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History of Wales - Prehistoric Wales

History of Wales - Prehistoric Wales: Encyclopedia II - History of Wales - Prehistoric Wales

The earliest human remains known from the area that is now Wales are those of the Red Lady of Paviland, a human skeleton dyed in red ochre discovered in 1826 in one of the Paviland limestone caves of the Gower Peninsula in south Wales. Despite the name, the skeleton is that of a young man who lived about 29,000 years ago at the end of the Upper Paleolithic Period (old stone age), and his are the oldest human remains found in the United Kingdom, as well as being the oldest ceremonial burial in Western Europe. The skeleton was found along with jewellery ...

See also:

History of Wales, History of Wales - Prehistoric Wales, History of Wales - Wales under the Romans, History of Wales - Early Mediaeval Wales, History of Wales - Wales and the Normans, History of Wales - Annexation, History of Wales - From the Union to the Industrial Revolution, History of Wales - The Nineteenth Century, History of Wales - The Twentieth Century, History of Wales - The Twenty-first Century

History of Wales, History of Wales - Annexation, History of Wales - Early Mediaeval Wales, History of Wales - From the Union to the Industrial Revolution, History of Wales - Prehistoric Wales, History of Wales - The Nineteenth Century, History of Wales - The Twentieth Century, History of Wales - The Twenty-first Century, History of Wales - Wales and the Normans, History of Wales - Wales under the Romans, 1904-1905 Welsh Revival, Welsh Methodist revival, Wales, Welsh Uprising of 1211, Welsh Uprising of 1282, British military history, History of the United Kingdom

History of Wales: Encyclopedia II - History of Wales - Prehistoric Wales

History of Wales - Prehistoric Wales

The earliest human remains known from the area that is now Wales are those of the Red Lady of Paviland, a human skeleton dyed in red ochre discovered in 1826 in one of the Paviland limestone caves of the Gower Peninsula in south Wales. Despite the name, the skeleton is that of a young man who lived about 29,000 years ago at the end of the Upper Paleolithic Period (old stone age), and his are the oldest human remains found in the United Kingdom, as well as being the oldest ceremonial burial in Western Europe. The skeleton was found along with jewellery made from ivory and seashells, and a mammoth's skull.

Following the last Ice age, Wales became roughly the shape it is today by about 8000 BC and was inhabited by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. The earliest farming communities are now believed to data from about 4000 BC, marking the beginning of the Neolithic period. This period saw the construction of many chambered tombs, the most notable including Bryn Celli Ddu and Barclodiad y Gawres on Anglesey.

Metal tools first appeared in Wales about 2500 BC, initially copper followed by bronze tools. The climate during the Early Bronze Age (c.2500-1400 BC) is thought to have been warmer than at present, are there are many remains from this period in what are now bleak uplands. The Late Bronze Age (c.1400-750 BC) saw the development of more advanced bronze implements. Much of the copper for the production of bronze must have come from the copper mine on the Great Orme, the largest known mine in Europe from this period.

The earliest iron implement found in Wales is a sword from Llyn Fawr, Rhondda, thought to date to about 600 BC. The Iron Age saw the building of hillforts which are particularly numerous in Wales, examples being Pen Dinas near Aberystwyth and Tre'r Ceiri on the Lleyn peninsula. A particularly significant find from this period was made in 1943 at Llyn Cerrig Bach on Anglesey when the ground was being prepared for the construction of an RAF base. The finds included weapons, shields, chariots and chariot fittings and harness, slave chains and tools. Many had been deliberately broken and seem to have been votive offerings.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Prehistoric Wales", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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