Prehistoric Britain (c. 800,000 BC – 43 AD)

​

Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) – c. 800,000–10,000 BC

• Earliest human presence.

• Nomadic hunter-gatherers using basic stone tools.

Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) – c. 10,000–4000 BC

• Post-Ice Age adaptation.

• More refined tools, semi-permanent settlements.

Neolithic (New Stone Age) – c. 4000–2500 BC

• Arrival of farming communities.

• Construction of megalithic monuments like Stonehenge and Avebury.

• Permanent villages and pottery emerge.

Bronze Age – c. 2500–800 BC

• Introduction of metal tools and weapons.

• Burial mounds and tribal societies.

• Trade networks expand across Europe.

Iron Age – c. 800 BC–43 AD

• Hillforts dominate the landscape.

• Celtic culture flourishes.

• Tribal kingdoms and complex social structures.

Roman Britain – 43–410 AD

• Roman conquest under Emperor Claudius.

• Roads, baths, Hadrian’s Wall.

• Christianity begins to spread.

Early Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) – 410–1066 AD

• Collapse of Roman rule.

• Anglo-Saxon kingdoms rise (Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria).

• Viking invasions and Danelaw established.

Medieval Britain – 1066–1600 AD

• Norman Conquest (Battle of Hastings, 1066).

• Feudalism, castles, Magna Carta (1215).

• Wars of the Roses, rise of Tudor dynasty.

 Post-Medieval & Modern – 1600–Present

• 1600–1900: Industrial Revolution, British Empire expansion.

• 1900–1999: World Wars, decolonization, social reform.

• 2000–Present: Digital age, Brexit, cultural evolution.