Editing Wessex (section)

=== Prehistoric Britain ===

{{Main|Prehistoric Britain}}
From the [[Neolithic]] onwards the [[chalk]] [[downland]] of the area that would become Wessex was traversed by the [[Harrow Way]], which can still be traced from [[Marazion]] in Cornwall to the coast of the [[English Channel]] near Dover, and was probably connected with the [[ancient tin trade]]. In the [[Late Neolithic]], the ceremonial sites of [[Avebury]] and [[Stonehenge]] were completed on [[Salisbury Plain]], but the final phase of Stonehenge was erected by the so-called "[[Wessex culture]]" of the [[Middle Bronze Age]] ({{circa|1600–1200 BC}}).  The area has many other earthworks and erected stone monuments from the Neolithic and Early Bronze periods, including the [[Dorset Cursus]], an earthwork {{cvt|10|km|mi|0}} long and {{cvt|100|m|yd}} wide, which was oriented to the midwinter sunset. Although agriculture and hunting were pursued during this long period, there is little archaeological evidence of human settlements. By the [[Iron Age]], [[Iron Age tribes in Britain|Celtic British tribes]] such as the [[Durotriges]], [[Atrebates]], [[Belgae]] and [[Dobunni]] occupied the future Wessex.