PRE-ROMAN AND ROMAN BRITAIN

Apuntes

PRE-ROMAN AND ROMAN BRITAIN Little is known about the British Isles before written records, which generally began with the Roman invasion of 55 bce. How- ever, archaeological expeditions have uncovered some evidence of human settlements dating back to approximately 17000 bce. More evidence—including the remains of ornamental pottery, flint arrow- heads, and agricultural artifacts—exists for settlements beginning about 3000 bce. These groups are thought to have migrated from Northern Europe to what is today the southeastern part of England adjacent to the English Channel and then to have spread northward into Yorkshire and westward into Ireland. Among the traditions of these early inhabitants was the practice of burying their dead in com- munal “barrows,” or long mounds, some as long as 350 feet; several of these are still visible today. A later wave of migrants, identified as the Beaker People based on their pottery, joined these earliest barrow peoples before the Bronze Age (about 2000 to 1000 bce). Several groups of migrants crossed the English Channel during the Bronze Age, the 2 Roman and Anglo-Saxon Britain 14 The History of Great Britain most important of which has...