain 43 AD Emperor Claudius invaded; marks beginning of Roman Britain Began to Christianize the Celts; Celtic religion vanished Controlled world from Hadrian’s Wall to Arabia