Ancient Britain

V

The Metalworking Revolution

The Stone Age ended with the introduction of metal, around 2000 bc in Britain. The earliest metals found in Britain are gold jewelry and dagger blades of copper at burial sites. Bronze axes and bronze daggers began to appear about 1600 bc (see Bronze Age). However, society remained largely agricultural, and huge tracts of land were cleared for raising cattle and sheep and growing grains.

By about 1400 bc many more metal weapons had appeared, including swords, spears, and shields. Archaeologists have found large hordes of weapons at burial sites. The appearance of so much weaponry in the later Bronze Age suggests it was a period of conflict, perhaps as a result of increasing pressure on land and resources. Ramparts (fortified embankments), ditches, or fences protected settlements, supporting the notion of conflict. An aristocracy of sword-bearing and spear-carrying warriors emerged. This group probably rode the first domesticated horses in Britain.

VI

The Iron Age and Celtic Kingdoms

The warrior elite that emerged in Britain toward the end of the Bronze Age continued to dominate society in the Iron Age that followed. Britain had strong links with mainland Europe during this time, and new settlers arrived bringing with them the Celtic language. See also Celts.

The first iron objects were seen in Britain shortly before 600 bc. As iron began rapidly to replace bronze, bronze was reserved primarily for decorative objects. Weapons at burial sites indicate the prestige of the warrior class. Forts were built on hills throughout Britain, forming a network of strongholds that controlled large areas. Maiden Castle in Dorset had multiple ditches and sloping walls of chalk and earth for defense. (These defenses proved insufficient against the Roman Army, which stormed Maiden Castle shortly after invading Britain in the mid-1st century ad.)

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The Celtic-speaking tribes and clans that occupied Britain during the Iron Age slowly gave way to kingdoms ruled by powerful dynasties that included queens as well as kings. The Iron Age saw the first development of towns in Britain; these settlements functioned as the hub of political, religious, and commercial activities. These towns went on to become important administrative and trading centers under the Romans. But most Britons still lived by farming.

VII

Roman Britain

Roman general Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 bc and returned the following year to defeat the people of Britain. The Britons maintained political freedom and paid tribute to Rome for almost a century before Roman emperor Claudius I initiated the systematic conquest of Britain in ad 43. Some tribes resisted stubbornly, and in 61 the Celtic queen Boudicca led a bloody but unsuccessful rebellion. At this time Britain became an imperial province of the Roman Empire, called Britannia, administered by Roman governors.

For the next 400 years, until the early 5th century, Britain was ruled by Romans and paid Roman taxes. Most of the people of Roman Britain, however, were descendants of Iron Age Britons, and many of the their traditions and ways of life continued and contributed to the development of a new, Romanized way of life in Britain. Contact with the Roman world brought to Britain city life and the concept of citizenship, an extensive trade network reaching as far as the Mediterranean Sea, a new group of deities, and the Latin language.

The main concern of Roman administration was to maintain just and orderly government and to spread Roman civilization. The most important person was the emperor’s deputy, the governor. A procurator looked after financial affairs. The tribes were organized into groups of Roman citizens called civitates (singular, civitas), and each civitas had a capital town. The towns had facilities such as amphitheaters, temples, baths, and a forum or marketplace. These capitals later developed into the most important cities in England.

Most people still lived in the countryside in Roman Briton. Their dwellings ranged from simple huts of wattle and daub (branches and twigs covered with mud and clay) to substantial Roman farmhouses known as villas. Free peasants and serfs probably provided farm labor.

Most Roman soldiers were stationed away from the towns. Forts along the southeastern coast offered protection against attack from the sea. At the northern boundary of Roman Britain, Hadrian’s Wall went up, starting in ad 122, as defense against hostile tribes to the north.

One reason the Romans invaded Britain was its mineral wealth. Copper, iron, lead, and silver were extracted from mines in Britain. Tin was alloyed with lead to make pewter. The port at London became a center of export. Other exports included grain, wool, and textiles.

With the gradual collapse of the Roman Empire already under way, Rome lost control of Britain and its other provinces in western Europe by the early 5th century. The arrival of the Angles and Saxons in the 5th and 6th centuries heralded the next stage in the history of Britain.

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