First Indwellers of Britain

1. Paleolithic or Old Stone Age (970,000-10,000 BC): The Dawn of Survival

• Evidence of early human species from Homo antecessor (an extinct species of archaic human, human pioneer) to Homo sapiens (early modern humans) [1]
• Rude primitive race [2]
• They reveal the story of resilience

900,000: Homo Antecessor

• Homo Antecessor: Possible Human Pioneers
• 900,000 years ago, Homo antecessor appeared in Britain
• Hunter-gatherers
• No fossils of theirs remain
• Footprints survived at a small village of Happisburgh on the coast of Norfolk, England
• These humans survived in temperatures colder than today
• No evidence of cave use
• Britain was no an island back then
  • Britain was well connected to Europe by a land ridge of chalk hills standing higher than the surrounding land
• Survival was difficult as humans endured multiple climate cycles
• Glacial periods of bitter cold and interglacial moments of fleeting warmth affected their settlement
• During ice ages, sea levels dropped as water was held in great ice sheets and glaciers

600,000: Homo Heidelbergensis

• Homo Heidelbergensis is debated to be the first pioneer in Britain, not Homo antecessor
• They left behind the first human fossils ever found in Britain at Boxgrove in West Sussex
• Evidence showed they planned their hunts and worked together as a group
• They used fire intentionally and possibly regularly

425,000: Mega flood

• 425,000 years ago, a mega flood happened
  • The water pressure built up and the natural barrier of glacier and ice sheets weakened
  • A large body of water got released all at once
• Britain started becoming an island

400,000: Neanderthals

• By 400,000 years ago, Neanderthals roamed
• Intelligent, innovative, and skillful hunters
• Their fossils unearthed in Kent.
• Between 424,000 and 374,000 years ago, a warmer time period lasted
• Neanderthals learnt to adapt and survive
• Using flintstone to craft stone tools, they hunted efficiently
• Injuries on their prey reveal their hunting skills
• They claimed caves as their refuge
• Though harsh climates and scarce food drove them from Britain several times.

180,000 to 60,000: Unoccupied Britain

• From 180,000 to 60,000 years ago, Britain was largely unoccupied by humans due to extreme cold

70,000 to 10,000: Final Ice Age

• Final ice age that lasted from 70,000 to 10,000 years ago
• Extreme effect between 22,000 and 13,000 BC.

40,000

• These early humans lived as hunter-gatherers, meat eaters
• By 40,000 years ago, Neanderthals vanished, and

30,000

• Modern humans—Homo sapiens—arrived,
• Evidence like the Red Lady of Paviland skeleton, dating to 33,000 years ago.
• Unlike their predecessors, they thrived through adaptability
• They lived in larger groups, weaving wider social networks, and roaming vast distances
• They weaved the first threads of community
• They painted stories on cave walls, and whispering tales around fires—tales that would one day birth the roots of English literature