1 Invasions and migrations

Scenario History and culture 1 INVASIONS AND MIGRATIONS

Once upon a time in Europe

▲ Map showing hypothetical extent of Doggerland, which provided a land bridge between Britain and continental Europe. Recent research has proved that the first humans (called ‘Pioneer men’) lived in Britain more than a hundred thousand years ago. Pioneer man was eventually wiped out by Ice Age. As climate conditions became more benign, a new group of humans arrived. They migrated across the land bridge that at that time joined Britain to the European mainland. Archaeologists call that vanished strip of land ‘Doggerland’. The area was a series of gently sloping hills, marshland, valleys, and swampy lagoons, at first inhabited by deer and other wild animals. Later the hunters followed, coming from what is now continental Europe. Evidence of Doggerlanders’ nomadic presence can be found embedded in the seafloor, where modern fishermen often find ancient bones and tools that date to about 9000 years ago. Then, some 8200 years ago, the sea level rose following the last Ice Age and water inundated this area, creating the Europe we are familiar with today. Britain was definitively cut off from Europe. Those first inhabitants of Doggerland were in part swept away by the flood, while the rest (known as Ancient Britons) remained in Britain and developed separately, living undisturbed on hunting and fishing. Around 4500 B.C. a new group of immigrants arrived from Europe and settled in southern England and Ireland. They came in boats, with sheep, cattle, and cereals and began to cultivate the land. They started clearing the forests to make more space for crops and animals, thus changing the landscape. These first farmers built special monuments for the dead, where rituals and ceremonies were held. The Ancient Britons also built stone circles, probably for religious ceremonies involving hundreds of people. Stonehenge, near Salisbury, is the most famous of these stone circles.

▲ The stunning Gundestrup cauldron (Celtic bowl). Made from nine kilos of solid silver and more than half a metre in diameter, it is decorated on the outside with faces that stare out from the bowl; inside are elaborate scenes of what appear to be the stories of gods.

The Celts (7th-4th centuries B.C.)

Around 2000 B.C. the Celts, a group of people from central Europe, started settling across much of Britain and Ireland. Their settlement, in various waves, continued until about 600 B.C. Although they were a war-like people, they mixed with the indigenous populations and created a distinct

Celtic-British culture of their own. The Celts were organised in tribes each with its own king or chief. Women had a special place in Celtic society: they could be warriors and leaders of tribe.