Get into the mind of our ancient ancestorsStep outside and stand quietly and still.

Switch off your phone.

Breathe slowly and deeply.

Gradually clear your mind.

Try to forget the modern world.

Feel all of your senses.

Use your imagination to fall back

through time to ancient Britain.

It’s 2500BC, the large stone

circle at Stonehenge has just been

completed. You are a farmer living

in a small, ancient tribe.

What can you see?

Turn a full circle on the spot and look around you. Igno

re anything modern, like buildings,

pylons or vehicles. Replace them in your mind with gr

assland, trees, scrubland, rocks

and rivers. Imagine you are standing on this spot thou

sands of years ago.

Now look up. Wherever you are, and whatever time o

f day, look up and think like an

ancient. How do you feel when you see the sun, the cl

ouds, the moon, the stars? Imagine

you are seeing them for the first time, what would you

think the lights in the sky are?

spirits… gods… ancestors…

Our ancient ancestors would have known the sky we

ll. They would have understood the

clouds and patterns of weather. The night sky would h

ave been brighter and clearer than

we see it today, with no pollution of the air and no lig

ht pollution from electric lights.

Think about what the sky might tell you about the time

of day, and the weather to come.

How would you have lived?

Now you’ve familiarised yourself with the ancient world around you,

look for what would have been important to your way of life –

• Is this a good spot to settle your family?

• Are there trees nearby for you to use to build a shelter?

• Is there undergrowth to hide in while you hunt?

• Is there a river or lake near for drinking water?

• Can you see flint to make tools?

• Is there some flat land to grow crops and graze your herds?

• Are there stones and rocks to make a stone circle for worship?

What can you smell?Can you cut through the modern smellsto the timeless, natural scents? – theearth, plants and foliage, clean aircarried on the wind. This world ofsmells would have been very familiarto ancient people with no modernchemicals, car exhaust, soap, shampooor deodorant to get in the way.

If it’s hard to ignore the modern smells,put your nose close to the ground orscoop up some earth to smell (you couldwear a glove for this). Do the same withthe foliage around you, smelling leaves,flowers, bark and grass.

Think about the other smells they might have known: wood smoke, rawand roasting meat, berries and fruit. Supported by

Get out and aboutYou can walk in the footste

ps of our ancient ancestors

by visiting one of over a hundred ancient sites across

the UK. Find all the details on our website, along

with ancient activities to try at home and an

animation with Eric as he travels through time.

bbc.co.uk/history/handsonhistory

Schools and groups

Find information and resources to help you explore an

cient Britain

with groups, including creative, hands-on activity ins

tructions

and worksheets. bbc.co.uk/history/handsonhistor

y

Many historic sites offer free or discounted pre-booke

d trips to

schools or groups. You can find out more on our partn

ers' websites:

www.english-heritage.org.uk, www.historic-scot

land.gov.uk,

www.cadw.wales.gov.uk

What can you hear?

Close your eyes. Ignore any modern sounds such

as cars and planes. What natural sounds do you

hear? Listen for the wind, the trees moving,

animals, insects or flowing water. If it’s noisy

where you are, cup your hands over your ears

to create the muffled sound of wind in the air.

Think about the other sounds our ancient

ancestors may have heard – the crackling

flames from a fire… the grating sound of

wheat being ground… the sharp chipping

noise of tools being made and sharpened.

12000BCBritain emerges from the Ice Age and begins to warm.People return to the land for the first time and huntmammals, such as reindeerand Arctic hare. They alsomake engravings of animalsinside caves, some of whichcan still be seen in ChurchHole cave at Creswell Crags.This is Britain’s oldest art.

9500BCAs it continues to getwarmer, the cold, dryhabitat is replaced bywoodland. The largemammals (megafauna) arereplaced by forest creatureslike red deer and wild cattle.These animals are huntedwith bow and arrow.

9000BCThere is evidence thathunter-gatherers lived ingroups across Britain. Forexample, the lake-edgesettlement at Star Carr inNorth Yorkshire dates fromthis time. Evidence foundhere includes houses, theoldest carpentry in Britainand signs of spiritual,shamanic rituals whichinvolved wearing deer antlers.

6000BCSea levels continue to rise. Britain is finallyseparated from theContinental mainlandand becomes an island.

4000BCDomestic plants andanimals are brought overfrom the Continent andearly groups of farmingpeople appear. At the same time technologicaladvances emerge, such as handmade pottery. Flintmining also begins, notablyat Cissbury in Sussex.

3700BCThe first monuments inBritain are built. Thesecommunal tombs (calledlong barrows) andenclosures appear to be used for feasting,funerals and for exchangingstone and flint axes.Examples include WestKennet Long Barrow andWindmill Hill causewayedenclosure, both nearAvebury, Wiltshire.

3500BCNew forms of ceremonialsite are constructed. Many are long, rectangularenclosures known as‘cursus monuments’. Partsof the Stonehenge GreaterCursus (located next to thelater Stonehenge stonecircle) and the DorsetCursus can still be seen.Elaborately decoratedpottery is now being made.

3000BCThe first henges (circularenclosures defined by aditch and bank) are built,including Thornborough in North Yorkshire, andStones of Stenness inOrkney. The first timberand stone circles date tothis period too, such asCastlerigg in Cumbria.

2000BCRound barrows (mounds of earth or stone) areconstructed all acrossBritain, marking thelocations of graves andceremony sites. Burial ritualsshift from burying humanremains with beakers tocremating the dead in potscalled urns. Small stone andtimber circles are still built,including the ‘Seahenge’timber circle, now in LynnMuseum, Norfolk.

1500BCSettled farming communitiesemerge. Ceremonialmonuments are largelyabandoned, with much ofsouthern Britain covered by fields and roundhouses.Some of the best survivingexamples are on Dartmoor(such as the settlement at Grimspound). Metal toolsusing copper from mineslike Great Orme in northWales begin to replace flint. The Dover boat, the world’soldest seagoing vessel,belongs to this period.

1300BCA timber causeway is built over the wetlands at Flag Fen nearPeterborough. It becomesthe focus for leavingceremonial offerings of bronze objects such as swords, spearheads,daggers and pins. In other locations metalworkis buried in hoards ordeposited in rivers.

800BCA new type of metal – iron– comes into use, replacingthe trade in bronze. Largesettlements of people grow in many areas andthe first defended hill fortsare built. In some regions‘ranch boundaries’ are putin place to mark out areasof grazing land.

400BCA small number of‘developed hill forts’ with massive ramparts are built, perhaps markingthe emergence of tribalterritories. Examplesinclude Maiden Castle in Dorset and Danebury in Hampshire. These sites are for display as much as for defence.

100BCNew elite groups of peopleemerge with access toinnovative machines andideas from the Continent,such as the potter’s wheeland coinage. These areassociated with a few largesettlements known as‘oppida’, includingColchester in Essex andSilchester in Hampshire. The hill forts are abandoned,though smaller roundhousesettlements continue to be built. Eventually tribalkingdoms develop, startingin south-east England.

AD43The Romans invade. Their arrival leads to thedevelopment of towns and roads across much of England. The PrehistoricAge has come to an endand a new era is dawning.

2500BCLarge and more elaboratemonuments are built atmajor ritual centres. Theseinclude the massive hengeat Durrington Walls, thesarsen circle at Stonehengeand the Ring of Brodgar inOrkney. The earliest copperobjects and Beaker pottery(distinctive bell-shapedpots) date from this time.

The rest of the world6000BC An estimated 7 million people

inhabit the earth.

3000BC The earliest known writing is produced in South Mesopotamia (Ancient

Iraq).

2800BC One of the earliest settled civilisations is formed in the Indus Valley, Pa

kistan.

2560BC The Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt is built.

776BC The first Olympic Games are held in Greece.

753BC Romulus and Remus found Rome.

AD2011 Between 6 and 7 billion people inhabit the earth.

bbc.co.uk/history

Follow the changes in ancient Britain between 12000BC

and AD43. Before this point Britain was in the grip of the

Ice Age at a time when woolly mammoths roamed across

the open landscape and Britain was still joined to the

Continent. At the height of the Ice Age, ice sheets covered

most of Scotland, Wales and Northern England leaving

Britain abandoned by people.

© Trustees of the British M

useum

©English Heritage.NMR

12000BC

9500

9000

4000

3700

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1300

800

400

100

AD43

Late Upper Palaeolithic(End of the Ice Age)

Neolithic(New Stone Age)

Bronze Age Iron AgeMesolithic(Middle Stone Age)

© BBC 2011. MC4 A4, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TQ. With thanks to Dr Jonathan Last, Head of Research Policy (Prehistory), English Heritage. Illustrations by Glen McBeth

©English H

eritage Photo Library

The earliest humans in Britain arebelieved to have lived about 800,000years ago at a site called Happisburghon the Norfolk coast.

The oldest human remains were foundin Boxgrove, Sussex and are around500,000 years old. They show evidencethat early humans were butchering wild animals and making flint tools.

400,000BC 300,000BC 200,000BC 100,000BC

REALLY ancient Britons!

500,000BC 0Period shown above

AD2011

600,000BC700,000BC800,000BC

In a timeline of this scale, the last 2011years would be just one millimetre wide.

Between 200,000 and 100,000BCBritain is apparantly abandoned by humans.