Lecture 1: 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, particularly in caves (stone or bone tools, occasionally bones, very rarely figurative art, like the carvings of birds and animals discovered in a cave in Derbyshire in 2003). For thousands years the British Isles (which were not yet islands) were largely under ice, but human population was possible during warmer periods when the ice retreated, particularly from about 13,000 to about 11,000 years ago. Arctic conditions then returned for about 1,000 years, putting an end to this period of human occupation. By around 10,000 years ago, the ice had gone. There was rapid warming. Tundra and steppe gave way to forests in the newly exposed landfirst birch and pine, later hazel, oak, elm and lime, and people returned. The sea level fell in the north as the land was freed from the weight of the ice (leaving raised beaches round the coast), but it rose in the south, eventually separating Britain and Ireland from each other and from the continent of Europe, by about 6000 BC. This period of prehistory is known as the Mesolithic (middle stone age). Like their Palaeolithic (old stone age) ancestors, people lived by hunting and gathering natural food. They had dogs, but no other domesticated animals. Many probably migrated seasonally to make the best use of the natural resources available, occupying different sites at different times of year, but some traces of permanent settlements have been found (for example the house dated c. 8,500 BC discovered at Starr Carr, Yorkshire in 2010). They seem to have managed their environment to some extent (clearing areas of woodland to encourage deer, for example). The Neolithic revolutionthe transition from hunter-gathering to farming, reached Britain around 4500 BC. Immigrants from the continent brought cereals, sheep, goats and cattle, and the new way of life was gradually adopted by the existing population. Forests were cleared to open land for cultivation. Permanent settlements were established, and permanent monuments were constructed in the landscape. large communal tombs (long barrows, passage graves) consisting of chambers made of large stones covered by mounds of stones or earth, sometimes aligned to the position of the rising or setting sun at midsummer or midwinter (e.g. Maeshowe in Orkney, Newgrange in Ireland). These

monumental structures seem to have been used to house the bones of numerous individuals, presumably important members of the community, over a long period of time; ceremonial enclosures, including henges (circular areas surrounded by a ditch and an earth bank); from around 3000 BC, circles and rows of standing stones were erected, including the complex arrangement of stones at Calanais (Western Isles), the Ring of Brodgar (Orkney), the circles of massive stones inside the large henge at Avebury and perhaps the first stones at Stonehenge (both in Wiltshire). in some places, for example in Orkney, Kilmartin in western Scotland, the Boyne valley in eastern Ireland, and the Wessex area of southern England, there are notable clusters of Neolithic tombs, earthworks and standing stones, leading archaeologists to speak of ritual landscapes. Normally little survives of Neolithic domestic buildings, but at Skara Brae (Orkney) there is a well-preserved village of stone houses, complete with stone furniture. By around 2500 BC there is evidence of important cultural changes, with the introduction of metal-working, first copper and gold, then bronze (an alloy of copper and tin): hence the period is called the Bronze Age). The henges were still in use and indeed some were further developed (notable at Stonehenge), but the Neolithic communal tombs were replaced by smaller round barrows, where a single individual was buried, often with a type of decorated pottery vessel known as a beaker, together with archers equipment and bronze objectsthe possessions of a warrior elite (at least some of whom came from the continent of Europe, for example the Amesbury Archer whose grave was discovered in 2002). From this period there is also evidence of the use of woollen cloth (which could be dyed, making coloured clothes possibleanother mark of status). Later in the Bronze Age there is evidence of a growing population, with more and more land used for agriculture. By the Late Bronze Age (from c. 1250 BC) more varied and more elaborate bronze objects were being made (including musical instruments and cauldrons) and fine gold jewellery was produced in Ireland. Many metal objects have been found in bogs and lakes, where they had been deposited, presumably as sacrifices. This also seems to have been a time of social instability and warfare. Settlements included hill forts and crannogs (artificial islands in lakes and marshes), and the bronze sword is a characteristic object. Horses had now been introduced to Britain (originally from the Steppes), and the image of a horse can still be seen where it was first cut into the chalk hillside at Uffington around 1000 BC (thanks to its having been regularly scoured every few years since then).

British Culture and Civilization J. Brown 2011-2012

Useful websites for further information http://www.dot-domesday.me.uk/in_pre.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/british_prehistory/overview_british_prehistory_01.shtml (A short introduction to British prehistory, with links to other relevant pages on the BBC site and elsewhere) http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/media_museum/media_museum_index1_sections_1to3.shtml (short video extracts on Scottish prehistory and early history: see particularly the Mysterious Ancestors section) http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/index.html (the great stone circle of Avebury, so large that it surrounds a modern village) http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/stonehenge/alexander-text (Stonehenge, see also Photo Gallery and Stage of Stonehenge) http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/ (Stonehenge) http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/archaeology/excavations_techniques/king_stonehenge_01.shtml (the Amesbury Archer) http://www.newgrange.com/ (Newgrange, including images of the 2010 winter solstice) http://www.kilmartin.org/ (the ancient monuments of Kilmartin Glen) http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/skarabrae/ (Skara Brae) http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/british_prehistory/skara_brae_gallery_01.shtml (Skara Brae) http://www.museum.ie/en/exhibition/gallery/irelands-gold-photo-gallery.aspx (an exhibition of Irish gold objects from the Bronze Age) http://www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk/uffington.html (the White Horse of Uffington) http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/browse/ (numerous images of prehistoric monuments in Britain, Ireland, and other Western European countries) On the history teacher who found that he shared DNA with a 9,000 year-old skeleton: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-family-link-that-reaches-back-300-generations-to-a-cheddar-cave-1271542.html On the oldest house in Britain discovered at Star Carr in Yorkshire in 2010, see for example: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=6009 And on other discoveries and questions concerning life in the Mesolithic period, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/archaeology/oldest_house_01.shtml For the latest discoveries in Orkney (including the massive Neolithic cathedral recently excavated at Ness of Brodgar), see http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/

British Culture and Civilization J. Brown 2011-2012