In general

Highest peaks in UK: Scotland Grampians: Ben Nevis (1342m); Wales Cambrians:
Snowdon (1085m)
Christian churches: Free churches, Church of England, Church of Scotland, Roman-Catholic
church; Non-Christian churches: Jewish community, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs
Political system consists of: Parliament supreme legislative body (house of lords &
commons); The Cabinet supreme legislative body (prime minister and 20 minsters); The
Judiciary judges of higher courts who determine the common law and interpret acts of the
parliament
Constitutional monarchy consist of: parliament and the monarch role of monarch: rule
according to the constitution, head of the state, head of the executive judiciary, commanderin-chief of armed forces, supreme governor of the Church of England, symbol of national
unity, appoint the prime minister, expected to be politically neutral
Political system consists of two parties: labor and conservative

Paleolithic
-

Period of human existence when tools played an important technological part in human
evolution.
Lasted for a long period of time, supposed to have lasted around 800.000 years
First inhabitants were in Europe called hominoids.
After them developed Neanderthals (named after the place from which they were excavated
in a cave in France). They survived through fishing, hunting, gathering wild plants; they had
no permanent settlement, lived nomadic way of life. They knew fire, developed a primitive
language and were capable of abstract thinking.
Cromagnons were higher civilization than the Neanderthals because they were better
hunters; they used more delicate tools and had more complex language; they were capable
of organizing their society and hunting. They made cave paintings. They made Venus figures
of stone, clay and bones. They buried their dead with weapons and jewelry.

Neolithic architecture
Neolithic people build burial places and tribal centers. They were megalithic builders (large
stone blocks)
- Neolithic graves are the only remains of Neolithic architecture and have great importance in
after life
1. Long barrows:
- Barrow is a mound erected from earth and other materials that served for burial purposes
- First graves were built in the proximity of the villages. They were a symbol of cultural
development.
- They were communal tombs with about 50 corpses. They were built typically from earth or
stones.
- They consisted of several burial chambers (gallery type) with corridors that would lead to
different parts of the chamber.
- They had a rectangular shape
- Best known:
-

West Kennet in Wiltshire (England)

-

100 m long, 2.4 m high

2.
-

5 burial chambers and a corridor

bodies were buried in social groups in different chambers according to their age and sex
around 46 bodies
first burial 3600 BC; last burial 2500 BC
excavated in late 19th century
the tomb was aligned with the sun
small entrance symbolized gated between this world and another
Passage graves:
Tomb where a long, narrow inner passage leads into a central burial chamber
Cover by a circular mound of earth
Made few centuries after long barrows; they had a circular shape
Consisted of 1 or 2 burial chambers
Aligned with the sun in such way that the sun shines into the passage at a significant point in
the year
Best known:

Newgrange in Ireland
- 80 m in diameter, 13 m high
- The passage is 24 m long
- Aligned with the sun, on the winter solstice,
the sunshine of the rising sun enters the passage
and shines onto the floor of the inner chamber thus
illuminating the chamber for a few minutes
- Has some stunning megalithic art, including
the carved entrance stone, kerbstone 1 & 52.
- Built in 3200 BC; discovered in 1699

Neolithic villages
Skara brae
- best preserved Neolithic village
- Located in northern Scotland, Orkney
Islands
- In 1850, a storm hit Scotland causing
damage. After the storm cleared, local villagers
found the outline of a village, consisting of a
number of small houses without roofs.
- It was a stone-built Neolithic
settlement. Consisted of 8 clustered houses.
- Houses contained a number of stonebuilt furniture such as cupboards, dressers and
storage boxes. Draining system was also incorporated in villages design

Henges
-

Land with a circular shape enclosed by a ditch and a bank

Served for religious rituals and ceremonial gatherings

Aligned with the midsummer sunrise
In the Neolithic period and Bronze age, stone circles were added to the henges so they
became more complex
Some of them are:

Avebury in Wiltshire
- Dated 3400 2800 BC
- It was probably used as a site of
religious rituals, tribal gatherings or as an
astronomical calendar
- Consists of large outer circle
approximately 330 m in diameter and two
smaller inner circles
- In the center of the south circle used
to be a stone called Obelisk
- Ditch around it is 11 m deep
- Building of this construction was
-

spread over a long period of time

It had 4 different entrances
It is the oldest and one of the largest henges in Europe, it still exists

Stonehenge
-

Built in 4 phases:
1.
3000 BC the oldest part of
Stonehenge. Consists of outer circle around 100m in
diameter enclosing 56 pits called aubery holes
2.
2550 2250 BC 123 bluestones
were transported from Wales, 272 km away
3.
2000 BC bluestones were removed
and large sarsen blocks weighing 6-60 tones were
brought from a place 32 km away and erected
4.
1600 BC the bluestones were reerected and added to the sarsen blocks. The alter was added to the center
Function: astronomical observation, religious rituals, human sacrifice, a place of healing,
monument for the dead or a landing pad for aliens

Bronze Age (2000 800 BC)

-

Represents the end of Neolithic

Represents the growth of the population

At this period we have the coming of the BAKER PEOPLE. Baker people make pottery,
weaved garments. They were more skillful than the Neolithic people. They lived near the
river Themes. They used copper, gold and later bronze to make jewelry and weapons.
Communal tombs were replaced with smaller round barrows and individual graves. They
were called Barrow mounds or round barrows

Individual graves barrow mounds round barrows

- Mounds of earth were mostly round, oval or
disc shape
- Sillbury hill is not a tomb, but the biggest
man-made mound of earth in Europe
- It was over 130 ft. high
- Barrow mounds burial places for
individuals rather than communal tombs

Hill Figures
- figures carved into chalk hillsides
- Example for it is Uffington white
horse. 347 ft. long in Oxfordshire. Some say
that its the oldest symbol

The Iron Age The Celtic Period (800 55 BC)

-

Period where bronze was slowly replaced by iron, which was harder and more effective in
agriculture and war
Its also called the Celtic period because these were the people who perfected the skill of
working with iron.
Lasted from 800 55 BC
Celts came to the British Isles from central Europe: France, southern Germany, Austria,
Switzerland
The reason for their expansion was the climate changes that happened in northern German
which push the northern Germanic tribes to the south. These tribes pushed Celts to expand
to south, north and west. The Celts were seeking shelter from Germanic tribes.
Expansion of Celts: westwards => the Atlantic coast and Spain; northwards => the British
Isles; southwards => Italy, the Balkans, Asia Minor
Two main sub periods:
1. The Hallstatt culture the early Iron Age 800 450 BC, it is the name for the earliest
Celtic culture from the same called place. It is the culture of early Celtic tribes that
emerged in Europe but didnt flourish in the British Isles.
2. La Tne culture late Iron Age 450 100 BC, last phase in Celtic culture according to
place La Tene in Switzerland where the evidence of Celtic culture were found. This

culture is not only characteristic for the British Isles but for all the part of Celtic settings
in Europe.
Celtic settlement of the British Isles
-

There is no written document of the Celtic occupation of the British Isles, but it is assumed
that the settlement was completed by 500 BC
There are two waves of immigration:
1. The Q or Goidelic Celts oldest tribes in Ireland they came earlier in successive waves;
settled in highlands. The Q language survives today in Ireland and Isle of Man
2. The P or Britannic Celts they came later in successive waves and settled mainly in
lowlands. The P language survives today in Wales
Acculturation is a process of replacing one culture with another. The Celtic culture fully
replaced the earlier culture. Iron gave them advantages over the men of Bronze Age allowing
the Celts to dominate over all part of Britain. Celts had no national identity. They had similar
language and religion, also similar social life. We learn about Celts from Roman sources =>
historians: Julius Caesar, Diodorus, and Tacitus
The Celtic society was divided into: druids (priest); equites ( warriors); plebs (common,
simple people)
Warriors are obligated to go to war and fight with other tribes. Celts are warlike people.
They dont put much attention toward agriculture. Every year they settle somewhere else.
The pride in war is very important and they always have to follow the chief and never desert.

Lowland and highland Celtic cultures

-

Lowland Celtic culture lowland Celts had urban and tribal centers
- Hill forts were tribal, hill top cities
that were built in the early phase of Celtic
settlement on the British Isles. They were
circled with ramparts, heavily defended; not
intended to be permanent occupation. They
served for protection in time of national danger.
Later when Romans attacked they built more
complex and permanently settled in these hillcities
- The Maiden Castle was a significent Iron
Age village within ramparts with stone houses
and water system. In the beginning it had just
one rampart, and later it contained new banks and ditches
Highland Celtic culture

- Ringfort in Ireland had an enclosed form,

they were isolated. They had houses where families
lived and stables for the cattle.
- It was a king of ranch that was enclosed by
a wall.

- Broches were built in Scotland; they were

circular towers with thick walls.
- They were very high
- They are evidence of social stratification since
the Celts that lived in them were independent and
assumed to be some kind of rulers
- The most preserved one is the Mousa Broch

Celtic religion
-

Druids judged private and public controversies; they gave rewards and punishments.
They performed and supervised all religious ceremonies; they didnt have to belong to a
tribe, they had their own counsel
They were kings counselors; they had an important political role in Celtic society
They dont write down their knowledge because they dont want their work read by common
people
To become a druid one must study for 20 years
They preserved the culture and performed sacrifices

Celtic mythology
-

Reference of water Sulis was the goddess of water; Celts performed their religion outdoors,
they worshiped gods outside in the nature; water symbolized a getaway between this and
supernatural world; hot springs were considered sacred, there they would ask gods for

protection, they believed water would cleanse and heal them; they would bring gifts such as
jewelry, coins, weapons
Goddess of victory and war Andraste; queen Boudica raised the most successful rebellion
against Romans because they raped her daughters, she burned everything down, sacrificed
Roman women as a revenge to goddess Andraste
Cernnumas a human figure with horns; represented fertility, life
Lug god of arts and crafts
There was no all-powerful universal god; they didnt live on mountains

Celtic art
-

origin unknow
Items decorated were: jewelry (broaches, neck-rings, bracelets etc.); mirrors; pottery
(drinking vessels); armor and weapons (shields, helmets, spear blades etc.)
Element of color was used in order to make items more beautiful
Celtic art characteristics: Anti-classical Romans and Greeks used classical art which
respected many rules; Celtic anti-classical art was asymmetrical, they didnt care about lines
there were almost no straight lines; its non-representative and imaginative (used imaginary
elements such as horse with wings, man with horns); its abstract and stylized (they took
elements from nature and simplified and changed them, made them highly stylized); in the
beginning it was polychrome and in later period it used red enamel; Celts had a love of
pattern
Celtics drew two-dimensional pictures
Oriental influence was very important in Celtic art; they drew fantastic and bazar images,
animal and plant world from the East
- Gundestrup bowl was made from silver,
weighing 9 kilos.
- Found in a pear-bog in Denmark in 1891.
Thought to date from 1st or 2nd century
- Highly imaginative example od Celtic art,
fantastic images of human head coming from the
neck holding a small human figure
- Central figure, god Cernunnos, human body
with antlers holding a decorative that was carried
by holy people
Around the bowl were crowded items because Celtic artists didnt appriciate empty spaces
- Battersea shield probably from 75 BC. Has polychrome
elements; they used red enamel to achieve element of color
- Had beautiful spiral shapes that were a good example of
curvilinear lines
- It was too beautiful to be used in battles; used for rituals
- It was used by someone noble and respected

- Torcs from Snettisham, Norfolk believed to belong

to Iceni tribe
- Made from material which is a combination of cold
and silver
- Had a lot of curved lines typical for Celtic art; used at
least 5 strings which were entwined
- Dated from the 1st century
-

Desborough mirror 1st century

- Had a beautifly decoradet backside of the mirror with a lot of

curved lines and leaf-like pattern
-

Example of curvilinear lines

Handle highly decorated

No straight lines, just different combination of curves

- Birdlip mirror
- Curvilinear handle, similar to desborough mirror
- Leaf-like, curvy lines; perfect circle down the end of the mirror
handle