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New Page entitled KS3 History


Question: Britain Before The Roman Invasion
New Page entitled The Celts

Before the Romans came the people of Britain lived in tribes. Today these people are often called 'Celts' . Each tribe had its own area of land and believed that war was a necessary to protect their land. During the long winter nights, the tribes would hold gatherings were their would talk of their past victories, battles and the heroes of the past. Each tribe would have its own ruler and the rest of the tribe were expected to follow that ruler into battle if necessary. Much of the wealth of the tribe came from farming and trade.


New Page entitled Celtic Houses


New Page entitled Farming In Britain

Large areas of land in Southern and Eastern Britain were used to produce crops and the Celts who lived there were skilled arable farmers. Few vegetables were known in Britain prior to the Roman Invasion of the country. However, Celtic beans and fat hen were grown and a kind of primative parsnip was found in Britain at that time. Herbs would probably have been the main way to get your 'greens'.

Image of Celtic Coin showing Wheat

New Page entitled Cattle is King!

Celts would have had a lot of milk from cows, goats and sheep. Cattle was king in the Celtic world and a man's wealth was measured by the number of his herd. The cows would have provided good milk and the bullocks would have been slaughtered for meat, it has been estimated that two-thirds of the meat eaten by Iron Age Britons was beef. The Celts also kept pigs and chickens. However the chickens were not kept to eat but as pets!


New Page entitled Daily Life

Men: Along with hunting and fishing, the men did the heavy labour on the farms. They were wonderful farmers. The Celts invented a reaping machine, an invention that was copied by the ancient Romans. The reaping machine let them harvest more rapidly. With the reaper, they were far less likely to lose crops to an early frost. It also saved on labor. They stored grain in pits for the winter. Women : The women gathered berries and other foods that could be harvested. They cooked and cleaned and sewed and looked after the children. Although they were busy, most women spent some time on their personal appearance. At night, everyone would collect in the big home that served them all. Children: The girls helped their mothers, the boys helped their fathers. Around age 15, both boys and girls began to think of marriage. Most would marry someone they met at a clan festival. The tallest boys might be selected to train as warriors. Some might learn an artisan skill. Most would be farmers. With their free time, kids would play war games. Also popular was a game they played similar to hockey.


New Page entitled Celtic Warriors

All the Celtic people were warriors if they needed to be. Although most women stayed home, looking after the crops and the children, when their men went off to war, women could choose to train and fight as warriors if they wished. There were warrior schools. A couple of those schools were run by women. But they were the exceptions. Most of the warriors were well trained men. Celtic warriors used many tricks to scare their opponents. The Celts were naturally tall, with blonde or red hair. They rode horses into battle, which not only gave them a fighting advantage, but made them look even taller. Many warriors wore bronze or wood helmets. The Celts like to chop off the head of the leader of their enemies. That head was cured and rubbed with oil, and nailed over the doorway, somewhat like modern hunters do with deer heads. The Celts were not only fierce fighters, they looked and sounded like fierce fighters.