The Timeline of Britain
500,000 BC – Boxgrove
In a gravel pit at Boxgrove, just outside Chichester, the remains of a man have been discovered, half a million years old. Only a shin bone and two teeth were discovered, but his position, under thick layers of gravel show that he is the oldest ‘man’ so far discovered in Britain.
2500 BC – The Clava Cairns
Burial chambers of the Neolithic In the Neolithic – the New Stone Age – the older you were, the more important you were, and thus logically the dead were the most important of all. Ancestor worship became the centre of people’s lives, and great emphasis was placed on the burial of the dead.
1300 BC – The Dover Bronze Age Boat
A large Bronze Age boat has recently been discovered at Dover. Keith Parfitt, of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, reports.
200 BC – Castell Henllys
The Celts were warriors, and the most prominent remains of the Iron Age are the great hillforts, surrounded by banks and ditches – sometimes several banks and ditches one outside the other.
100 BC – The Snettisham Treasure
The great Iron Age hoards discovered at Snettisham in Norfolk form the richest Iron Age treasure ever discovered in this country.
AD 43 – Colchester, Roman Camulodunum
A rich burial dating to within 20 years after the Roman conquest has just been excavated in a gravel quarry at Stanway, just outside Colchester.
AD 50 – The story of Roman London
Most Roman towns were sited either over previous towns, or over Roman forts. London was unusual in that it appears to have been founded from scratch. And it wasn't a quick foundation. The Roman invasion was in AD 43, but it was not until around AD 50 that the first coins indicate the foundation of [...]
AD 105 – Vindolanda
Roman documents discovered Probably the most important – and certainly the most dramatic discoveries made in Roman Britain in the 20th century have been the wooden writing tablets discovered at Vindolanda.
AD 200 – Littlehay Roman Barn
Roman Britain does not just consist of grand buildings. There are also smaller buildings out in the countryside, and at Littlehay, near Derby, the local society excavated one such barn on their own initiative – reminding us that local societes can still make a major contribution to archaeology.
AD 200 – Valtos: brochs and wheelhouses
While the Romans were civilising England, life was very different story in Northern Scotland, and particularly in the outer isles, Orkney and the Hebrides.
