WHO & WHEN

Archaeologists traditionally divide prehistory into three main periods: the Stone, Bronze and Iron ages, named after the main technologies used at the time. Each period is subdivided, for example, the Stone Age into the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic (Old, Middle and New Stone Ages).

The earliest known humans arrived in Britain around 900,000 years ago. Prehistory stretches from then until the Roman invasion in AD 43.
 
BRONZE AGE (2300–800 BC)
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In about 2300 BC the first metal weapons and jewellery began to arrive in Britain, along with a new kind of pottery known as Beaker. People were buried with these objects in individual graves, some of which were covered with round barrows. At first the metal used was copper, but by about 2200 BC bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) was being worked in Britain.
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IRON AGE (800 BC–AD 50)
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In the early and middle Iron Age people built bigger and more elaborate hillforts. They also began to make weapons and tools out of iron. Evidence of ritual offerings of military equipment and fine metalwork suggest the dominance of a warrior aristocracy and the emergence of tribal territories.
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The late Iron Age saw the first coinage and the emergence of tribal centres. It is during this period that Britain came into contact with the Roman world and with this contact came the first written records of life on our islands from the Greeks and the Romans. Accounts from the period mention chariot warfare and religious leaders called Druids, who supposedly performed sacrifices

ROMAN INVASION & OCCUPATION AD 43 - AD 410

In AD 43, the Roman emperor Claudius launched an invasion of Britain, and over the next 45 years the Roman army gradually extended its control over much of present-day England and Wales and ventured into territory now in Scotland. Eventually they established a new Roman province, Britannia, which formed part of the empire until the early 5th century AD

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EARLY MEDIEVAL (THE DARK AGES) 410 AD - 1066 AD

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The 5th and 6th centuries are  wrapped in obscurity. Records are few, difficult to interpret, or written long after the events they describe, hence the phrase 'The Dark Ages'. This period saw numerous invasions from foreign forces including the Gaels from Ireland, The Vikings from Scandinavia, The Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes from Germany and the Normans from France & Flanders.

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Rulers from this period are:

Egbert (802–839)

Aethelwulf (839–856/858)

Aethelbald (855/856–860)

Aethelberht (860–865/866)

Aethelred I (865/866–871)

Alfred the Great (871–899)

Edward the Elder (899–924)

Athelstan (925–939)

Edmund I (939–946)

Eadred (946–955)

Eadwig (955–959)

Edgar (959–975)

Edward the Martyr (975–978)

Ethelred II the Unready (978–1013)

Sweyn Forkbeard (1013–14)

Ethelred II the Unready (1014–16)

Edmund II Ironside (1016)

Canute (1016–35)

Harold I Harefoot (1035–40)

Hardecanute (1040–42)

Edward the Confessor (1042–66)

Harold II (1066)​​​​​​