Transcript The origins of British Culture_ Abetini_Iacumin

BRITISH PREHISTORY
ABETINI MATTEO
IACUMIN JESSICA
3A
EARLIEST TIME AND PEOPLE
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Britain has not always been an island
It became an island after the end of the last ice age,
because sea levels rose as the ice sheets melted, and
Britain became separated from the European
mainland shortly before 6000 BC
The people living in Britain were descendants of the
first homo sapiens who arrived in Europe 30000 –
40000 years ago
They lived they lived by hunting and gathering
NEOLITHIC: INTRODUCTION OF
FARMING
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Change from a hunter-gatherer to a farming way
of life
Farming started to develop in Britain between
5000BC and 4500 BC
Introduction of farming into Britain was the result
of a huge migration
It took about 2000 years to spread across the
island
The first farmers brought the ancestors of cattle,
sheep and goats with them from the continent
EARLY SETTLEMENTS
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The earliest Neolithic sites (approx 4000 - 5000 BC)
occur alongside late Mesolithic settlements
From the start of the fourth millennium BC , we see a
move into new areas not exploited previously
In this period were built the first large communal
tombs
There are also ceremonial monuments, people from
communities in a particular region would gather
together
Some of these monuments, called henges, were built
according to the position of the sun, one of these was
Stonehenge, developed about 3000 BC
STONEHENGE
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Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument composed
of a circular setting of large standing stones set
within earthworks.
It was built in several phases spanning hundreds
of years, from around 3000 BC to 1600 BC
There are many theories about the reason for the
building but none has been proved
People generally believe that it was a place of
worship and ritual or a site of healing
BRONZE AGE
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People lived in settlements consisted of round
houses, made from timber, which were often grouped
together
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Arrival of new styles of metalwork
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First field systems in Britain
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Construction of a few hillforts, which were used for
trade and religious activities,and the start of the socalled 'Celtic' way of life
IRON AGE (800 B.C.-43 A.D.)
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Gradual introduction of iron working technology
Trading and exchange contacts between Britain and
mainland Europe developed in the Bronze Age
continued
Introduction of the potter's wheel, the lathe and the
rotary quern
Introduction of new crops (new varieties of barley and
wheat), peas, beans
New farming techniques (iron plough)
As a consequence, the population grew
RELIGION AND BELIEF
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Archaeologists believe that the Celts worshipped
their gods through sacrifice
But material treasures weren't the only sacrifices, in
fact were sacrificed animals, and even humans, to
their gods.
The Celts also sacrificed weapons to the gods by
throwing them into lakes and rivers
The Celtic religion was closely related to the natural
world and they worshipped gods in sacred places
like lakes, rivers, cliffs and bushes.
The Celts recognis the beginning of the warm
season; they had two annual festivals and on a
social level, Samhain was a transitional period,
when the spirits could pass between the two
worlds(Halloween).
IRON AGE LIFE
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Some of the Celts at least were skilled artists and
craft workers:
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Pottery
Forging
Collecting water
Animal husbandry
Curing animal skin
An ard
Dyeing
Charcoal-making
An antler pick
Rotary quernstone
A pole lathe
Smelting iron
THE END OF THE AGE OF IRON
• By the end of the Iron Age, amongst other things,
coinage had been introduced, wheel thrown pottery
was being made, there was an increased interest in
personal appearance, people had started to live in
larger and more settled communities, and the mortuary
rites of society had changed.
• All of the domestic life would have occurred within the
site of Chysauster in Cornwall; It was made up of
individual houses of stone with garden plots, clustered
along a street.