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The Iberians

The first inhabitants of Britain. They came from the South

The Iberians
We find out about them from archaelogical remains Grave mounds contain beakers or cups of early pottery

The Iberians
The most famous structure is the megalith of Stonehenge , in South West England

The Celts 700 B.C 43 A.D


Around 700 B.C the Celts arrived from north west Germany. A first wave of Celtic tribes The Gaels settled in the north. In the 4th century a second wave of Celtic tribes The Britons settled in the southwest and in the west. They were related to other Celtic tribes who settled in Gaul

The Celts
Today their language remains in Welsh in Wales and Gaelic in Scotland. Unlike the Iberians, the Celts were tall and muscular, had fair skin, blue eyes and blond hair.

The Celts
One famous leader was a woman: Boudicca who in 1st century A.D, fought the Romans to avenge her husbands death and humiliation

The Celts
They were farmers, hunters, fishermen and metal workers They traded iron, tin, silver goods, pottery and cloth between tribes The Scottish tartan may have Celtic origins

The Celts
The Druids were the priests of the Celts. They played an important role not only in the field of religion but also in justice, education and medicine. They held their cerimonies in the forest and not in temples

The Celts
The Celts worshipped natural elements: the moon, the Sun, the rivers. Water = a holy element They believed in immortality and in transmigration of the soul from one person to another. Sacrifice was the means of communication with the spiritual world

The Celts
They offered precious objects to the gods and human sacrifice took place at times of great need or to express gratitude to the natural forces.

The Roman Conquest 43 A.D 409 A.D


Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C because the British Celts had helped the Celts of Gaul against Rome. The Romans didnt succeed in conquering the country. The conquest took place in 43-47 A.D under Emperor Claudius.

The Romans
The Romans settled in the south east of the country while the north and west remained under military control. They brought their culture and language with them. They built towns, spa and roads. Some of them are still in existence today.

The Romans
Three types of towns The coloniae = peopled by Roman settlers The municipia = the inhabitants were given Roman citizenship The civitates = old Celtic tribal capitals. Many of these towns were army camps and the latin word castra has remained in many modern town names ending in caster, chester, cester, such as Lancaster, Manchester, Gloucester

The Romans
The Romans tried to conquer Scotland (Caledonia) but they didnt succeed. Emperor Claudius decided to have a wall built to divide Roman Britain from the barbarians (Scots and Picts)

The Romans
Roman control of Britain came to an end when the soldiers left the country to defend Rome against the Barbarian raiders. The Romano- British, the Romanised Celts were left alone to fight agianst the Saxon raiders from Germany

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