This timeline focuses on species of Homo and covers the Pleistocene from the first evidence of humans.
The names used for glaciations and interglacials are those with historic usage for Britain and may not reflect the full climate detail of modern studies.
Dates for the Paleolithic are given as Before Present (BP), which uses 1 January 1950 as the commencement date of the age scale. All later dates are given as Before Christ (BC), which uses the conventional Gregorian calendar with AD 1 as the commencement date of the age scale.
Rising sea levels cut Britain off completely from the continent. It is warm enough for hippos in the Thames and lions on the site of Trafalgar Square, but Neanderthals did not cross the landbridge in time so there are no Homo sp. present.[11]
The Holocene epoch begins as the Younger Dryas stadial ends. The first Mesolithic people arrive and this marks the start of continuous human (Homo sapiens only) occupation.
The upper body of the Cheddar Man a Mesolithic skeleton.
c. 9335–9275BC
The earliest date for structures and artefacts at Star Carr, Yorkshire, a site then inhabited for around 800 years.[17]
c. 7600BC
Howick house, Northumberland, a Mesolithic building with stone tools, nut shells and bone fragments.
c. 7150BC
Cheddar Man, the oldest complete human skeleton in Britain
c. 6500-6200BC
Rising sea-levels cause the gradual flooding of Doggerland. The culminating tsunami caused by the Storegga Slide, likely contributes to the final isolation of Great Britain from the European mainland.
c. 6000BC
The earliest evidence of some form of agriculture: Wheat of a variety grown in the Middle East was present on the Isle of Wight.[18]
c. 4600-3065BC
Date range of artefacts from a Mesolithic midden on Oronsay, Inner Hebrides, giving evidence of diet.
^Parfitt, Simon A.; Ashton, Nick M.; Lewis, Simon G.; Abel, Richard L.; Coope, G. Russell; Field, Mike H.; Gale, Rowena; Hoare, Peter G.; Larkin, Nigel R.; Lewis, Mark D.; Karloukovski, Vassil; Maher, Barbara A.; Peglar, Sylvia M.; Preece, Richard C.; Whittaker, John E.; Stringer, Chris B. (2010). "Early Pleistocene human occupation at the edge of the boreal zone in northwest Europe". Nature. 466 (7303): 229–233. Bibcode:2010Natur.466..229P. doi:10.1038/nature09117. PMID20613840. S2CID4418334.
^Parfitt.S et al (2005) 'The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe', Nature 438 pp.1008-1012, 2005-12-15. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
^Roebroeks.W (2005) 'Archaeology: life on the Costa del Cromer', Nature 438 pp.921-922, 2005-12-15. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
^Pennington, W. (1977). "The Late Devensian flora and vegetation of Britain". Biological Sciences. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Series B. 280: 247–271.
^Gray, J.M.; Lowe, J.J. (1977). "The Scottish Lateglacial Environment: a synthesis.". In Gray, J.M.; Lowe, J.J. (eds.). Studies in the Scottish Late-GlacialEnvironment. Oxford: Pergammon Press. pp. 163–181.
Timeline of prehistoric Britain 
