Editing History of Wales (section)

==Prehistoric era==
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{{Main|Prehistoric Wales}}

===Paleolithic===
The earliest known item of human remains discovered in modern-day Wales is a [[Neanderthal]] jawbone, found at the [[Bontnewydd Palaeolithic site]] in the valley of the [[River Elwy]] in [[North Wales]]; it dates from about 230,000 [[Before Present|years before present (BP)]] in the [[Lower Palaeolithic]] period,{{sfn|Davies|1994|p=3}} and from then, there have been skeletal remains found of the Paleolithic Age man in multiple regions of Wales, including South Pembrokeshire and Gower.{{sfn|Davies|1994|p=2}} It is known that Britain was visited over a long period during interglacial periods, perhaps as far back as far as an interstadial period of the [[Mindel glaciation]], some 300,000 years ago,{{sfn|Foster|Daniel|2014|p=18}} but in the [[last Glacial Maximum]], 26,000-20,000 BP, most of Wales was covered in an ice sheet. Despite this, Wales has been inhabited by [[Early modern human|modern humans]] for at least 29,000 years.{{sfn|Pettitt|2010|p=207}} The [[Red Lady of Paviland]], a human skeleton dyed in [[red ochre]], was discovered in 1823 in one of the Paviland [[limestone]] caves of the [[Gower Peninsula]] in [[Swansea]], South Wales. Despite the name, the skeleton is that of a young man who lived about 33,000 BP at the end of the Upper [[Paleolithic]] Period ([[Old Stone Age]]). Paviland cave lay just to the south of the ice sheet and the sea level was lower, so the cave was inland at the time.{{sfn|Richards|Trinkaus|2009}} It is considered to be the oldest known ceremonial burial in Western Europe. The skeleton was found along with jewellery made from [[ivory]] and [[Exoskeleton|seashells]] and a [[mammoth]]'s skull.

===Mesolithic and Neolithic===
{{see also|Mesolithic|Neolithic British Isles}}
Continuous human habitation dates from the end of the [[Last Glacial Period|last ice age]], between 12,000 and 10,000&nbsp;[[Before Present|years before present (BP)]], when [[Mesolithic]] (middle stone age) [[hunter-gatherer]]s from Central Europe began to migrate to Great Britain. At that time, sea levels were much lower than today. Wales was free of [[glacier]]s by about 10,250&nbsp;BP, the warmer climate allowing the area to become heavily wooded. The post-glacial rise in sea level separated Wales and Ireland, forming the [[Irish Sea]]. By 8,000 BP the British Peninsula had become an island.{{sfn|Pollard|2001|pp=13-25}}{{sfn|Davies|2008|pp=647-648}}{{sfn|Jones|2014|p=2}} Following the last ice age, Wales became roughly the shape it is today by about 8000 BC and was inhabited by small numbers (a few hundred) of Mesolithic [[hunter-gatherer]]s. These people lived in caves and wood-constructed houses, the latter of which have not stood the test of time.{{sfn|Jones|2014|p=2-3}}{{sfn|Davies|1994|p=7}} The earliest farming communities are now believed to date from about 4000 BC, marking the beginning of the [[Neolithic]] period. This period saw the construction of many [[Megalithic tomb|chambered tombs]], particularly [[dolmen]]s or ''[[Dolmen|cromlechs]]''. The most notable examples of megalithic tombs include [[Bryn Celli Ddu]] and [[Barclodiad y Gawres]] on Anglesey,{{sfn|Lynch|2000|pp=34-42,58}} [[Pentre Ifan]] in Pembrokeshire, and [[Tinkinswood|Tinkinswood Burial Chamber]] in the [[Vale of Glamorgan]].{{sfn|Whittle|1992}} By the beginning of the [[Neolithic]] ({{Circa|6,000 BP}}) sea levels in the [[Bristol Channel]] were still about {{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=off}} lower than today.<ref name="GGAT 72 4">{{harvnb|Evans|Lewis|2003}}</ref>{{sfn|Davies|1994|p=17}} The historian [[John Davies (historian)|John Davies]] theorised that the story of [[Cantre'r Gwaelod]]'s drowning and tales in the ''[[Mabinogion]]'', of the waters between Wales and Ireland being narrower and shallower, may be distant folk memories of this time.<ref name="Wales Hist 4–6">{{harvnb|Davies|1994|pp=4–6}}</ref>

[[Neolithic British Isles|Neolithic]] (new stone age) colonists integrated with the indigenous people, gradually changing their lifestyles from a nomadic life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers about 6,000&nbsp;BP – the [[Neolithic Revolution]].<ref name="Wales Hist 4–6" /><ref name="GGAT 72">{{harvnb|Evans|Lewis|2003|p=47}}</ref> They cleared the forests to establish pasture and to cultivate the land, developed new technologies such as ceramics and textile production, and built [[cromlech]]s such as [[Pentre Ifan]], [[Bryn Celli Ddu]], and [[Parc Cwm long cairn]] between about 5,800&nbsp;BP and 5,500&nbsp;BP.{{sfn|Pearson|2005|p=36}}{{sfn|Davies|1994|p=9}}

===Bronze Age===
{{see also|Bronze Age Britain}}
[[File:BrynCelliDdu3.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bryn Celli Ddu]], a late Neolithic chambered tomb on [[Anglesey]]|alt=A low grassy mound with an entrance at its centre framed by cyclopean stones]]
Metal tools first appeared in Wales about 2500 BC, initially copper followed by [[bronze]]. The climate during the [[Bronze Age|Early Bronze Age]] (c. 5000–1400 BC) is thought to have been warmer than at present, as there are many remains from this period in what are now bleak uplands. The Late Bronze Age (c. 1400–750 BC) saw the development of more advanced bronze implements. Much of the copper for the production of bronze probably came from the copper mine on the [[Great Orme]], where prehistoric mining on a very large scale dates largely from the middle Bronze Age.{{sfn|Lynch|1995|pp=39-40}} [[Radiocarbon dating]] has shown the earliest hillforts in what would become Wales to have been constructed during this period. Historian [[John Davies (historian)|John Davies]] theorises that a worsening climate after around 1250 BC (lower temperatures and heavier rainfall) required more productive land to be defended.{{sfn|Davies|2009|p=23}}

Over the centuries following their initial settlement, the Neolithic population assimilated immigrants and adopted ideas from [[Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]] [[Celts|Celtic]] cultures. Some historians, such as [[John T. Koch]], consider Wales in the Late Bronze Age as part of [[Atlantic Bronze Age|a maritime trading-networked culture]] that included other [[Celtic nations]].<ref name="Koch2009">{{harvnb|Koch|2009}}</ref>{{sfn|Cunliffe|Koch|2010|p=384}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2008|pp=55-64}} This "Atlantic-Celtic" view is opposed by others who hold that the Celtic languages derive their origins from the more easterly [[Hallstatt culture]].{{sfn|Koch|2009b}}

===Iron Age===
{{see also|Iron Age Britain}}
The earliest iron implement found in Wales is a sword from [[Llyn Fawr]] which overlooks the head of the [[Vale of Neath]], which is thought to date to about 600 BC.{{sfn|Davies|1994|p=19}} [[List of hillforts in Wales|Hillforts]] continued to be built during the British Iron Age. Nearly 600 hillforts are in Wales, over 20% of those found in Britain, examples being [[Pen Dinas]] near [[Aberystwyth]] and [[Tre'r Ceiri]] on the [[Llŷn peninsula]].{{sfn|Davies|2009|p=23}} A particularly significant find from this period was made in 1943 at [[Llyn Cerrig Bach]] on Anglesey when the ground was being prepared for the construction of a [[Royal Air Force]] base. The cache included weapons, shields, [[chariot]]s along with their fittings and harnesses, and slave chains and tools. Many had been deliberately broken and seem to have been [[votive offering]]s.{{sfn|Lynch|1995|pp=249-277}}

A tendency to see the creation of hillforts as evidence of a Celtic invasion that also brought a Celtic language to the Britain has been dealt a blow by recognition that the earliest forts predate the arrival of Iron Age Celtic culture by hundreds of years. The present tendency is to reject the hypothesis of mass invasion in favour of more sporadic migration and a cultural spread of language and ideas, a "culminative Celticity".{{sfn|Davies|2009|p=23}} Then, with the coming of the Celts, there was an agricultural improvement of farming in Britain. This is evident with the then new use of the iron ploughshare, a type of [[Plough]].{{sfn|Jones|2014|p=5}}

====Iron Age Celts====
{{see also|Celts}}
<!--By the time of the [[Roman conquest of Britain|Roman invasion of Britain]] the area of modern Wales had been divided among the tribes of the [[Deceangli]] (north-east), [[Ordovices]] (north-west), [[Demetae]] (south-west), [[Silures]] (south-east), and [[Cornovii (Midlands)|Cornovii]] (east).<ref name="Wales Hist 4–6"/><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Who were the Celts? |url=https://museum.wales/articles/1341/Who-were-the-Celts/ |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=Museum Wales |language=en}}</ref>-->
During the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age in [[Celtic Britain]] ({{circa|800 BC}}) is when modern-day Wales was split into 4 regional [[tribes]]. They were, the [[Ordovices]] ([[Mid Wales]] to [[North West Wales]]), the [[Deceangli]] ([[North East Wales]], [[North Wales]]), the [[Silures]] ([[South East Wales]], Mid Wales) and the [[Demetae]] ([[South West Wales]]).{{sfn|Lynch|2000|page=184}} A second wave ({{circa|500 BC- 200 BC}}) of migration of [[List of ancient Celtic peoples and tribes|Celtic tribes]] from [[Eastern Europe]] emerged in Britain and established stone [[hut]] circle [[Roundhouse (dwelling)#United Kingdom|roundhouse]] settlements within or near the previously inhabited hillfort enclosures. Hut circles were used as dwellings until after the end of Roman rule in Britain. During the Roman occupation, another [[Celtic Briton]] tribe in modern-day Wales was identified as the [[Gangani]] ([[Llŷn Peninsula]], North West Wales), they were a tribe with connections to [[Ireland]].{{sfn|Cunliffe|1978|p=206}}