Ancient Britain

Mold Gold Cape

This gold cape was originally found in a grave in North Wales. It has been crafted from a single gold ingot beaten to a breathtakingly thin sheet. We do not know who wore the cape but it could only fit a slim woman or child. Whoever wore it must also have possessed great power and wealth.

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Ancient Britain objects on A History of the World

A sculpture of two swimming reindeer, from the British Museum.

Stone hand axe from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.

The Clovis spear point from Arizona, North America.

Olduvai stone chopping tool, from the British Museum.

A two million year old woolly mammoth's tooth.

A Paleolithic Stone Bead found on a driveway in Luton.

Human beings have been living in the part of northern Europe that is today called Britain for about 750,000 years. The first modern humans, or Homo sapiens, arrived in Britain after the Ice Age, about 30,000 - 40,000 years ago.

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