The Prehistory of Great Britain

&
Stonehenge
The Prehistory of Great Britain
Prehistoric Britain is the period between the arrivaI
of the first humans in Great Britain and the start of
recorded British history.
The history of Britain is conventionaIIy reckoned to
have begun in 43 A.D. with the Roman invasion of
Britain.
The Prehistory is commonIy divided chronoIogicaIIy
into distinct periods, based on the deveIopment of
tooIs from stone to bronze and iron as weII as
changes in cuIture and cIimate, but their boundaries
are uncertain, and the changes between them
graduaI.
The Palaeolithic
Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) Britain is the period
of the earliest known occupation of Britain by
man.
The inhabitants of the region at this time were
bands of hunter-gatherers who roamed northern
Europe following herds of animals, or who
supported themselves by fishing.
The Mesolithic (around 10000 to 5500 years ago)
Around 10,000 years ago the ice age ended .
By 9500 years ago, the rising sea levels caused by the
melting glaciers cut Britain off from reland.
The animals in people's diets were replaced by the
following: pigs, red deer, wild boars and wild cattle.
The dog was domesticated because of its benefits during
hunting.
The Neolithic (4000 to 2000 BC)
The Neolithic was the period of domestication of plants
and animals.
The Neolithic Revolution, as it is called, introduced a
more settled way of life and ultimately led to societies
becoming divided into differing groups of farmers,
artisans and leaders.
Evidence of growing mastery over the environment is
embodied in the Sweet Track, a wooden trackway built
to cross the marshes of the Somerset Levels and dated
to 3807 BC.
Evidence of the use of cow milk comes from analysis of
pottery contents found beside the Sweet Track.
Stonehenge
$tonehenge is a prehistoric monument
located in the English county of Wiltshire,
about 3.2 kilometres west of Amesbury and
13 kilometres north of Salisbury. One of the
most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge
is composed of earthworks surrounding a
circular setting of large standing stones, and
sits at the centre of the densest complex of
Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in
England, including several hundred burial
mounds.
Archaeologists had believed that the iconic
stone monument was erected around 2500
BC, but one recent theory has suggested
that the first stones were not erected until
2400-2200 BC, whilst another suggests that
bluestones may have been erected at the
site as early as 3000 BC.
New archaeological evidence found by the Stonehenge
Riverside Project indicates that Stonehenge served as a
burial ground from its earliest beginnings. The dating of
cremated remains found on the site shows that burials
took place there as early as 3000 B.C., when the first
ditches were being constructed around the monument.
Burials continued at Stonehenge for at least another 500
years.
Stonehenge itself evolved in several construction phases
spanning at least 1500 years.
t is widely assumed that Stonehenge once stood as a
magnificent "complete" monument, although this cannot
be proved as around half of the stones that should be
present are missing.
Stonehenge 1 (around 3100 B.C)
The first monument consisted of a circular bank and The first monument consisted of a circular bank and
ditch enclosure made of Late Cretaceous (Santonian ditch enclosure made of Late Cretaceous (Santonian
Age) Seaford Chalk, measuring about 110 Age) Seaford Chalk, measuring about 110 metres in metres in
diameter with a large entrance to the north east and a diameter with a large entrance to the north east and a
smaller one to the south. smaller one to the south.
The builders placed the bones of deer and oxen in the The builders placed the bones of deer and oxen in the
bottom of the ditch as well as some worked flint tools. bottom of the ditch as well as some worked flint tools.
Within the outer edge of the enclosed area was a circle Within the outer edge of the enclosed area was a circle
of 56 pits, each about a metre in diameter, known as the of 56 pits, each about a metre in diameter, known as the
Aubrey holes after John Aubrey, the seventeenth century Aubrey holes after John Aubrey, the seventeenth century
antiquarian who was thought to have first identified them. antiquarian who was thought to have first identified them.
The pits may have contained standing timbers creating a The pits may have contained standing timbers creating a
timber circle, although there is no excavated evidence of timber circle, although there is no excavated evidence of
them. them.
Stonehenge 2 (around 3000 B.C.)
Evidence of the second phase is no longer visible.
At least twenty-five of the Aubrey Holes are known to
have contained, intrusive, cremation burials, dating to
the two centuries after the monument's inception.
t seems that whatever the holes' initial function was, it
changed to become a funerary one during Phase 2.
Stonehenge is therefore interpreted as functioning as an
enclosed cremation cemetery at this time, the earliest
known cremation cemetery in the British sles.
Stonehenge 3 (2600 to 1930 B.C.)
Archaeological excavation has indicated that around
2600 BC, timber was abandoned in favour of stone, and
two concentric arrays of holes (the Q and R Holes) were
dug in the centre of the site. These stone sockets are
only partly known, however they could be the remains of
a double ring.
The bluestones, were thought for much of the 20th
century to have been transported by humans from the
Preseli Hills, 250 kilometres away in modern day
Pembrokeshire in Wales.
The images of a 'dagger' and 14 'axeheads' have been
carved on one of the sarsens, known as stone 53 and
further carvings of axeheads have been seen on the
outer faces of stones 3, 4, and 5.
The Function of Stonehenge
Stonehenge was produced by a culture that left no
written records. Many aspects of Stonehenge remain
subject to debate. This multiplicity of theories, some of
them very colourful, is often called the "mystery of
Stonehenge".
Professor Mike Parker Pearson, head of the Stonehenge
Riverside Project, suggests that the area around
Durrington Walls Henge was a place of the living, whilst
Stonehenge was a domain of the dead.
Some say that Stonehenge was a place of healing,
whereas others say it was a place of ancestor worship.
The End!
Drive safely and protect nature!
Author: Dobos Sergiu
Special thanks to: wikipedia.org