Figure 1.--This is an artist of neolithic people about the time Britain became an island due to rising sea levels (about 4,500 BP). We are not sure about the clothing depicted, it looks rather modern.

Very little is known about the early inhabitants of the British Isles, although archeological work has unearthened some fascinating information in recent years. Humans reached what uis now Britain about 900,000 years ago. We know that because of the presence of flint tools. At the time Britain was not an islsnd, it was connectd to the Continent by Doggerland. The earliest actual Human remains have been dated to more than 500,000 years ago. These were Neanderthals. The ice ages would have driven humans from northern Europe, including much of Britain. Humans retreated to southern Europe. The Last Glacial Period (LGP)/Ice Age covered Britain south to the Midlands (about 115,000-11,700 BP). The ice sheet retreated and shrank after 27,000 BP. Scientits estimate that it had disappeared by 11,300 BP. 【Emery】 The ealiest remainsd of modern humns date to about 40,000 years ago as the ice sheets retreated. This was probsbly sporadic hunting trips. The earliest cave art has been found at Creswell Crags in Derbyshire (11,000 BP). Modern humans and continuous occupation would not follow in numbers until the warming period and the ice sheets receeded (10,000 BP). These were hunter vgsher people pursuing gme. This was possible because of the Doggerland land connctuin still existed. The warming trend steadily increased seas and the Doggerland ice bridge was inundated, making Britain an island (4,500 BP). Agriculture gradually developed (about 2,000 BP or 4,000 BC). DNA research has added to the work of archaeologists. Many historians have tended for a variety of reasons to ascribe to the theory that the Anglo-Saxons waged a war of exctinction rather than absorbing the Romano-Celtic population that remained in Britain after the Legions departed. There was no ways to prove this, but the cultural atifacts and lingusistic record tended to confirm this assessment. As the Anglo-Saxon invaders were pre-literate, there is no written evidence. Modern science has provided us a way to test out this theory--DNA genetic sampling. The DNA evidence is striking and surprised many historians. The disappearance of Latin and Celtic had convinced many historiasns thast the Germanic invaders, may not have absorbed the Celts, but rather conducted a war of extinction. The DNA evidence shows that this did not occur. Something like 75 percent of Britons came to Briton long befor the arrival of Celts, Romans, or Anglo Saxons, yet alone the Normans. It was the early hunter-gathers who reached Briton something like 5,500-13,000 BC who were the ancestors of most modern Britons. This was after the melting of the Ice Age ice caps, but while Britain and Ireland were still connected to the European land mass. Existence as an island people helped to create a relatively homogenous ethnicity and discourage mixing with the many varied continental people. One author describes the British people as a kind of 'genetic time capsule' of southwestern Europe at the end of the Ice Age. And the continental group closest to the British is the Basque people. Thus the first British language was not a Celtic language, but one similar to the destinctive Basque language. There were many subsequent invasions and migrations which affected culture, language, technology, and other atributes, but no ethnicity. The subsequent groups if they came as invaders may have replaced the ruling elite, but none of these groups have contributed more than 5 percent to the modern British population and ethnic makeup. 【Oppenheimer】

Sources

Emery, Andy. "The LGM British-Irish Ice Sheet: An Introduction,"Atarcgtic Glaciers.org December 8, 2020).

Oppenheimer, Stephen. The Origins of the British: A Genetic Detective Story.

Created: 3:37 AM 5/30/2023
Last updated: 3:38 AM 5/30/2023