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Ancient Britain |
The good life promised by the lowlands was
also its curse. They faced continental Europe and attracted invaders.
In modern times the existence of centralized government, rapid
communications and organized armies and navies has resulted in the
English Channel acting as a moat protecting the island. In ancient
times, it served as a highway for invaders. The headlands of Dover
could be seen from France. The passage by sea was short and every
little cove and inlet offered a safe landing site.
The first human beings were in
Britain perhaps a half million years ago. In the late Neolithic or late
stone age a more civilized race appeared. They were a Mediterranean
people whose culture was derived originally from the Middle East. They
were short, dark and slightly built with long heads and delicate
features. Archeologists have given them the name Windmill Hill people
because of an excavation of Around 1,900 BC, Britain was invaded by a
very warlike people who are known as the Beaker folk because of the
distinctive shape of their drinking vessels. They belong to the Alpine
race which inhabited the mountainous areas of central Europe. The Beaker
folk merged with older people to form the Urn societies of the middle
bronze age. |
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Stonehenge was built by the Beaker
folk. |
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