Editing History of Wales (section)

===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}}