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Following the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, the levels of the North Sea began to rise as waters formerly locked up in great ice sheets melted. Sometime after about 8200 BC the last dry 'land bridge' from Lincolnshire and East Anglia to Holland was taken over by salt marsh. By 6000 BC even the marshes had largely gone, drowned by the sea.
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Before circa 4500 BC, Palaeolithic and Mesolithic (Early and Middle Stone Age) people were nomads, hunting and gathering wild plants. In the middle of the fifth millennium BC, a new way of life, based on farming plants and animals, was introduced from the continent. The replacement of hunting and gathering was gradual and wasn't completed until the latter part of the third millennium BC in Britain. Once farming was established, communities began to settle down.
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The manufacture of pottery requires the control of high temperatures and is an important early technological development. Pottery arrived in Britain with the first farmers. Early pottery vessels were generally undecorated with heavy rims and rounded bases. From about 3500 BC the upper parts of some pottery vessels were decorated with patterns made while the clay was still soft. Pottery is important to archaeologists because it is very durable, surviving in the soil for thousands of years.
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From circa 3000 BC some areas that were ritually important in earlier times gained added significance. There is evidence for smaller and more specialised ceremonial sites such as henges. A huge variety of Bronze Age round barrows began to proliferate after 2500 BC. Ritual landscapes were usually in flat or undulating countryside like Salisbury Plain, or in river valleys. They often clustered around earlier causewayed enclosures and there were dozens or even hundreds of different monuments.
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Early Bronze Age (2500-1500 BC) saw the regular production of more sophisticated metalwork, consisting mainly of axes, daggers and 'tanged' spearheads (attached to the shaft by a prong).
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Ceremonial practices change as new religious ideas develop
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Changes in religion, ceremonial and burial practices imply social change. The new structure persisted through the Iron Age and has been labelled as 'Celtic'. It seems probable that the later Bronze Age controlling elites comprised a larger proportion of society and may have been centred upon a 'warrior aristocracy'. This is the period when the numerous tribes of Britain began to combine into the larger groupings that became the named tribal kingdoms of the Iron Age.
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By the fourth century BC, many parts of Britain were dominated by hill forts. In some areas, such as central southern England and the Welsh borders, they were very large with complex earthworks and entrances (Maiden Castle in Dorset). There are significant examples in north Wales, the Borders and eastern regions of Scotland and in Northern Ireland (parts of the Navan complex). Many of these sites supported sizeable populations and acted as service centres for a growing rural population.
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After conquering Gaul (modern France and Belgium), Julius Caesar crossed the Channel with two legions - about 10,000 men - probably to carry out reconnaissance and send a warning to the British allies of Gaulish tribes. Local tribes contested his landing on the beach at Deal near Dover, but their war chariots were driven back and they subsequently sought a truce. Caesar returned to the continent for the winter after bad weather damaged his fleet and prevented cavalry reinforcements arriving.
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Julius Caesar invaded Britain for the second time with five legions - about 25,000 men - and won a series of battles before his fleet at Deal was once again wrecked by storms. This delay allowed the British to regroup under Cassivellaunus, ruler of the Catuvellauni tribe. He waged an effective guerrilla war before his betrayal by rival tribes handed Caesar victory. An impending rebellion in Gaul forced him to withdraw, never to return, but Britain was now within Rome's sphere of influence.
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Having defeated the last of his civil war rivals in 31BC, Augustus looked to set secure borders for Rome's empire. Plans were drawn up for an invasion of Britain, but they came to nothing. In his political testament 'Res Gestae', Augustus counts among his deeds that he received supplications from two British kings, Dumnobellaunus and Tincommius. Relations between Rome and Britain remained good for the next two generations, with evidence that Rome had a healthy trade with the Britons.
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The earliest 'brochs' date from 500-200 BC, and many were still occupied into the first millennium AD. They were built using two concentric, dry-stone walls to create a hollow tower. Between the walls were galleries and stairways leading to upper levels. Wooden upper floors probably provided the main living space, with the ground floor used as a secure store for livestock. Brochs are mainly located in northern and western Scotland, Orkney and Shetland, with the best example at Mousa on Shetland.
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Cunobelinus (William Shakespeare’s 'Cymbeline'), ruled the Catuvellauni for about 30 years and conquered a huge territory. His name appears on coins issued at Colchester and St Albans and he is described by the Roman historian Suetonius as 'Britannorum rex' - king of the Britons. His core territory was Hertfordshire, but he eventually controlled much of East Anglia and the south east.
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A succession struggle erupted around the throne of the ailing Cunobelinus, king of the powerful Catuvellauni tribe. Adminius, the king's younger son, was exiled and fled to the court of the Roman emperor, Caligula. His elder brothers, Caratacus and Togodumnus, were left in control of the extensive tribal territories stretching over much of East Anglia and the south east of England.
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An army of four legions and approximately 20,000 auxiliaries, commanded by senator Aulus Plautius, landed at Richborough, Kent. The Romans met a large army of Britons, under the Catuvellauni kings Caratacus and his brother Togodumnus, on the River Medway, Kent. The Britons were defeated in a two-day battle, then again shortly afterwards on the Thames. Togodumnus died and Caratacus withdrew to more defensible terrain to the west.
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n an effort to finally subdue Britain and improve its administration, a plan was conceived by emperor Septimius Severus, probably in 197 AD, to split the province in two. It was only put into effect in 211 AD, either by Severus or his son Caracalla. The southern province was named Britannia Superior (Upper Britain) with its capital at Londinium (London), and the northern named Britannia Inferior (Lower Britain), with the capital at Eboracum (York).
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Hardicanute, King of Denmark, had also been king of England in 1042. His short reign gave his descendents, who included Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, a claim to the English throne. When Harold Godwinson became king of England on the death of Edward the Confessor, Hardrada joined forces with Tostig, Harold's brother, and took an invasion fleet of approximately 300 ships to England to press his own claim. He raided the east coast, burning Scarborough, then sailed up the Humber river.
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Nicholas Breakspear was a reforming monk who spent nearly his entire career on the Continent. He was elected in 1154 and took the name Hadrian IV. He remains the only Englishman ever to become pope.
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The accession and coronation of Henry II took place on the same day. He was not only king of England, but also ruled over most of Wales, Normandy, Anjou, Gascony and other parts of France (acquired through his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine). Henry, son of Empress Matilda, established stability after civil war between his mother and her rival Stephen. He asserted his authority over the barons and enforced law and governance. Regular financial rolls of government began in his reign.
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John and his barons sign the Magna Carta
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Henry VII presents himself as the unifier of the warring Lancaster and York dynasties – symbolised by his adoption of the red and white Tudor Rose. His reign brings 85 years of civil war to an end. He marries Elizabeth, daughter of the Yorkist king Edward IV. Within a year they have a son, Arthur, later followed by another, Henry.
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He arranges the marriage of his 13-year-old daughter Margaret to James IV to secure peace between England and Scotland. Although the peace doesn't last, the couple's great-grandson, James I of England and VI of Scotland, will unite the crowns of Scotland and England 100 years later.
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England wants to compete with Spain and Portugal, whose American colonies generate great wealth. Sir Walter Raleigh sets up a colony of about 100 men on the east coast of North America, which he names Virginia after Elizabeth I, ‘the Virgin Queen’. Although Raleigh's settlement fails after a year it marks the start of an effort by England to colonise North America. The first successful permanent settlement is founded in 1607.
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Elizabeth I dies aged 69. The Virgin Queen never married or had children. James VI of Scotland was her closest royal relative as they were both direct descendants of Henry VII. He is named King James I on the day of Elizabeth's death. One of Britain's greatest and most influential dynasties finally reaches its conclusion.
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The Headright System was set up by the London company in 1618 that gave 50 acres of land to colonists who paid their own way to Virginia, or paid the way for someone else
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The Quakers, or Society of Friends, was a Protestant sect founded in England whose members believed that salvation was available to all people
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Opens at Westminster With the Scottish army firmly established in Northern England and refusing to leave until its expenses had been paid, Charles I was again forced to summon a parliament. Many of the members of parliament voiced angry complaints against his policies.
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Charles I's grandson
Mary Stuart was the elder daughter of Charles II's brother, James, Duke of York (James II). Her marriage in 1677 to the Dutch Protestant Prince William of Orange, himself the grandson of Charles I, strengthened William's claim to the English throne. -
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England and Scotland officially became one country - Great Britain
The Scottish parliament was dissolved and England and Scotland became one country - Great Britain Act of Union between Scotland and England - part of the Union flag story -
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A document declaring the US to be independent of the British Crown was signed on July 4, 1776, by the congressional representatives of the 13 Colonies
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