In my previous post I mentioned that the Stone Age ended and the Bronze Age started at around 2500 BC, but that was for the purposes of expediency, because talking about dates in prehistoric times isn’t an exact science. Some sources place the date at anything between 2500 and 2000 BC and this blurred overlap is sometimes referred to as the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age.

Like the Stone Age, historians often break the Bronze Age down into three periods – the Early Bronze Age (c2500-1700 BC), the Middle Bronze Age (c1700-1200 BC) and the Late Bronze Age (c1200-800 BC).

It’s generally accepted that the Bronze Age in Britain began with the arrival of the Beaker people from Central and Southern Europe around 2,500-2,300 BC. Their name derives from the pottery found in round barrow graves, and their arrival had such a big impact that experts believe that they replaced about 90% of the existing population.

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Originally posted 2025-12-27 08:46:48.