Editing Salford (section)

===Early history===
[[File:The Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist, Salford - geograph.org.uk - 1932239.jpg|thumb|[[Salford Cathedral]]]]

[[File:Hundred of Salford.png|thumb|right|The [[Salford (hundred)|Hundred of Salford]] was a [[Royal Manor]] of [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] origin centred on the [[demesne]] of Salford.]]
The earliest known evidence of human activity in what is now Salford is provided by the [[Neolithic]] flint arrow-heads and workings discovered on [[Kersal Moor]] and the River Irwell, suggesting that the area was inhabited 7–10,000 years ago. The raw material for such tools was scarce and unsuitable for working, and as a result they are not of the quality found elsewhere. Other finds include a Neolithic axe-hammer found near Mode Wheel, during the excavation of the [[Manchester Ship Canal]] in 1890, and a [[Bronze Age]] [[cremation urn]] during the construction of a road on the Broughton Hall estate in 1873.<ref>{{Harvnb|Vigeon|1975|p=1}}.</ref><ref name="Cooperpp1819">{{Harvnb|Cooper|2005|pp=18–19}}.</ref>

The [[Brigantes]] were the major [[Celtic tribes in Britain and Ireland|Celtic tribe]] in what is now [[Northern England]]. With a stronghold at the sandstone outcrop on which [[Manchester Cathedral]] now stands, opposite Salford's original centre, their territory extended across the fertile lowland by the River Irwell that is now Salford and [[Stretford]]. Following the [[Roman conquest of Britain]], [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|General Agricola]] ordered the construction of a [[Castra|Roman fort]] named ''[[Mamucium]]'' (Manchester) to protect the routes to ''[[Deva Victrix]]'' ([[Chester]]) and ''[[Eboracum]]'' ([[York]]) from the Brigantes. Salford was founded when the fort was completed in AD&nbsp;79,<ref name="Cooperpp1819"/> and for over 300&nbsp;years the ''[[Pax Romana]]'' brought peace to the area. Both the main [[Roman road]] to the north, from Mamucium to [[Ribchester]], and a second road to the west, ran through what is now Salford, but few Roman artefacts have been found in the area.<ref name="Vigeonp2">{{Harvnb|Vigeon|1975|p=2}}.</ref> The withdrawal of the Romans in AD&nbsp;410 left the inhabitants at the mercy of the [[Saxons]]. The [[Danish people|Danes]] later conquered the area and absorbed what was left of the Brigantes.<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Bracegirdle | first1 = Cyril | title = The Dark River | year = 1973 | page = [https://archive.org/details/darkriver0000brac/page/18 18] | publisher = Sherratt | location = Altrincham | isbn = 0-85427-033-7 | url = https://archive.org/details/darkriver0000brac/page/18 }}</ref>