Humans in Britain

At least four human species have lived in Britain, in differing landscapes and climates, repeatedly driven out by extreme changes to the environment.

Discover the lives of these early people, the world in which they lived, and the science behind our ideas.

The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project is one of many investigations over the years into the lives of the earliest Britons.

This 13-year collaboration between the Natural History Museum and other research institutions has rewritten Britain’s human story, re-estimating the earliest known human presence to nearly one million years ago.

The first Britons

Scientists have uncovered the identity of three of the human species who inhabited Britain. Meet them, and the likeliest candidate for first pioneer, here.
Discovering the earliest pioneers (video)

Follow the research into exciting new traces of the earliest known humans in Britain.
Map of key archaeological sites

Explore areas around Britain that have offered up important evidence of early humans and identify the key fossil and artefact discoveries.
Neanderthal hunters (video)

Join scientists as they try to solve a mammoth mystery at La Cotte de St Brelade in Jersey. This site explains a great amount about Neanderthal behaviour.
Neanderthals and us
What was Britain like?

Early occupants of Britain encountered a very different land to the one we know today. Discover how the environment has changed over the past million years.
Cannibalism at Gough's Cave (video)

Find out what human remains excavated from this Somerset cave reveal about human behaviour 14,700 years ago.