Презентация

Ancient Britons

Ancient Britons

The people of Britain lagged behind the people of certain warmer lands in their development. While they were still living in caves and scratching about for insects to eat, the Egyptians were building pyramids and writing literature.
The Stone Age farmer of about 5,000 years ago had to clear patches in the forests which covered most of Britain that was not barren heath or swamp.
By the end of the Stone Age, about 2,000 BC, metal was already being used. The Beaker people, who are named after the clay mugs, or 'beakers', they made, also used bronze knives. They came to Britain from northern Europe, and started the building of the stone monuments at Stonehenge and Avebury.

Mining and trade were growing during the Bronze Age (roughly 2,000 to 500 BC). Copper was imported from Ireland and tin from Cornwall - the two metals from which the harder alloy, bronze, was made. Amber was imported from the Baltic and pottery from the Mediterranean area. Carts were made for moving heavy goods.

About 500 BC, the inhabitants of Britain were learning how to smelt iron. Iron ore was easier to obtain, as it often lay close to the surface and was far more common than copper or tin. Although good tools were made of bronze, iron tools were much cheaper.

During the Iron Age large forts, with walls of earth reinforced by timber and stone, were built in many parts of the country. People from the nearby countryside could shelter there when enemies threatened. The largest of the English hill forts - in fact the largest in Europe - is Maiden Castle in Dorset.
In spite of the evidence of the hill forts and stone towers, life in prehistoric Britain was not always violent. The arrival of new immigrants must have caused problems, but they usually came in smallish groups and soon mingled with the native population.

Their religion
The Britons were polytheistic that is they believed in many gods.They believed that different gods lived in the thickest and darkest parts of the forests. They to get the god`s pardon the people had to offer up sacrifices of human beings. The Druids put men into huge baskets and burned them in the presence of the people.

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