Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Early History
Little is known of Britain's earliest peoples, but by 3500 BC the cromlechs, standing stones
and stone circles that are evident throughout Britain today started to be raised. This is evid-
ence of the presence of fairly large communities; for instance, it is estimated that it would
have taken 200 men to raise the giant capstone at Tinkinswood, near Cardiff, into place.
Perhaps the most intriguing glimpse into Wales' early history is the 33,000-year-old ochre-stained skeleton
of the Red Lady of Paviland, the earliest known formal burial in Western Europe, found in a cave in
Gower's Rhossili Bay.
It was much later, around 600 BC, that the first wave of Celts arrived on Brtiain's shores
and with them their poets and priests - the druids - who were revered as much for their
knowledge as for their spiritual power. By the 3rd century BC they were the dominant force
in Europe, with Celtic tribes ranging from Turkey to Ireland. The Celts had a defining role
in Britain, making enormous technical and artistic advances and introducing a new social
hierarchy, belief system and language. The British variant on the Celtic language became
known as Brythonic, which later developed into modern Welsh.
