Early Settlements,
that would go on for millennia. These Stone Age or Bronze Age peoples,
Celts, and Romans
(Prehistory to ca. 450 C.E.)
T he earliest history of Britain is marked by its physical separation
from the European continent, its settlement from Europe, its
inhabitants developing from hunter-gatherers to farmers, and eventually
the formation of political units larger than individual villages.
These early inhabitants had some remarkable cultural achievements,
including Stonehenge and other earth and stone circles.
Beginning in the first millennium B.C.E., Britain was increasingly
influenced by the European continent, which brought Iron Age technology.
The British were part of the cultural world of the Celts before
many of them were forcibly incorporated into the Roman Empire.
Although that empire had left Britain by the early 5th century C.E..,
the legacy of Christianity remained, a religion that would shape British
culture and institutions to the 21st century.
The Early Britons
Human and prehuman remains have been found in Britain dating as far
back as 250,000–300,000 years ago, but these earliest inhabitants seem
to have left during the last ice age, which ended about 50,000 years ago.
Britain was then resettled from Europe. At this time, it was physically
attached to the continent; it only separated to form the island chain
with which we are familiar about 11,000 years ago.
Not much is known about these early inhabitants of Britain. They
were organized in small communities, and as the population increased
they moved from hunting-gathering to agriculture in a way similar
to that of many other peoples throughout the world. Britain in this
early phase was very heavily forested, well suited to a hunter-gatherer
economy. The beginnings of the Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, in
the fifth millennium with farming cultures meant the clearing of some
of the southern British forests, which started a process of deforestation
who used flint or bronze implements rather than iron, exhibited different
cultural traits, and there was no sign of a “British” identity. These
Neolithic developments also meant a shift from the relatively egalitarian
society of hunter-gatherers to a more stratified society based on
class and gender hierarchies.
The most important physical remnants of the early Britons are the
great stone or megalithic circles, notably Stonehenge on Salisbury
Plain, which dates to about 3000 b.c.e.; and Avebury, built around the
same time or a little earlier about 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the north.
Avebury is actually larger than Stonehenge, but due to its greater erosion
and the destruction of many of its stones in the medieval period,
it is less impressive and not as well known. The efforts of modern
archaeologists have revealed many other Neolithic constructions, both
in stone and earthworks, in various parts of Britain and Ireland. More
than 900 Stone Age circles, or henges, are known in the British Isles,
and there were probably many more of which no trace survives. There
are also surviving remnants of old wooden buildings, including some
at Stonehenge, although these have all vanished from casual view. Some
of the archaic structures, such as Stonehenge, were vast constructions
requiring more than a million man-hours of labor—a remarkable
commitment of resources given the general harshness of life in Stone Age
society. Since most adults in the Neolithic period died in their 30s, this
labor had to extend over generations. Some Stonehenge stones, weighing
in the tons, were imported all the way from Wales, indicating trade
or diplomatic relations and an amazing feat of organization, given the
primitive technology available. Other, even larger rocks were transported
from a closer area (the Stonehenge area itself is not particularly
rocky, so importation was a necessity), but over land, an even more
significant accomplishment.
Stonehenge has constructions and motifs in common with sites
on continental Europe, along with the presence of some Continental
goods. It used to be believed that the great circle had actually been
built by people from the Mediterranean, particularly given the
similarities to some circular monuments in the developed culture
of Crete. However, modern students of Stonehenge and its sister
circles believe them to have been within the capabilities of the British
people themselves.
The ruins of Stonehenge continue to impress in their quiet majesty. (Library of Congress,
Photochrom Collection)
Contrary to popular belief, there was no original connection between
Stonehenge and the Druids, who came along much later. Construction
began with earthworks, followed by the inclusion of wooden posts. By
the mid-third millennium, vast stones were being placed in a circular
design. The finished monument consisted of two concentric circles of
stones surrounded by circular earthworks. Archaeologists and
archaeoastronomers continue to debate the relationship of various features
of Stonehenge to events in the yearly astronomical cycle. There are
indications of religious services such as the worship of deities—possibly
to a sun god and an earth goddess whose marriage on the summer
solstice the monument commemorates—although it is always
risky to make assumptions about religion based solely on artifacts.
The main avenue is oriented to the midsummer sun, and there are
carvings on the stones associated with the earth goddess, such as the
double-bladed axe. Sacrifices and burials of the dead were performed
on the Stonehenge site and in the immediate area. The creation of a
great ritual center attracting pilgrims and gifts from all over southern
Britain and even the Continent may have been intended to mark
the superiority of Stonehenge people over other groups in southern Britain.
The inner ring of blue stones from Wales may have been connected
to beliefs that the blue stones had healing properties, and some
archaeologists have theorized that Stonehenge in the later periods of
its use may have been a healing center that even drew visitors from
the European continent. Stonehenge declined as a center of activity
in the second half of the second millennium b.c.e. as climatic changes
to cooler and wetter conditions adversely affected British agriculture,
leading to a population crash.
The Celts and the Iron Age
Britain from about the sixth century b.c.e. can be categorized as an Iron
Age culture. Iron came relatively late to Britain compared to other parts
of Europe, but the British were able to exploit their own iron mines.
The smith had a high status in British Iron Age culture, even being
represented among the gods. Iron ingots were used as currency, and
the introduction of iron axes, combined with the need for fuel to smelt
and forge iron, meant that deforestation continued more rapidly. Bronze
continued to be used quite widely, as it was cheaper than iron.
In the Iron Age, Britain came to be dominated by a group of people
known in modern times as the Celts, who are a difficult group to
define. The term Celt was originally associated with peoples on the
European continent, but there is little evidence of a common Celtic
identity straddling the English Channel. While older historians viewed
the changes associated with Celtic culture in Britain as an invasion by
Celtic peoples from the European continent, more recently historians
and archaeologists have found British people selectively adopting
certain cultural characteristics of Celtic peoples on their own accord.
The indigenous British aristocracy may have adopted Celtic ways
as a means of distinguishing themselves from ordinary Britons.
The spread of cultural artefacts and styles we now call Celtic constitutes a
significant aspect of the long transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age
Britain. However, this does not mean the people in Britain adopted a
“Celtic” identity or even a “British” one.
No ancient writer refers to the British as Celts, and there is some evidence
that the “Celtic” languages of Britain—Gaelic, Cornish, and Welsh—had
roots far predating the Celtic period. These languages, along with Breton
and Irish, were only labeled Celtic in the 18th century. There is no
indication that the ancient Britons thought of themselves as Celts, although
there were substantial cultural, political, and trade connections with
France, referred to in ancient times as Gaul and inhabited by Celts among
other peoples. There is also no evidence of a “British” identity spanning
the different peoples that lived in the island.
Iron Age Britain developed larger communities than there had been
under the previous inhabitants, although there is no evidence of any
island-wide organization or even anything on the scale of the later
kingdoms of England and Scotland. Britain was divided into many
territories of smaller or larger tribes, with fluctuating boundaries.
Some of these tribes had a long-term influence on place-names—for
example, the Cantiaci, after whom the county of Kent in the far southeast
is named. These tribal groupings were very fluid and often only
lasted for a few decades, a century, or just the life span of a powerful
leader.
There were strong class divisions among the Britons, with a warrior
aristocracy, some of whom may have been recent immigrants from
the Continent, ruling over a peasantry that made up the majority of
the population. Early Britain had a warlike culture, and many of the
artifacts that survive are related to war. A common form of settlement
was the hill fort, built on top of a hill to dominate surrounding territories.
Britons used chariots in battle, a form of warfare obsolete in the
Mediterranean and even Gaul but still formidable in the more primitive
British setting. British armies also included cavalry, mounted on
ponies, and infantry. One custom for which British warriors became
well known was painting themselves blue, using a substance known
as woad, before going into battle. The reason for this is not clear, but
it may have had something to do with the display of individual valour.
Upper-class British men also made a point of displaying personal courage
through hunting, although of course much hunting was carried out
primarily for meat.
The spear, which economized on the use of metal, was a popular Celtic weapon. This Britain in the fourth century, revealing to the Mediterranean peoples
spearhead that Britain was an island.
from the Thames Valley area is decorated with bronze inlays. (© British Museum/Art
Resource, NY) When Britons first appeared in the written as opposed to the archaeological
record it was not their own written record but that of the
Our knowledge of Iron Age British religion is fragmentary due to Mediterranean peoples—the Greeks and the Romans.
the lack of written sources. The British were polytheists, worshipping
a variety of local goddesses and gods and some whose cults covered a
larger area. They venerated animals associated with the gods, particularly
horses and pigs, and plants, particularly oak and mistletoe. They
sacrificed animals, and sometimes humans, to their gods and goddesses.
An important feature of Iron Age British religion and culture
was Druidism, something the British shared with the Celts of Gaul but
not of Ireland. Some classical Greek and Roman writers claimed that
Druidism originated in Britain and that Druids from Gaul received training
in Britain. The Druids were a class of men who seem to have had
certain exemptions from taxation and military service. Being a Druid
required skill and training. Druids memorized an extensive orally
transmitted poetic literature and had knowledge of herbs, medicinal
plants, divining techniques, and religious ritual. The Druids, many of
whom inherited their profession, were political and intellectual leaders.
They settled disputes between British communities or, alternatively,
participated in battle by calling down curses on the enemy. Druids
employed circles in their rituals and did use Stonehenge and other ancient
stone constructions as ritual centers, but they preferred natural settings in
the woods or at wells.

There were growing economic connections between the British

and the classical Mediterranean world in the Iron Age. Britain’s metal
resources—including tin and copper (the components of bronze),
as well as gold—attracted traders. The earliest link between Britain
and the Mediterranean economy was the Cornish tin trade, mainly
through Phoenician traders based in Spain and ultimately in Carthage.
The Greeks followed the Phoenicians, and the Greek word for tin was
derived from the Celtic word for Britain. Britain also became known for
its pearls. One Greek navigator, Pytheas of Massilia, circumnavigated