Planning to visit Scotland next month, I have begun to read about the natural history of that region. As is the case in other Northern lands, climate change throughout the Pleistocene played a major role in its occupation by nomadic tribes.
Current evidence suggests that ancestral humans (Homo antecessor) first reached Britain in the middle of the Pleistocene, about 900,000 years ago. During glacial periods, when sea levels fell, a land bridge connected southeastern Britain with mainland Europe and migrant hominids moved into and out of the region in response to the climate; during warm, interglacial periods, when glaciers melted and sea levels rose, the land bridge closed. A second surge of ancestral humans (Homo heidelbergensis) occupied Britain about 500,000 years ago and Neandertals arrived about 250-300 thousand years ago. The oldest fossils of modern humans (Homo sapiens) date back 40,000 years, well before the most recent "flooding" of the English Channel, some 11,000 years ago.
Historical records of Britain begin in 47 AD, when Romans attempted to expand their Empire across the Channel. While they gained a foothold in southern Britain, the Romans were rebuffed by northern tribes whom they referred to collectively as Caledonians. Only the southern portion of Scotland was briefly part of the Roman Empire.
Current evidence suggests that ancestral humans (Homo antecessor) first reached Britain in the middle of the Pleistocene, about 900,000 years ago. During glacial periods, when sea levels fell, a land bridge connected southeastern Britain with mainland Europe and migrant hominids moved into and out of the region in response to the climate; during warm, interglacial periods, when glaciers melted and sea levels rose, the land bridge closed. A second surge of ancestral humans (Homo heidelbergensis) occupied Britain about 500,000 years ago and Neandertals arrived about 250-300 thousand years ago. The oldest fossils of modern humans (Homo sapiens) date back 40,000 years, well before the most recent "flooding" of the English Channel, some 11,000 years ago.
Historical records of Britain begin in 47 AD, when Romans attempted to expand their Empire across the Channel. While they gained a foothold in southern Britain, the Romans were rebuffed by northern tribes whom they referred to collectively as Caledonians. Only the southern portion of Scotland was briefly part of the Roman Empire.
