Early history of Britain.

Nobody knows when the first men appeared on the territory of Britain. Its oldest known human remains go back to 200,000 years ago. At that time Britain was not an island but the part of the continent now called Europe.

Little is known about the ancient population of the British Isles. They lived in caves and hunted animals for food. Gradually they learned to grow corn and breed domestic animals. They made primitive tools and weapons of stone. Later they learned to smelt metal. Archaeologists find their tools and weapons, as well as remains of primitive houses. These people were religious. They left behind them the barrows (large mound graves made of earth or stone) that can still be seen in the south of Britain. The greatest of the temples which they built is Stonehenge.

This ancient monument of huge stones solitarily standing on the Salisbury Plain, a region south-east of Bristol, has captured imaginations for centuries. Theories about who built it have included the Druids, Greeks, Phoenicians, and Atlanteans. Speculation on the reason it was built range from human sacrifice to astronomy. Investigations over the last 100 years have revealed that Stonehenge was built in several stages from 2800 - 1800 BC. It seems to have been designed to allow for observation of astronomical phenomena - summer and winter solstices, eclipses, and more. Mostly Stonehenge is associated with sun worship: at dawn in midsummer, the sun rises exactly over a certain stone on the outside of the circle and shines onto the altar in the centre.

Between the sixth and the third century ВС, the British Isles were invaded by Celtic tribes who settled in southern England. They originally came from central Europe. Their culture goes back to about 1200 ВС. Between 500 and 250 ВС, they were the most powerful people north of the Alps. Originally they were pagan, with priests known as Druids.

The druids’ influence was as much social as religious. They not only performed roles similar to modern priests, but were also the philosophers, scientists, lore-masters, teachers, judges and counsellors to the kings. The druids linked the Celtic peoples with their numerous gods, the secular and ritual calendar, and the natural order. Some plants such as the mistletoe and the oak-tree were considered sacred.

The four main Gaelic holidays observed by Gaelic druids and their people include Imbolg (February 1), which marked the earliest signs of the coming spring, Beltane (May 1), a time of community gatherings and moving of the herds to summer pastures, Lughnasadh to celebrate the ripening of first fruits and the many-skilled deity Lugh, and Samhain to recognize the end of harvest, the time of sacrifice, and the lowering of the barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead. The timing for these four festivals was determined by seasonal changes in the natural world, or possibly by combined lunar and solar calendar.

The Britons lived in huts of arched timber with walls of wicker and roofs of thatch. The huts were generally gathered in loose hamlets. The Celts were mainly farmers. They organized themselves into tribes with a king or queen as leader and intertribal wars were very common.

The Celts were great warriors. The Romans considered the Celts as ”high spirited and quick for battle.” They were also famous artists, known for their sophisticated designs, which are found in their elaborate jewellery, decorated crosses and illuminated manuscripts.

They later converted to Christianity. It was Celtic missionaries who spread the Christian religion through Scotland and northern England.

Hardly anything is left of the Celtic language or culture in England, except for the names of some rivers (Thames, Severn, Avon) and cities (Leeds).

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