The British History Podcast Mesolithic and Neolithic Timeline

An interactive timeline of mesolithic and neolithic events in British History

Welcome to the BHP Palaeolithic timeline, created by Jamie Jeffers and Chris Szigeti. This is the second of a number of timelines that are intended to help you better understand the events that have shaped Britain into the nation it is today. This timeline covers 10,000 BCE to 2,000 BCE. You can find the ;xSTx;a href="http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/119823/The-British-History-Podcast-Palaeolithic-Timeline";xETx;Palaeolithic timeline here.;xSTx;/a;xETx;;xNLx;;xNLx;For more information on British History, as well as a list of our ;xSTx;a href="http://thebritishhistorypodcast.com/?page_id=1164";xETx;cited sources;xSTx;/a;xETx;, please visit us at ;xSTx;a href="http://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com";xETx;www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com;xSTx;/a;xETx;

10000 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Mesolithic Period Begins

Britain continues to warm up although ice still covers about 60-70% of the land: all of Scotland, most of Ireland and Wales and about a quarter of England is still covered with ice.

2500 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Beaker Folk Reach Britain

The Beaker Folk arrive in Britain and Ireland bringing with them their distinctive pottery style along with copper technology and gold jewellery. Stone circles, henge monuments and individual tombs are developed further. This marks our transition into Bronze Age Britain.

2500 BC-01-01 20:48:32

Skara Brae may have been abandoned

The stone age village of Skara Brae, what many have referred to as the "Scottish Pompei", may have been abandoned at around this time due to a shift in climate.

2600 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Stonehenge (Phase Three)

Archaeological evidence indicates that phase three of the construction at Stonhenge abandoned the timber structures in favour of the stone we are so familiar with today.

2750 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Silbury Hill

Silbury Hill, near Avebury in Wiltshire, is a 131 ft high man-made Neolithic chalk mound that was constructed over an estimated 15 year period. There is no explanation as to why or by whom this prehistoric monument was built, however, research has estimated that it possibly took around 500 men to deposit the 8.75 million cubic feet of chalk over this period of time.

2850 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Avebury Stone Circle

Containing three stone circles, the construction of the Neolithic monument at Avebury in Wiltshire is considered to rival that of Stonehenge. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, a World Heirtage Site and is owned and run by the National Trust.

2900 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Callanish Stones Erected

The Callanish Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides (the western isles of Scotland) were erected c.2,900 BCE in a familiar but distorted Celtic cross formation, consisting of 13 major stones made from Precambrian metamorphic rocks known as Lewisian Gneiss. The stones vary from 1m to 5m in height.

3000 BC-01-01 02:28:52

The Tomb of the Eagles was Built

The Tomb of the Eagles is a multi-chambered tomb from the neolithic era. It's famous for the fact that among the approximately 16,000 human bones that have been found at the site, there were 725 bird bones (primarily of the Sea Eagle). The tomb was probably used for around 1,000 years.

3000 BC-01-01 02:28:52

Maes Howe was constructed

This was one of the largest tombs on Orkney and is a world heritage site.

3000 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Farming in Britain Widespread

As agriculture made its way to Britain around 5000 BCE, the Neolithic Revolution was believed to have brought about a fairly rapid transition from hunter-gather to farmer. However, according to radiocarbon dating studies in recent years this transition was not as rapid as we had originally thought.

3100 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Castlerigg Stone Circle Constructed

Construction of Castlerigg Stone Circle in Cumbria, north-west England begins. This, and others like it across Cumbria, are among some of the earliest stone circles in north-western Europe. The tradition of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age stone circle construction saw thousands of megalithic monuments such as these erected all over north-western Europe. Castlerigg Stone Circle, a scheduled ancient monument, is the most visited stone circle in Cumbria.

3100 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Stonehenge Construction Begins (Phase One)

Phase one of the construction of Stonehenge begins consisting only of a circular ditch and bank. A century later the construction includes some standing timbers but at this early stage of development there are no stone megaliths or wooden posts in the circular format we are familiar today.

3100 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Megalithic Boom

Megalithic translates from the Ancient Greek words megas meaning “great” and lithos meaning “stone”.

3200 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Newgrange at height of construction

Neolithic chamber tombs at Newgrange at height of construction, predating the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza by 500 years.

3200 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Climate Optimum

Things were about 2-3 degress centigrade higher than they are now, and the island went through an enormous growth period for vegetation.  Think dense woodlands almost like a rainforest.

3500 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Earliest existing stone house in northern Europe

Knap of Howar on the isle of Papa Westray, predating those of Skara Brae by 400 years. Radiocarbon dating of the area shows that there was occupation here between 3,500 and 3,100 BCE.

3500 BC-01-01 09:28:52

Stonehenge Cursus Constructed

The 3 kilometer long Stonehenge Cursus (taken from the latin word meaning "course", however, the generally agreed theory of a cursus relates to what could be a processional route with ceremonial connotations) is constructed 300-500 years earlier than the first phase of the Stonehenge monument itself.

3900 BC-01-01 17:53:05

The Balbridie structure was built

The building was about 85 feet long and 43 feet wide, and based upon the depth of the post holes, we think the roof was more than 30 feet high. So we’re talking about more than 3600 square feet just on the ground floor, and given it’s height it could have had another level on it. The building itself looks remarkably like buildings that had been erected on the continent for about 1000 years before the Balbridie structure was put up.

4000 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Neolithic Period Begins

Agriculture is spreading slowly across Britain as a result of the Neolithic Revolution. The move from Mesolithic hunting to Neolithic farming was a gradual one. Cattle had been introduced from the continent and pigs were bred from wild boar. Neolithic farmers were domesticating dogs most likely for the herding of cattle, which in these early stages of agricultural development, was paramount. The forests that had grown back after the last glacial period were now probably being cleared as a result of this revolution in agriculture.

4000 BC-01-10 09:28:52

Hilltop Enclosures Developed

Permanent settlements begin to develop along with hilltop enclosures and long barrows.

4000 BC-01-20 09:28:52

Evidence of Flint Mining

Flint mining takes place. At various times of development there are seventy different sites in Britain identified as being Neolithic flint mines. However, this number is dramatically reduced to fourteen when confirming these mines as definite.

4500 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Basic pottery made

Along with farming, the introduction of pottery manufacturing during the Mesolithic period is considered to be an important technological development, especially as it is closely linked to agriculture; the first forms of pottery in Britain were manufactured by the first farmers.

5000 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Agriculture begins in Britain

People are producing their own food instead of simply acquiring it. It is going to take approximately 2,000 years for farming to reach the length and breadth of Britain. This is regarded as one of the most important changes in human history yet humans were farming as far back as 11,000 BCE in the Middle East, over 5,000 years before it had reached Britain during the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition period.

6100 BC-01-01 17:53:05

The Storegga Slide Causes a massive tsunami

An enormous underwater landslide along Norway's continental shelf caused a very large tsunami to tear across the North Sea, which struck the East coast of Britain and, some argue, flooded the landmass known as Doggerland.

6500 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Doggerland & Irish Sea Flood

The earliest permanent inhabitants are cut off from Continental Europe as the English Channel forms and Doggerland floods slowly due to rising sea levels in the North Sea. During the same period the Irish Sea floods and separates Ireland from Britain.

6600 BC-01-01 13:53:11

The Settlement at Kinloch was Established

The earliest evidence of human settlement in the whole of Scotland is located at Kinloch on the island of Rhum. It appears that these human settlers were travelling to Rhum to gather bloodstones for use at sites elsewhere in the region. In addition to the bloodstones, it seems that the gathering of food (perhaps hazelnut paste) and the fashioning of tools were some of the activities that these early settlers engaged in while at Kinloch, as evidenced by the burned hazelnut shells and stone flakes litter the archaeological site.

7000 BC-01-01 17:53:05

A Settlement was Established at Colonsay

There is evidence of large-scale Mesolithic hazelnut shelling taking place at Colonsay. It was found in a midden pit at Staosnaig on the island's sheltered east coast.

7150 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Cheddar Man dies

Here we see the mysterious, yet violent, death of a 21 year old man known as 'Cheddar Man'. His remains were discovered in 1903 at Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. It is believed that he died due to a blow to his head and then his bones were scraped clean. This act has lead some to argue that he may have been the victim of cannibalism. Though it is important to note that bone scraping was one way that prehistoric peoples prepared burials, so it is not necessarily proof of cannibalistic behavior.

8500 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Iberian Immigrants travel to Britain

Most of the ancestors of modern day Britain are connected to this original flow of immigration around this period.

8500 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Britain still connected to Mainland Europe

Although temperatures slowly continue to rise after the end of the last (Devensian) glacial period, Britian is still connected to mainland Europe via Doggerland, which remains prominent even with rising sea levels.

8500 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Lakeside settlements appear

Lakeside settlements begin to appear at sites such as the Isle of Oronsay in Scotland, Thatcham in Berkshire and Star Carr in Yorkshire.

8500 BC-01-01 13:53:11

Forests begin to form

With the formation and expansion of forests in Britain, hunter-gatherers begin to spread out across the land hunting mammoths, aurochs (bison), giant deer and mastodons with the retreating ice. Also, fishing and herding of deer/reindeer.

The British History Podcast Mesolithic and Neolithic Timeline

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