Examine the main stages in the formation of population of GB(Ancient, Britain, Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxon)

3 000 B.C. – the Iberians/Neolithic (New Stone Age) People/Megalithic (Big Stone) People crossed the English Channel in small boats. They came from the Iberian Peninsula (territory of present-day Spain). They settled in Ireland and in the west of Great Britain (present-day Wales).

They lived in stone huts, knew the art of grinding and polishing the stone making the edges and points of it sharp. The are also referred to as “the Battle Axe People” as they invented a kind of battle axe made of stone. It is said that the Iberians started the construction of the Stonehenge

2 400 B.C. – the “Beaker Folk” came from the east of Europe and settled in the south-east of Britain. They are known for their fine pottery (beakers).

They were round-headed, strongly built and taller than the Iberians. They are also known for the first individual graves furnished with pottery and bronze tools that began to replace the stone ones.

1 000 B.C. – the Picts came from somewhere on the Continent and settled mainly in Scotland. Some scientists distinguish them as a separate group of Celtic origin that came independently, others think they were just a mixture of the Iberians and the Celts that arrived later.

The Picts were short, dark-hared, aggressive, covered all over with paintings and tatoos (that’s why the Romans called them “Pictus”, i.e. “painted”

The language of the Picts is a mystery. The scientists can easily split it into words and read but cannot decode it (cannot get the meanings of the words and the message of the texts).

700 B.C. – the Celts arrived from Central Europe pushing the local inhabitants into the territory of present-day Wales, Scotland and Ireland. They were tall, red-hared and blue-eye. There were 2 main Celtic tribes that settled in the British Isles:

1)Scots(first they settled in Ireland and then moved to Scotland and intermixed with the Picts) : The Gaelic Branch: Languages (Irish/Erse (Ireland), Scotch Gaelic (the Scottish Highlands), Manx (dead; the Isle of Man)

2) Britons(settled in the south-east of England). The Britonnic Branch: languages (Breton (Brittany, modern France), Welsh (Wales), . Cornish (dead; Cornwall).

The Celts also had their own ancient alphabet called Ogham (see details in the Internet).

The Celts were technologically advanced. They knew the how to work iron.

Celtic Life: The Celts were successive farmers. They introduced more advanced ploughing methods that made it possible to farm on heavier (solid) soils. The Celts introduced money in the form of iron bars, later (a Roman borrowing) – coins.
Roman Invasion

55 B.C. – Julius Caesar attacked Britain. Reasons:

economic – Britain was an important food producer due to its mild climate + it was rich in raw materials (tin ore, corn, slaves) + Britain provided slaves for the Roman army;

political – the Romans fought with the Celts of Gaul on the continent who found shelter in Britain and were supported by the Celts of Britain. Soon after his arrival, Julius Caesar left Britain with many slaves and riches.

43 A.D. – Emperor Claudius conquered Britain and it became a province of the Roman Empire. The only area that caused much trouble was Caledonia (Scotland). The Romans spent more than 100 years trying to conquer it and failed. Finally, they decided to build a wall – Hadrian’s Wall – to keep pot the Celtic raiders from the north and to mark the border.

Roman Life: The Romans brought reading and writing skills and the Latin language to the British Isles. But only town-dwellers spoke the language of the Romans while in the villages the Celts used their Celtic dialects.The Romans established towns as centres of administration and civilisation. The Romans established London as the most important trading centre.The Romans built roads that continued to be used long after the Romans left Britain.The Roman control came to an end as the Roman Empire began to collapse. The Romans were gradually leaving the country going back home to protect the Empire. The left romanised Celt alone to fight the Scots in the north, the Irish in the west and the Anglo-Saxons that started to arrive from the mainland.410 A.D. – the last Roman soldiers left Britain.

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