EARLY BRITAIN

About 3000 B.C. Neolithic people crossed the narrow sea from Europe. These people kept animals and grew corn crops, and knew how to make pottery. They probably came from the Iberian peninsula (modern Spain) or even the North African coast. They were small and dark. Iberians settled in the western parts of Britain and Ireland.

These were the first of several waves of invaders before the 1^st arrival of the Romans in 55 BC.

After 3000 BC people started building great circles of earth banks and ditches. Inside, they built wooden buildings and circles. These "henges", as they are called, were centers of religious, political and economic power. Henges were built in many parts of Britain, as far as the Orkneys north of Scotland, and as far south as Cornwall. By far the most spectacular was Stonehenge, which was built in separate stages for over a thousand years. In Ireland the center of prehistoric civilization grew around the River Boyne and at Tara in Ulster.

The Celts

Around 700 BC, another group of people began to arrive. Many of them were tall, and had fair or red hair and blue eyes. Those were the Celts, who probably came from central Europe or southern Russia. The Celts were technically advanced. They knew how to work with iron, and could make better weapons than the people who used bronze. The Celts began to control all the lowland areas of Britain. They built hill-forts which were local economic centers. Their main occupation was agriculture.

The Celtic tribes were ruled over by a warrior class, of which the priests, or the Druids, seem to have been particularly important members. The Druids memorized all the religious teachings, tribal laws, history, medicine and other knowledge. They had no temples but they met in sacred groves of trees, by rivers and so on.

The Celts are so important in British history as they are ancestors of many people in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Cornwall today. Celtic languages are still spoken.

There were 3 waves of Celtic arrivals:

1. The Gaelic tribes - around 700 BC

2. The Britons - around 500 BC

3. The Belgic tribes - around 100 BC. They were strong enough to push other Celtic tribes northwards.

The Romans

The first attempt to conquer Britain was made in 55 BC. Julius Caesar landed in Britain but he had to leave soon. In 43 AD Claudius sent his legions to occupy Britain. The Romans ruled the land for about 400 years, until 410.

The Romans had invaded because the Celts of Britain were working with the Celts of Gaul against them. Another reason is that under the Celts Britain had become an important food producer. It exported corn and animals, as well as slaves

The Roman province of Britannia covered most of present-day England and Wales. The Romans imposed their own way of life and culture. They made use of the existing Celtic aristocracy to govern and encouraged that ruling class to adopt Roman dress and Latin language.

However, the Romans left behind only 3 things of importance: their roads, place-names like Chester, Lancaster and Gloucester, which include variants of the Roman word castra (military camp), and the seeds of Christianity. Their villas, baths, temples and towns were soon destroyed.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 1630