Lecture History of Great Britain

The earliest men

Little is known about the ancient population of the British Isles. Like other primitive people in other parts of the world, they lived in caves and hunted animals for food. Gradually they learned to grow corn and breed domestic animals. They made primitive tools and weapons. Archaeologists find their tools and weapons, as well as remains of the primitive houses.
These people were religious, though we know very little about their religion. Some temples that they built still stand in many parts of England and Scotland. These temples are also very primitive. They are just circles of great stones standing vertically. The greatest of them is Stonehenge in the south of England.

2. 
   The Celts
   

About 500-600 BC new people – the Celts – appeared in Britain. They were tall strong people with long red or sandy hair, armed with iron swords and knives that were much stronger than the bronze weapons used by the native population. They crossed the English Channel from the territory of the present-day France. The Romans called these people Britons and the Island – Britannia. In the course of centuries, the Britons partly killed the native population, partly mixed with it. The Britons were skilful workers. They made things out if iron, bronze, tin, clay and wood, and decorated them with beautifully drawn lines and patterns. They made money out of gold and silver. They began to make roads, along which they traveled, about the country, buying and selling things.
There were some good and rather big houses in Britain, which had many rooms and corridors. The richer Britons lived in these big houses. When they had feasts in their houses, they sat round low tables. There were no forks of spoons. They took big pieces of meat in their fingers and tore them apart, or cut them with their knives. They drank from big cups made of earthenware or silver.
Not all parts of Britain were civilized. In the mountains and forests of the west and north, there were people who did not know the use of iron and did not use many. They had no real houses but still lived in caves. The parts in the southeast of Britain were most civilized because they were nearest to the continent, from which people got new knowledge.
The Britons were polytheistic, that is they believed in many gods, They believed that different gods lived in the thickest parts of the forests. Some plants, such as the mistletoe and the oak-tree, were considered sacred. Some historians think that the Britons were governed by a class of priests called Druids who had great power over them. Stonehenge was the temple of the Druids, just as it had been the temple of the primitive men before. The Droids were cruel men end their ways of worshipping their gods were cruel too. They often declared that a god was angry, and to get the god’s pardon the people had to offer up sacrifices of human beings. The Druids put men into huge baskets and burned them in the presence of the people.
The Britons often ought among themselves. The remains of forts built by the Britons can be seen in different parts of to country. From time to time The Britons had feasts and entertainments. During a feast, a minstrel usually sang songs about brave deed of famous various. After the minstrel’s songs, his listeners began to boast of their own brave deeds. Moreover, when they had drunk too much, they began quarreling and fighting, and usually some men very killed.