Who were the Britons?
As mentioned in Chapter 1, the Britons are the earliest known historical inhabitants of the island of Britain. This does not mean, though, that they were the first people ever to live there, which they certainly were not. Pytheas’ use of the names ‘Pretaniké’ (to describe the island) and Pretani (to describe the people), would imply that they were present in the 4th century BC. However, the earliest human remains from what is now called Britain date from some 30000 years ago, and although devoid of people for large periods during the Ice Age, the land has been constantly inhabited for about 12000 years. It did not become an island until about 6000 BC, and the Britons were not responsible for the construction of something as comparatively recent as Stonehenge around 3000 BC. Indeed, prior to about 500BC, it is doubtful whether the name Britain is appropriate at all. In order to clarify exactly what is meant by the name ‘Briton’ in this account, it is important to stress that it will hav
