Lecture 03
People and Immigration
The first people
The first inhabitants Until -6000 BC, Great Britain was still joined to the European
Continent by a land bridge between the East coast and the Netherlands (Pays-Bas). Great
Britain was not an island, easily accessible by migrants. But the land bridge was cut when the
seastartedtorisein-6000BC. Consequences: Britain became an island and stopped participating
in European civilization in the same way as continental country.
From about -4000 BC, during the new Stone Age, people turned to agriculture. In about-
3000 BC, some other early inhabitants crossed the sea from continental Europe in small boats.
They were short and dark haired and they probably came from Iberian Peninsula or ever from
North Africa. Many stone circles were created in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The
most famous of them is “Stone henge”. Its function is not very clear but it’s probably a center
of economic, religious and political power. Stone henge people also created giant hill-figures
such as the “White Horse of Westbury”. They were great builders and had a concrete culture.
Iron Age and Celtic Britain
About 2000 years ago there was an Iron Age Celtic culture throughout the British Isles. These
Celts arrived from Europe and intermingled with the people who were already there. There
are no written records of this period. Two astonishing remaining pieces of that period:- Stone
henge- Silbury Hill.
The Celts probably arrived in Britain in two waves: the Goidelic-speaking Celts between
2000 BC and 1200 BC and the Brythonic-speaking sometime in the period 500 BC to 400
BC. (Modern Welsh and Cornish are descended from Brythonic; modern Scottish and Irish
Gaelic from the Goidelic). There was also a smaller wave of settlement of Belgic Celts in
Southern England during the first century BC - possibly fleeing from the Roman invasions.
Before the Romans invaded, Celts lived in Britain. There were lots of different tribes ruled by
kings or chiefs. Chiefs often fought one another. A chief would lead his warriors into battle in
chariots pulled by horses. For defence against enemies, they built forts on hilltops. These hill-
forts had earth banks and wooden walls.
In Celtic Britain there were no towns. Most people were farmers living in villages. They made
round houses from wood and mud, with Thatched roofs. There were no roads. People
travelled by boats on rivers, or along muddy paths. Some British Celts crossed the sea to trade
with other Celts in the Roman Empire.
The Celts could smelt iron, and used their skills to fashion swords that were superior to
bronze weapons.
The Roman period (43-410)
The Roman province of Britannia covered most of present-day England and Wales.During
this time a Celtic tribe called ‘The Scots’ migrated from Ireland to Scotland where they
became allies of the Picts (also Celtic). The Romans left very little behind in their occupation.
Reminders of their presence areplace names like Chester, Lancaster, and Gloucester. These all
include the word ‘castra’, variants of the Roman word ‘castra’ (military camp)
Two features of the Roman occupation:
- Its influence was largely confined to towns, therefore Celtic speech remained dominant. -
The Roman occupation had been a matter of colonial control rather thanlarge-scale settlement.
Fifth century:
a number of tribes from the north-west European mainland invaded and settled the south-east
in large numbers: - The Angles- The Saxons .This invasion meant two things for the Celtic
Britons, they were either Saxonized or driven westwards.The Anglo-Saxons didn’t have much
effect on the cities and towns, however they did have a great effect on the countryside. Their
culture formed the basis of English society for the next thousand or so years.
Danish invasion 8TH Century
Noraman invasion 1066
