This content provides a historical overview of early Britain, tracing its development from the Stone Age through the Iron Age, focusing on key societal changes, technological advancements, and cultural elements that shaped the region.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
hello and welcome to lovely english
stories thank you for stopping by
this story is written for upper
intermediate english learners
you can download the pdf transcript of
this and other stories on our patreon
page you can find the link in the
description below ready
ready
let's get started
b2 c1 english story early
early britain
the united kingdom of great britain and
northern ireland as we know it today
consists of england
scotland wales and northern ireland
we often shorten the name to the uk
when people say great britain
they are usually referring to england
wales and scotland but not northern ireland
ireland today
today
there are over 68 million people who
live in the uk
but it has not always been the case
back in 1600 the population was just
over 4 million people so
so
how did the uk become what it is today
early britain goes back hundreds of
thousands of years to the stone age
this was when the first people lived in britain
britain
they are often referred to as
hunter-gatherers because they did
exactly that they hunted and gathered
they hunted the animals and they
at this time britain was still connected
to the continent
there was a narrow strip of land
so people were able to come and go as
they pleased
often following the animals they were hunting
about 10 000 years ago britain became
separated from the continent by rising
sea levels and it has remained an island
around 6 000 years ago the first farmers
arrived in britain from the continent
they introduced a new way of life
they built houses and many monuments
one of the most famous
stonehenge is situated on salisbury
plain in the county of wiltshire it is a
large man-made circle of standing stones
it is thought that work started on this
magnificent structure around 4 000 years ago
nowadays there are many special
gatherings at stonehenge
such as for the winter and summer solstices
it was around this time four thousand
years ago
that people learnt to make bronze
and so
the bronze age began
the people who lived during this period
became incredibly talented at metalwork
and created beautiful objects in both
bronze and gold
many of these items often tools and
ornaments can be found in museums across
the country
the bronze age lasted about 2 000 years
the iron age followed the bronze age
this was when people learned to make
weapons tools and other instruments out of
of
you guessed it iron
iron
the use of iron helped people to make
better tools for farming
the new iron tools and weapons were
stronger than the previous stone and
it was during this time that people
began to group together as tribes in
large settlements to protect themselves
they lived in forts at the top of hills
they chose to live there so they could
see for miles around
and could get prepared if they suspected
an attack
they worked as farmers and crafters and
many were warriors
they lived in little wooden houses with
thatched roofs
there is still a hill fort at maiden
castle endorse it
dorset is situated in the south west of england
england
it is thought to have been made almost 3
000 years ago
people travel from miles around to visit
the historical site
the people of the iron age created an economy
economy
and they made the first coins to be
minted in britain
to mint means to make coins or money out
of metal
nowadays you might hear british people
say they're minted
what they mean is they have a lot of money
money
many of the first coins had the names of
the iron age kings inscribed on them
much like modern day coins
druids were a focal point of the iron
age society
they were priests who led religious
ceremonies they could be men or women
and were seen as incredibly wise people
they were the healers teachers and judges
judges
of their tribes
during the iron age it is thought that
many people spoke a language that was
part of the celtic language family
there are still some related languages
in existence
in parts of scotland ireland
ireland
and wales
after the iron age came the romans led
by julius caesar
we will talk about this in our next video
video
but now
let's go through some of the vocabulary bronze
bronze bronze
bronze
bronze is a brown metal made of copper
and tin edible
edible edible
edible
if something is edible it means it is
safe to eat settlement
settlement settlement
settlement
a settlement is a place where people
come together to live permanently strip
strip strip
strip
a strip is a long flat
warrior warrior
warrior
a warrior is a soldier
usually from the past economy
economy economy
economy
economy is the system by which a
country's trade industry and money are
organized existence existence
existence
existence is the fact of something or
someone existing together
together together
together
is to collect lots of different things
from different people
to hunt hunt
hunt
to hunt is to chase and kill an animal religious
religious religious
religious
if you are religious you have a strong
belief in religion structure
structure structure
structure
structure is the way in which the parts
of something are organized suspected
suspected suspected
suspected
suspected is something that is believed
to be true
or to exist tool
tool tool
tool
a tool is a piece of equipment that you
use with your hands to make or repair something
something tribe
tribe tribe
tribe
a tribe is a group of people who live
together sharing the same language
culture and history unite
unite
to unite to unite is to join together
with other people as a group weapon
weapon weapon
weapon
a weapon is an object used in wars or when
when
fighting wise wise
wise
if someone is wise they make good
judgments based on their life experiences
celtic
sometimes pronounced celtic
can be anything related to the celts or
their language or culture druid
druid druid
druid
a priest of the ancient celtic religion focal
focal focal
focal
focal is central and important
important
to forage forage
forage
to forage is to search for things you
can eat
or use fort
fort fort
fort
a fort is a strong building often with a
high wall around it that is used by soldiers
gathering
a gathering
a gathering is a small party or meeting monument
monument monument
monument
a monument is something that was built
to honor an event or a person healer
healer healer
healer
a healer is a person who has the power
to cure people of illness hunter
hunter hunter
hunter
a hunter is someone who hunts animals
for sport inscribe
inscribe
to inscribe
to refer to somebody or to refer to something
something
this is a phrasal verb and it means to
mention someone or something when you
are writing or speaking solstice
solstice solstice
solstice
solstice happens twice a year the summer
solstice is the day with the most hours
of daylight and the winter solstice is
the day with the fewest hours of daylight
daylight thatched
thatched thatched
thatched
a thatched roof is made from straw or reeds
we hope you enjoyed this lovely english
story and the vocabulary explanations
thank you for stopping by
get productive and check out our
language learning productivity packs on
etsy use code youtube10 for 10 off
off
don't forget to like subscribe and share
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
