Life in Prehistoric England

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  Prehistoric Daily Life

  The arrival of farming from about 4000 BC had a profound effect on every aspect of daily life for the people who lived in the British Isles.

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  Food and Feasting at Stonehenge

  Find out what the people who built and used Stonehenge ate, how they cooked and served their food, and the cutting-edge science behind these discoveries.

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  Ritual Mysteries in a Prehistoric Flint Mine

  Discover what finds at Grime’s Graves flint mines in Norfolk reveal about the significance of mining, and the value of flint, to Neolithic communities.

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  Iron Age Kings and their Roman Connections

  How burial goods from Essex provide tantalising glimpses of rich and powerful leaders in Iron Age Britain, and their strong links with the Roman world.

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  Prehistoric Conflict

  Although violence and conflict undoubtedly occurred in prehistoric Britain, the archaeological evidence can be interpreted in various ways. 

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  Prehistoric Travel and Networks

  The arrival of farming, the building of great communal monuments and the knowledge of metalworking all transformed prehistoric Britain.

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  Prehistoric beliefs

  There was no single or continuously developed belief system in prehistoric Britain, but we can make informed guesses about what different prehistoric people believed.

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  Prehistoric Commerce

  Goods and skills must have been bartered or exchanged in prehistoric Britain from early times, but little evidence survives, and commerce as we think of it may not have existed.

Places to Visit

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  Stonehenge, Wiltshire

  Walk in the footsteps of your Neolithic ancestors at Stonehenge – one of the wonders of the world and the best-known prehistoric monument in Europe.

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  Avebury World Heritage Site, Wiltshire

  The area around Avebury contains an extraordinary cluster of prehistoric monuments, including one of Britain’s largest and most complex Neolithic henges.

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  Thornborough henges, North Yorkshire

  Farming communities built three huge circular henges here about 4,500 years ago, which remained important into the early Bronze Age.

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  Grime’s Graves Prehistoric Flint Mine, Norfolk

  The lunar landscape of more than 430 shafts and quarries is Britain’s only Neolithic flint mine open to the public.

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  Castlerigg Stone Circle, Cumbria

  Castlerigg is perhaps the most atmospheric and dramatically sited of all British stone circles, with panoramic views and the mountains of Helvellyn and High Seat as a backdrop.

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  Stanton Drew Circles and Cove, Somerset

  Although this is the third largest complex of prehistoric standing stones in England, the three circles and three-stone ‘cove’ of Stanton Drew in Somerset are surprisingly little known.

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  Kit’s Coty House and Little Kit’s Coty House, Kent

  Explore the remains of two megalithic ‘dolmen’ burial chambers – the first two ancient monuments to be protected and conserved by the state.

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  Uffington Castle, White Horse and Dragon Hill, Oxfordshire

  These three prehistoric sites lie beside the Ridgeway, the ancient route that stretched from Dorset to the Wash.

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  Visit Belas Knap Long Barrow, Gloucestershire

  Belas Knap is a particularly fine Neolithic long barrow, with a false entrance and side chambers, where 19th-century excavators found the remains of 31 people.

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  Maiden Castle, Dorset

  Among the largest and most complex Iron Age hillforts in Europe, Maiden Castle’s huge multiple ramparts enclose an area the size of 50 football pitches.

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  Old Oswestry Hillfort, Shropshire

  A fine example of an Iron Age hillfort with multiple ramparts, Old Oswestry is one of a dense band of hillforts in eastern Wales and the Marches.

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  Chysauster Ancient Village, Cornwall

  This Iron Age settlement probably has its origins about 2,500 years ago and is one of the best-preserved ancient villages in the country.