The Ancient Human Occupation Of Britain

The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain Project (AHOB) funded by the Leverhulme Trust began in 2001 and brought together researchers from a range of disciplines with the aim of investigating the record of human presence in Britain from the earliest occupation until the end of the last Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago. Study of changes in climate, landscape and biota over the last million years provides the environmental backdrop to understanding human presence and absence together with the development of new technologies. This book brings together the multidisciplinary work of the project. The chapters present the results of new fieldwork and research on old sites from museum collections using an array of new analytical techniques. Features an up-to-date treatment of the record of human presence in the British Isles during the Palaeolithic period (700,000 - 10,000 years before present) Takes multidisciplinary approach that includes archaeology, geochemistry, geochronology, stratigraphy and sedimentology Coincides with the culmination of the AHOB project in 2010, providing a benchmark statement on the record of human occupation in Britain that can be utilized and tested by future research

Drawing on various techniques of investigation, this book describes times when Britain was so tropical that man lived alongside hippos and sabre tooth tigers, times so cold we shared this land with reindeer and mammoth, and times when we were forced to flee altogether.

The amazing story of human life in Britain during the last million years, told by two scientists at the forefront of research into ancient ancestors When did the first humans arrive in Britain? Where did they come from? And what did they look like? This amazing story of human life in Britain begins nearly one million years ago, during the earliest known human occupation, and reveals how early humans lived, survived, and died. The book travels through time to reveal which human species lived in Britain during multiple waves of occupation. Drawing on a wealth of dramatic new evidence from excavation sites, it describes who they were, what their habitats were like, which animals shared their landscape, and what they were capable of doing, from the controlled use of fire to specialized hunting. It shows how humans have changed, evolved, and migrated, adapting to dramatically changing climate and landscapes. The authors describe the discoveries, the key fossil specimens, and the science behind recent remarkable findings. Written in a lively and engaging style, and fully illustrated with maps, diagrams, and photographs, this is an incredible journey through ancient Britain and a groundbreaking guide to our earlier humans. The book is based on the groundbreaking work of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project.

Britain has been inhabited by humans for over half a million years, during which time there were a great many changes in lifestyles and in the surrounding landscape. This book, now in its second edition, examines the development of human societies in Britain from earliest times to the Roman conquest of AD 43, as revealed by archaeological evidence. Special attention is given to six themes which are traced through prehistory: subsistence, technology, ritual, trade, society, and population. Prehistoric Britain begins by introducing the background to prehistoric studies in Britain, presenting it in terms of the development of interest in the subject and the changes wrought by new techniques such as radiocarbon dating, and new theories, such as the emphasis on social archaeology. The central sections trace the development of society from the hunter-gatherer groups of the last Ice Age, through the adoption of farming, the introduction of metalworking, and on to the rise of highly organized societies living on the fringes of the mighty Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. Throughout, emphasis is given to documenting and explaining changes within these prehistoric communities, and to exploring the regional variations found in Britain. In this way the wealth of evidence that can be seen in the countryside and in our museums is placed firmly in its proper context. It concludes with a review of the effects of prehistoric communities on life today. With over 120 illustrations, this is a unique review of Britain's ancient past as revealed by modern archaeology. The revisions and updates to Prehistoric Britain ensure that this will continue to be the most comprehensive and authoritative account of British prehistory for those students and interested readers studying the subject.

This book is for anyone starting out to understand the prehistoric life of Britain from the first human occupation 450,000 years ago, until the Roman conquest in AD 43. James Dyer here succeeds in bringing to life a thriving picture of the people and customs of the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, based on the sometimes sparse clues presented by prehistoric archaeological sites across Britain. For many readers, Ancient Britain will provide the first chance to get to grips with the present state of our knowledge of prehistoric agriculture, settlement, trade and ritual. The rise of power, with the development of a class system at the hands of the first metal users, is charted through to the growth of wealth and the emergence of a warlike and advanced Iron Age society - a society that was nonetheless unable to withstand the might of Rome. With over 130 illustrations and photographs, including a number of specially drawn reconstructions, this highly visual book is an ideal primer for all students of prehistory and all those who are simply interested in the subject.

The story of the origins of the British and the Irish peoples, from the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000BC to the eve of the Norman Conquest - who they were, where they came from, and how they related to one another.

Who were the first Britons, and what sort of world did they occupy? In A History of Ancient Britain, much-loved historian Neil Oliver turns a spotlight on the very beginnings of the story of Britain; on the first people to occupy these islands and their battle for survival. There has been human habitation in Britain, regularly interrupted by Ice Ages, for the best part of a million years. The last retreat of the glaciers 12,000 years ago brought a new and warmer age and with it, one of the greatest tsunamis recorded on Earth which struck the north-east of Britain, devastating the population and flooding the low-lying plains of what is now the North Sea. The resulting island became, in time, home to a diverse range of cultures and peoples who have left behind them some of the most extraordinary and enigmatic monuments in the world. Through what is revealed by the artefacts of the past, Neil Oliver weaves the epic story - half a million years of human history up to the departure of the Roman Empire in the Fifth Century AD. It was a period which accounts for more than ninety-nine per cent of humankind's presence on these islands. It is the real story of Britain and of her people.

Based on new archaeological finds, this book introduces a novel rethinking of the whole of British history before the coming of the Romans. So many extraordinary archaeological discoveries (many of them involving the author) have been made since the early 1970s that our whole understanding of British prehistory needs to be updated. So far only the specialists have twigged on to these developments; now, Francis Pryor broadcasts them to a much wider, general audience. Aided by aerial photography, coastal erosion (which has helped expose such coastal sites as Seahenge) and new planning legislation which requires developers to excavate the land they build on, archaeologists have unearthed a far more sophisticated life among the Ancient Britons than has been previously supposed. Far from being the woaded barbarians of Roman propaganda, we Brits had our own religion, laws, crafts, arts, trade, farms, priesthood and royalty. And the Scots, English and Welsh were fundamentally one and the same people.