The time line below is only meant to be a rough guide to the time periods dealt with on this site. For an explanation of the terms used here and elsewhere on the site, please refer to the glossary.
The Megalithic culture was widespread throughout Northern Europe, reaching as far as Spain and to Scandinavia. However, the British Isles is particularly rich in monuments dating from the Stone Age to the Roman period.
People first settled in the British Isles around 12,000 BC during a period of prehistory known as the Paleolithic. These people arrived here by crossing the land bridge that connected the islands with continental Europe. The sea level was low at this time, between the advance and retreat of the ice cap, and it allowed animals to migrate to the islands. Prior to their settlement here, these islands had only been visited by nomadic groups of Homo Erectus and Neanderthal Man. These had been pushed back into warmer climates of continental Europe by the incoming Ice Age. Britain became an island again some time around 8000-6000 BC.
The Stone Age itself started around 10,000 BC with the Mesolithic. The shift into this period was started by the last retreat of the ice sheet and former tundra areas turning to deep forest. The population rose, into numerous but scattered family groups, as food gathering intensified. People at this time developed weapons to hunt the new forest animals. They foraged for plants, using wild forms of plants such as corn, barley, wheat and rye, which they ground and baked into cakes. They had no weaving at this stage, as sheep were rare. The men hunted for food and the women cooked and cared for the children.
About 4400-3800 BC people started to farm and domesticate animals. This marked the start of the Neolithic or "New Stone Age". This was a time of great change for mankind. The people settled down into family groups, abandoning earlier hunter gathering for agriculture. Animals were domesticated for their meat and skins. The dog, ox and sheep were domesticated in the Neolithic. People continued to hunt for game, but started to clear the woodland for pasture. The land was worked with tools made of stone and flints. Rough pottery was made for storage, cooking and carrying water. Neolithic people were skilled at sewing and may even have knitted wool.There was an increase in trade with Ireland, Central Europe, Brittany, Mycenae, Crete, and Scandinavia. The Phoenicians traded for tin. This was a relatively peaceful period of our history. With no competition for resources, they had the time to spare in the agricultural year to be able to devote so much time to the construction of massive monuments, which were built using tools only made of the available materials of antler, bone and flint.
The people of the Neolithic were short and slightly built. Their life expectancy was only around 35 years old. They built their settlements on what are now some the most inhospitable places, as the climate at the time was much warmer. The modern day counties of Wiltshire and Dorset were areas of particular importance due to the abundance of flint and the good agricultural land. Their houses were round and were built of wattle and were plastered with clay, turf and stones. Some people continued to live in caves, but this was not common.
By the late Neolithic, there was increased competition for resources and good farmland. The population was rising fast and the quality of the arable land was declining. This led to conflict as population density grew. Settlements were surrounded with defenses for protection. Some burials even seem to be the mass graves of people slain in warfare or conflict. Some time around 3000 BC these defended villages decayed and their monuments were abandoned, perhaps due to famine or plague. The resurgence of larger tribal groups began again around 2700 BC and work resumed on the megaliths.
The late Neolithic, about 1500 BC, also saw the steady migration from Spain of the people known as the Beaker people, so called as they were buried with pottery jars or "beakers". These were distinctive due to their superior quality and fine decoration. These people could work metal and they were able to rebuild the monuments that they found on a much grander scale. The introduction of bronze tools heralded a new age, known as the "Bronze Age". Britain was different to the continent as there was no period of transition here called the "Copper Age", which was a stage of metalworking developed in continental Europe. The new technology of metal was imported here in its advanced stage as it came in with the immigrants.
Although the early Bronze Age saw the introduction of bronze, the goods produced at first were only luxury goods such as daggers and jewellery. Thus the grave goods of the period were usually of valuable metal wares. People began to move down from the uplands, as the climate got colder and wetter. This lead to unrest as pressure was put on settlements. This produced a impetus that lead to the invention of the wheel and to the domestication of the horse. Weapons became more sophisticated, chariots were produced and the sword and shield were developed.
The Iron Age began with the immigration of Celtic tribes from Northern France and areas around the Rhine around about 1000 to 800 BC. They brought with them the knowledge of how to work with iron, as deposits copper and tin required for the production of Bronze became scarce. They constructed hill forts as settlements with defenses, such as huge earth ramparts. However, these were not good enough to hold off the might of the Roman Army.
During all these ages, stone monuments continued to be built. The stone circles, for instance, vary in size and shape, pointing to different beliefs by different builders. The stones would have usually come from a nearby source, the obvious exception being Stonehenge.
There were three phases of stone circle building:
1. Before 3000 BC. These were built on moors and hillsides around the coasts of the Irish Sea and north along the Irish-Scottish seaways. These circles are large, with stones that were clearly spaced apart. They are true circles, which average about 30m in diameter. There is often a stone outside the ring. Examples of this type of circle: Castlerigg, in the Lake District and Stenness, in the Orkney Isles.
2. Circa 2600 BC. Although some large circles of about 90m in diameter were built at this stage, the circles were generally much smaller at this time, between 18-30m. These circles were less grand, but there was more variety in design with not only true circles but also concentric rings, avenues and ovals. Regional differences began to appear and local traditions on the number of stones used to form the circles can be seen in each region. More emphasis was now placed on the celestial alignments of these monuments and they were more accurate. Examples of this type of circle: Stanton Drew, in Somerset and the Ring of Brodgar, on the Orkney Isles.
3. 2000 BC. Stone circle building is now in decline. They appeared in areas that had not been settled previously. These circles were tiny rings of about 3m or so and they were often oval or distorted in some way. By 900 BC the circles were no longer useful and were abandoned for good.
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