Britain BC: Life in Britain and Ireland Before the Romans

Britain BC: Life in Britain and Ireland Before the Romans
Francis Pryor

An authoritative and radical rethinking of the whole of British history before the coming of the Romans, based on remarkable new archaeological finds.So many extraordinary archaeological discoveries (many of them involving the author) have been made in the last thirty years that our whole understanding of British prehistory needs to be updated. So far only the specialists have twigged on to these developments; now, for the first time, Francis Pryor broadcasts them to a much wider, general audience.Aided by aerial photography, coastal erosion (which has helped expose such coastal sites as Seahenge) and new planning legislation that requires developers to excavate the land they build on, archaeologists have unearthed a far more sophisticated life among the Ancient Britons than has been previously supposed. Far from being the barbarians of Roman propaganda, we Brits had our own religion, laws, crafts, arts, trade, farms, priesthood and royalty, the stories of which Francis Pryor tells with passion, wit and intelligence.Note that it has not been possible to include the same picture content that appeared in the original print version.

Britain B.C.

Life in Britain and Ireland

Before the Romans

Francis Pryor

Dedication (#ulink_c1c019d5-e5bf-502d-aa2f-044459634dab)

For

TOBY FOX

and

MALCOLM GIBB

Contents

Title Page (#ub9e5c5f3-65cf-51fe-9ff9-c9a2ecc53f2a)

Dedication (#ulink_e722e46c-cbf8-5b83-bd61-683031a3638c)

Preface (#u748e24eb-b029-5002-910a-717afc500f06)

Dates and Periods (#u8354fe08-9c27-50cb-814a-d4744ab5a196)

Part I: Another Country (#u980cc6a4-c020-585d-87ef-4e07ed036683)

Chapter One: In the Beginning (#u8deccb71-dca6-5c78-89ce-fe14b01e8e91)

Chapter Two: Neanderthals, the Red ‘Lady’ and Ages of Ice (#u9e2e0629-2ef3-549a-8bd4-5ceef63cdc6d)

Chapter Three: Hotting up: Hunters at the End of the Ice Age (#u31ae64e5-7f21-52d5-bf14-0475f0b1b989)

Part II: An Island People (#u4469db7d-98d1-556a-bb1c-13e5d65e47c6)

Chapter Four: After the Ice (#u006b6e77-77b7-5810-bf51-f1a8211a1acf)

Chapter Five: DNA and the Adoption of Farming (#u056b6087-9f5a-5e60-8249-fad42f886559)

Chapter Six: The Earlier Neolithic (4200-3000 BC) (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven: The Earlier Neolithic (4200-3000 BC) (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight: The Archaeology of Death in the Neolithic (#litres_trial_promo)

Part III: The Tyranny of Technology (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine: The Age of Stonehenge (the Final Neolithic and Earliest Bronze Age: 2500-1800 BC) (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten: Pathways to Paradise (the Mid- and Later Bronze Age: 1800-700 BC) (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven: Men of Iron (the Early Iron Age: 700-150 BC) (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve: Glimpses of Vanished Ways (the Later Iron Age: 200 BC-AD 43, and After) (#litres_trial_promo)

Afterword (#litres_trial_promo)

Places to Visit (#litres_trial_promo)

Notes (#litres_trial_promo)

Index (#litres_trial_promo)

P.S. Ideas, interviews & features… (#litres_trial_promo)

About the author (#litres_trial_promo)

Portrait (#litres_trial_promo)

Snapshot (#litres_trial_promo)

Top Ten Favourite Books (#litres_trial_promo)

About the book (#litres_trial_promo)

A Visit to Flag Fen (#litres_trial_promo)

A Critical Eye (#litres_trial_promo)

Read on (#litres_trial_promo)

Have You Read? (#litres_trial_promo)

If You Loved This, You’ll Like… (#litres_trial_promo)

Find Out More (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Praise (#litres_trial_promo)