Prehistoric England

People living in England in 15,000 BC continued living in caves just as their predecessors did when they first came to England in 450,000 BC. They had however made huge progress in other areas and their tools of stone and bone were very much more sophisticated then the simple stone tools of their ancestors. By this time they had also started making clothes from animal skins and wearing jewelry made from shells and animal teeth. .

Covered in tundra at that time, the climate started getting warmer and by 8,500 BC England was covered with forests and was segregated from the rest of Europe. The people who resided at Star Carr in Yorkshire around 7,500 BC were primarily hunter-gatherers and hunted wild cattle, deer, elk and pigs. Some studies indicate that they may have also made boats around this time.

STONE AGE FARMERS

With the introduction of farming in 4,500 BC, the farmers cleared out the forests and began cultivating crops of wheat and barley. Besides an assortment of tools constructed from mined flint, these early farmers used oxen shoulder blades as shovels and deer antlers as picks. During this time they still continued hunting and gathering fruit and nuts but now began living in simple wooden huts. .

Stonehenge, though altered over the years, is living testimony to the period around 2,500 BC when the farmers began constructing henges, which started off as simple ditches with wooden poles or stones erected within them.

The Beaker People, who were famous for their bell-shaped pottery beakers, made their first appearance sometime after 2,500 BC and with them a new culture was born in England.

BRONZE AGE ENGLAND

Commencing from around 2,000 BC when bronze was first invented, the Bronze Age spanned several thousand years and revolutionized almost all aspects of life in English society including the way artifacts, jewelry, tools and weapons were made.

Studies indicate that the people of the Bronze Age rode horses, dwelled in round wooden huts with thatched roofs and were the first people in England to begin weaving cloth. Though it is thought that the first divisions in society were brought about during this period there very little known about their society or the way it was organized. .

LIFE IN CELTIC TIMES

In 650 BC the Celts, who were skilled craftsmen, introduced England to iron and the art of sword-making along with a host of other skills that was to change life in England forever.

Celtic Skills - Although farming remained the main profession, the Celts were also carpenters, potters, leather workers, bronze smiths and blacksmiths. They also made glass, glass beads, ornate swords and shields and intricate jewelry of precious stones and gold.

Celtic Society- Celtic society was rigidly hierarchical and comprised of the king or chieftain, the nobles, the craftsmen, the farmers and the slaves in that order. However, in the absence of any political unity there was a great deal of fighting among the various Celtic tribes. Druids played an important role in Celtic society. In addition to being priests, they were also judges, scholars and advisors to the kings. .

Celtic Religion - Polytheists by nature, the Celts did not build temples but worshipped at natural sites including lakes, rivers, springs and groves of trees.

Celtic Abodes – Celtic houses were round and constructed around a central pole that had horizontal poles radiating outwards from it. These were supported by vertical poles. The houses had thatched roofs and wattle and daub walls.

Celtic Clothes – Celtic men typically wore tunics and trousers. They kept a moustache but no beard and soaked their hair in limewater to make it stand upright. Celtic women usually wore long dresses and mantles with cloth, leather or bronze-ringed belts worn around it.

Celtic Leisure – The Celts played lyres and flues and enjoyed playing board games as much as they enjoyed holding horse or chariot races or hunting wild boar on horseback.