{{Short description|Ancient Celtic people of Great Britain}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} [[File:Map Gaels Brythons Picts GB.png|thumb|right|[[Great Britain]] and adjacent islands in the 5th century, before the invasion and subsequent [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|founding of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms]]: {{legend|#de3333|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly (non-Pictish) [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] areas}} {{legend|#1c72c5|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Pictish language|Pictish]] areas}} {{legend|#548654|outline=#aaaaaa|Mainly [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] areas}}]]

The '''Britons''' ([[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] [[P-Celtic]] *''Pritanī'', {{langx|la|Britanni}}, {{langx|cy|Brythoniaid}}), also known as '''Celtic Britons'''{{sfn|Webster|1996|p=623}} or '''ancient Britons''', were the [[Celts|Celtic people]]{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291–292}} who inhabited [[Great Britain]] from at least the [[British Iron Age]] until the [[High Middle Ages]], at which point they diverged into the [[Welsh people|Welsh]], [[Cornish people|Cornish]], and [[Bretons]] (among others).{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291–292}} They spoke [[Common Brittonic]], the ancestor of the modern [[Brittonic languages]].{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291–292}}

The earliest written evidence for the Britons is from [[Greco-Roman world|Greco-Roman]] writers and dates to the Iron Age.{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291–292}} Ancient Britain was made up of many tribes and kingdoms, associated with various [[Hillforts in Britain|hillforts]]. The Britons followed an [[ancient Celtic religion]] overseen by [[druid]]s. Some of the southern polities had strong links with mainland Europe, especially [[Gaul]] and [[Gallia Belgica|Belgica]], and [[Celtic currency of Britain|minted their own coins]]. The [[Roman Empire]] [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquered most of Britain]] in the 1st century AD, creating the [[Roman Britain|province of Britannia]]. The Romans [[Scotland during the Roman Empire|invaded northern Britain]], but the Britonnic tribes such as the [[Caledonians]] and [[Picts]] in the north remained unconquered, and [[Hadrian's Wall]] (which bisects the modern [[England|English]] counties of [[Northumberland]] and [[Cumbria]]) became the western edge of the empire. A [[Romano-British culture]] emerged, mainly in the southeast, and [[British Latin]] coexisted with Brittonic.{{sfn|Sawyer|1998|pp=69–74}} It is unclear what relationship the Britons had with the [[Picts]], who lived outside of the empire beyond the [[Firth of Forth]] in northern Britain; however, most scholars today accept the fact that the [[Pictish language]] was closely related to Common Brittonic and the Picts were themselves Brittonic Celts.{{sfn|Forsyth|1997|p=9}}

Following the [[end of Roman rule in Britain]] during the 5th century, [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|Anglo-Saxon settlement]] of eastern and southern Britain began. The culture and language of the Britons gradually fragmented, and much of their territory gradually became [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]], while the north and the [[Isle of Man]] became subject to a similar gradual settlement by [[Gaels|Gaelic]]-speaking tribes from [[Ireland]] who would eventually form [[Scotland]]. The extent to which this cultural change was accompanied by wholesale population changes is still debated. During this time, Britons migrated to mainland Europe and established significant colonies in [[Brittany]] (now part of France), the [[Channel Islands]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Germanic invasions of Britain|url=https://www.uni-due.de/SHE/HE_GermanicInvasions.htm|website=www.uni-due.de}}</ref> and [[Britonia]] (now part of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], Spain).{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}} By the 11th century, Brittonic-speaking populations had split into distinct groups: the Welsh in Wales, the Cornish in Cornwall, the Bretons in Brittany, the Cumbrians of the ''[[Hen Ogledd]]'' ("Old North") in modern southern Scotland and northern England, and the remnants of the Pictish people in northern Scotland.<ref>Scottish Archaeological Research Framework ([https://scarf.scot/ ScARF]), Highland Framework, [https://scarf.scot/regional/higharf/early-medieval/ Early Medieval] (accessed May 2022).</ref> Common Brittonic developed into the distinct Brittonic languages: [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Cumbric]], [[Cornish language|Cornish]] and [[Breton language|Breton]].{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}}

[[File:Ancient Celt with carnyx (Ancient Briton).jpg|thumb|Celtic warrior recreation, including [[carnyx]] and a replica of the [[Waterloo Helmet]]]] [[File:Recreated Celtic Village, Museum of Welsh Life. - geograph.org.uk - 138611.jpg|thumb|Recreated Celtic village at [[St Fagans National Museum of History]], Wales]]

==Name== {{Main|Britain (placename)}} In [[Celtic studies]], 'Britons' refers to native speakers of the [[Brittonic languages]] in the ancient and medieval periods, "from the first evidence of such speech in the pre-Roman [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]], until the [[High Middle Ages|central Middle Ages]]".{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}}

The earliest known reference to the inhabitants of Britain was made by [[Pytheas]], a [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] geographer who made a voyage of exploration around the [[British Isles]] between 330 and 320 BC. Although none of his writings remain, writers during the following centuries make frequent reference to them. The ancient Greeks called the people of Britain the ''Pretanoí'' or ''Bretanoí''.{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}} [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]'s ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' (77 AD) says the older name for the island was ''[[Albion]]'',{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}} and [[Avienius]] calls it ''insula Albionum'', "island of the Albions".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Snyder |first1=Christopher A. |title=The Britons |date=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-75821-2 |pages=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zAn4JPhRInYC&q=albion}}</ref> The name could have reached Pytheas from the [[Gaul]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Robert Fitzroy |title=The Oxford History of Ireland |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280202-6 |pages=1 |edition=reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bD9RFgLaGQkC&q=pythea}}</ref>

The [[P-Celtic]] [[ethnonym]] has been reconstructed as *''Pritanī'', from [[Common Celtic]] *''kʷritu'', which became [[Old Irish]] ''cruth'' and [[Old Welsh]] ''pryd''.{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}} This likely means "people of the forms, shapely people", and could be linked to the Latin name ''Picti'' (the [[Picts]]), which is usually explained as meaning "painted people".{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}} The Old Welsh name for the Picts was ''Prydyn''.{{sfn|Fraser|2009|p=48}} Linguist Kim McCone suggests the name became restricted to inhabitants of the far north after ''Cymry'' displaced it as the name for the [[Welsh people|Welsh]] and [[Cumbrians]].{{sfn|McCone|2013|p=25}} The Welsh ''prydydd'', "maker of forms", was also a term for the highest grade of [[bard|a bard]].{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}}

The medieval Welsh form of Latin ''Britanni'' was ''Brython'' (singular and plural).{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}} ''Brython'' was introduced into English usage by [[John Rhys]] in 1884 as a term unambiguously referring to the [[P-Celtic and Q-Celtic languages|P-Celtic]] speakers of Great Britain, to complement ''[[Gaels|Goidel]]''; hence the adjective ''Brythonic'' refers to the group of languages.<ref>{{Cite web|title=brythonic {{!}} Origin and meaning of Brythonic by Online Etymology Dictionary|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/brythonic|access-date=2020-06-16|website=www.etymonline.com|language=en}}</ref> "Brittonic languages" is a more recent coinage (first attested in 1923 according to the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'').

In the [[early Middle Ages]], following [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]], the [[Anglo-Saxons]] called all Britons ''Bryttas'' or ''Wealas'' (Welsh), while they continued to be called ''Britanni'' or ''Brittones'' in [[Medieval Latin]].{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}} From the 11th century, they are more often referred to separately as the [[Welsh people|Welsh]], [[Cumbrians]], [[Cornish people|Cornish]], and [[Bretons]], as they had separate political histories from then.{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}} From the early 16th century, and especially after the [[Acts of Union 1707]], the terms ''British'' and ''Briton'' could be applied to all inhabitants of the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], including the [[English people|English]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]], and some [[Irish people|Irish]], or the subjects of the [[British Empire]] generally.<ref>{{cite OED|Briton}}</ref>

==Language== {{See also|British Latin}} [[File:Staffordshire Moorlands Pan (1284837406).jpg|thumb|The [[Staffordshire Moorlands Pan]]]]

The Britons spoke an [[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic language]] known as [[Common Brittonic]]. Brittonic was spoken throughout the island of Britain (in modern terms, England, Wales, and Scotland) and the [[Isle of Man]].{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Britons|pp=291&ndash;292}}{{efn|While there have been attempts in the past to align the Pictish language with non-Celtic language, the current academic view is that it was Brittonic. See: {{harvnb|Forsyth|1997|p=37}}: "[T]he only acceptable conclusion is that, from the time of our earliest historical sources, there was only one language spoken in Pictland, the most northerly reflex of Brittonic."}} According to early medieval historical tradition, such as ''The Dream of [[Magnus Maximus|Macsen Wledig]]'', the post-Roman Celtic speakers of [[Armorica]] were colonists from Britain, resulting in the [[Breton language]], a language related to [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and identical to [[Cornish language|Cornish]] in the early period, which is still used today. Thus, the area today is called [[Brittany]] (Br. ''Breizh'', Fr. ''Bretagne'', derived from ''[[Britannia]]'').

Common Brittonic developed from the Insular branch of the [[Proto-Celtic language]] that developed in the [[British Isles]] after arriving from the continent at some point between the 10th and the 7th century BC. The language eventually began to diverge; some linguists have grouped subsequent developments as [[Western Brittonic languages|Western]] and [[Southwestern Brittonic languages]]. Western Brittonic developed into Welsh in [[Wales]] and the [[Cumbric language]] in the [[Hen Ogledd]] or "Old North" of Britain (modern northern England and southern Scotland), while the Southwestern dialect became [[Cornish language|Cornish]] in Cornwall and [[South West England]] and [[Breton language|Breton]] in Armorica. [[Pictish]] is now generally accepted to descend from Common Brittonic rather than being a separate Celtic language. Welsh and Breton survive today; Cumbric and Pictish became extinct in the 12th century. Cornish had become extinct by the 19th century but has been the subject of [[language revitalization]] since the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Cornwall is resurrecting its indigenous language |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230423-why-cornwall-is-resurrecting-its-indigenous-language |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=www.bbc.com |date=24 April 2023 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Tribal groups== [[File:Britain.south.peoples.Ptolemy.jpg|thumb|Tribal groups in southern Britain {{Circa|150 AD}}]] Celtic Britain was made up of many territories controlled by [[Celtic tribes in Britain and Ireland|Brittonic tribes]]. They are generally believed to have dwelt throughout the whole island of [[Great Britain]], at least as far north as the [[Firth of Clyde|Clyde]]–[[Firth of Forth|Forth]] [[isthmus]]. The territory north of this was largely inhabited by the [[Picts]]; little direct evidence has been left of the [[Pictish language]], but place names and Pictish personal names recorded in the later [[Irish annals]] suggest it was indeed related to the Common Brittonic language.{{sfn|Forsyth|2006|p=1447}}{{sfn|Forsyth|1997|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}}{{sfn|Fraser|2009|pp=52&ndash;53}}{{sfn|Woolf|2007|pp=322&ndash;340}} Their [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic (Gaelic)]] name, ''[[Cruthin|Cruithne]]'', is cognate with ''Pritenī''.

The following is a list of the major Brittonic tribes, in both the Latin and Brittonic languages, as well as their capitals during the Roman period. {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Tribe ! Capital |- | [[Atrebates|Atrebatēs]] | [[Calleva Atrebatum]] |- | [[Brigantes|Brigantēs/Brigantī]] | [[Isurium Brigantum]] |- | [[Cantiaci|Cantiacī]] | [[Durovernum Cantiacorum]] |- | [[Carvetii|Carvetīī (*Carwetīī)]] | [[Luguvalium]] |- | [[Catuvellauni|Catuvellaunī (*Catuwellaunī)]] | [[Verulamium]] |- | [[Corieltauvi|Corieltauvī (*Corieltauī)]] | [[Ratae Corieltauvorum]] |- | [[Cornovii (Midlands)|Cornovīī (*Cornowīī)]] | [[Viroconium Cornoviorum]] |- | [[Damnonii|Damnonīī]] | Vanduara ([[Loudoun Hill]] or [[Walls Loch|Walls Hill]]) |- | [[Deceangli|Deceanglī]] | [[Canovium]] or [[Clwydian Range|Clwydian hillforts]] |- | [[Demetae]] | [[Moridunum (Carmarthen)|Moridunum]] |- | [[Dobunni|Dobunnī/Bodunnī]] | [[Corinium Dobunnorum]] |- | [[Dumnonii|Dumnonīī]] | [[Isca Dumnoniorum]] |- | [[Durotriges|Durotrigēs]] | [[Durnovaria]]; [[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] |- | [[Iceni|Īcenī/Ecenī]] | [[Venta Icenorum]] |- | [[Novantae|Novantae (*Nowantī)]] | [[Rispain Camp|Rispain]]? |- | [[Ordovices|Ordovicēs (*Ordowicī)]] | [[Dinas Dinorwig]]? |- | [[Parisi (tribe)|Parisī]] | [[Petuaria]] |- | [[Regni|Reginī]] | [[Noviomagus Reginorum]] |- | [[Selgovae|Selgovae (*Selgowī)]] | [[Eildon Hill]]? |- | [[Silures|Silurēs]] | [[Venta Silurum]]; [[Llanmelin]] |- | [[Textoverdi|Textoverdī (*Textowerdī)]] | [[Coria (Corbridge)|Coria]]? |- | [[Trinovantes|Trinovantēs (*Trinowantī)]] | [[Camulodunum]] |- | [[Votadini|Votadīnī/Otadīnī]] | [[Traprain Law|Traprain]] |}

==Art== [[File:Scuto Battersea BritMu252a.jpg|thumb|The [[Battersea Shield]], a ceremonial bronze shield dated 3rd–1st century BC, is an example of La Tène [[Celtic art]] from Britain.|upright=0.7]] The [[La Tène style]], which covers British [[Celtic art]], was late arriving in Britain, but after 300 BC the ancient British seem to have had generally similar cultural practices to the Celtic cultures nearest to them on the continent. There are significant differences in artistic styles, and the greatest period of what is known as the "Insular La Tène" style, surviving mostly in metalwork, was in the century or so before the Roman conquest, and perhaps the decades after it.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

[[File:Ancient Celt Playing Carnyx War Trumpet.jpg|thumb|A recreation of a [[carnyx]] (war trumpet)|upright=0.8]] The [[carnyx]], a trumpet with an animal-headed bell, was used by Celtic Britons during war and ceremony.{{sfn|Corbishley|Gillingham|Kelly|Dawson|1996|p=36}}<ref>Hunter, Fraser (of Museum of Scotland), [https://web.archive.org/web/20051226184509/http://www.carnyx.musicscotland.com/carnyx/carnyx.htm Carnyx and Co]- piece by Hunter on the carnyx</ref>

==History== ===Origins=== There are competing hypotheses for when Celtic peoples, and the Celtic languages, first arrived in Britain, none of which have gained consensus. The traditional view during most of the twentieth century was that Celtic culture grew out of the central European [[Hallstatt culture]], from which the Celts and their languages reached Britain in the first millennium BC.{{sfn|MacAulay|1992|p=1}}{{sfn|Karl|2010|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}} More recently, [[John T. Koch|John Koch]] and [[Barry Cunliffe]] have challenged that with their 'Celtic from the West' theory, which has the Celtic languages developing as a maritime [[lingua franca|trade language]] in the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] cultural zone before it spread eastward.{{sfn|Cunliffe|Koch|2016|pp=1&ndash;5}} Alternatively, Patrick Sims-Williams criticizes both of these hypotheses to propose 'Celtic from the Centre', which suggests Celtic originated in [[Gaul]] and spread during the first millennium BC, reaching Britain towards the end of this period.{{sfn|Sims-Williams|2020|p=523}}

In 2021, a major [[archaeogenetics]] study uncovered a migration into southern Britain during the [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]], over a 500-year period from 1,300 BC to 800 BC.{{sfn|Patterson|Isakov|Booth|2021|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}} The migrants were "genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France" and had higher levels of [[Early European Farmers]] ancestry.{{sfn|Patterson|Isakov|Booth|2021|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}} From 1000 to 875 BC, their genetic marker swiftly spread through southern Britain,<ref name="YorkUni">{{cite news |title=Ancient DNA study reveals large scale migrations into Bronze Age Britain |url=https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2021/research/ancient-dna-study-migration-bronze-age/ |access-date=21 January 2022 |publisher=[[University of York]] |date=22 December 2021}}</ref> making up around half the ancestry of subsequent [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] people in this area, but not in northern Britain.{{sfn|Patterson|Isakov|Booth|2021|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}} The "evidence suggests that rather than a violent invasion or a single migratory event, the genetic structure of the population changed through sustained contacts between mainland Britain and Europe over several centuries, such as the movement of traders, intermarriage, and small-scale movements of family groups".<ref name="YorkUni"/> The authors describe this as a "plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain".{{sfn|Patterson|Isakov|Booth|2021|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}} There was much less migration into Britain during the subsequent Iron Age, so it is more likely that Celtic reached Britain before then.{{sfn|Patterson|Isakov|Booth|2021|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}} Barry Cunliffe suggests that a branch of Celtic was already being spoken in Britain and that the Bronze Age migration introduced the Brittonic branch.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ancient mass migration transformed Britons' DNA |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59741723 |access-date=21 January 2022 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=22 December 2021}}</ref>

The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', which was originally compiled by the orders of King [[Alfred the Great]] in approximately 890, starts with this, incorporated into the ''Chronicle'' from [[Bede]]'s ''Ecclesiastical History'':{{sfn|Giles|1887|p=303}} {{verse translation|lang1=ang|attr1=''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', original Bodi. Land. 636 text given by [[Benjamin Thorpe]]{{sfn|Thorpe|1861|p=3}}|1=Brittene igland is ehta hund mila lang ⁊ twa hun brad ⁊ her sind on þis igland fif geþeode Englisc ⁊ Brittisc ⁊ Wilsc{{efn|Thorpe's parallel Cott. Tober. B.iv text reads {{lang|ang|Brytwylsc}}.{{sfn|Thorpe|1861|p=3}}}} ⁊ Scyttisc ⁊ Pyhtisc ⁊ Bocleden. Erest weron bugend þises landes Brittes þa coman of Armenia.|lang2=en|attr2=''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', translated by [[Michael Swanton]]{{sfn|Swanton|1998|p=3}}|2=The island of Britain is eight hundred miles long and two hundred broad; and here in this island are five languages: English and British and Welsh{{efn|Swanton notes that MS E says {{lang|ang|Brittisc ond Wilsc}} giving six languages and possibly meaning [[Cornish language|Cornish]] by {{lang|ang|Brittisc}}, whereas MS D says {{lang|ang|Bryt-Wylsc}} as one language.{{sfn|Swanton|1998|p=3}}}} and Scottish and Pictish and Book-language.{{efn|Swanton notes that this means [[Latin language|Latin]].{{sfn|Swanton|1998|p=3}}}} The first inhabitants of this land were Britons, who came from [[Armorica]].{{efn|Swanton's 20th century translation substitutes Armorica directly with a note about the original manuscript.{{sfn|Swanton|1998|p=3}} The 19th century translation by [[James Ingram (academic)|Ingram]] retains the original manuscript error in translation and notes that the Saxon transcriber of the ''Chronicle'' misquoted [[Bede]], who wrote ''Armoricano'' meaning an area in northwestern [[Gaul]] that includes modern [[Brittany]].{{sfn|Ingram|Giles|1847|p=103}} [[Benjamin Thorpe|Thorpe]] notes the same.{{sfn|Thorpe|1861|p=394}}}}}}Archaeological evidence suggests that the pre-Roman Britons did not eat chicken or hares.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Rory |date=2020-04-10 |title=Ancient Britons didn’t eat hares or chickens – they venerated them |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/10/europe/ancient-briton-hare-chicken-gods-intl-scli-scn-gbr |access-date=2026-02-27 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> During the late Iron Age and early Roman period, humans were often buried with chickens, thus suggesting a holy veneration to the animal. It is thought that chickens and hares may have been treated as sacred, and were believed to guide souls to the afterlife.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Best |first1=Julia |last2=Doherty |first2=Sean |last3=Armit |first3=Ian |last4=Boev |first4=Zlatozar |last5=Büster |first5=Lindsey |last6=Cunliffe |first6=Barry |last7=Foster |first7=Alison |last8=Frimet |first8=Ben |last9=Hamilton-Dyer |first9=Sheila |last10=Higham |first10=Tom |last11=Lebrasseur |first11=Ophélie |last12=Miller |first12=Holly |last13=Peters |first13=Joris |last14=Seigle |first14=Michaël |last15=Skelton |first15=Caroline |title=Redefining the timing and circumstances of the chicken's introduction to Europe and north-west Africa |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/redefining-the-timing-and-circumstances-of-the-chickens-introduction-to-europe-and-northwest-africa/0797DAA570D51D988B0514C37C2EC534 |journal=Antiquity |language=en |publication-date=7 June 2022 |volume=96 |issue=388 |pages=868–882 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2021.90 |issn=0003-598X|hdl=10871/126303 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Julius Caesar once wrote in [[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]] that the Britons considered it "contrary to divine law to eat the chicken, the hare, or the goose."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://google.com/books/edition/Zoo_and_Aquarium_History/NkZ1EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=“The+Britons+consider+it+contrary+to+divine+law+to+eat+the+hare,+the+chicken,+or+the+goose”&pg=PT63&printsec=frontcover |title=Zoo and Aquarium History: Ancient Animal Collections to Conservation Centers |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |year=2022 |isbn=9781000585384 |editor-last=Kisling |editor-first=Vernon N. Jr. |location=Boca Raton, FL}}</ref> In some parts of Britain, chickens weren't widely consumed until the [[3rd century|3rd century CE]], and they were primarily eaten in heavily Romanised urban areas. Another view suggests that hares and chicken weren't in fact considered sacred, rather as rare and exotic animals, since their consumption increased with their number even without Romanisation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Addley |first=Esther |date=2020-04-09 |title=Leap of faith: ancient Britons viewed hares and chickens as gods |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/10/leap-of-faith-ancient-britons-viewed-hares-chickens-as-gods-easter |access-date=2026-02-27 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===Roman conquest=== {{Main|British Iron Age|Roman Britain|Sub-Roman Britain}}

[[File:Paganreconstruction (2).gif|thumb|A reconstruction drawing of [[Pagans Hill Roman Temple|Pagans Hill Romano-British temple]]]]

In 43 AD, the Roman Empire invaded Britain. The British tribes opposed the Roman legions for many decades, but by 84 the Romans had decisively conquered southern Britain and had pushed into Brittonic areas of what would later become northern England and southern Scotland. During the same period, [[Belgae|Belgic]] tribes from the Gallic-Germanic borderlands settled in southern Britain. Caesar asserts the Belgae had first crossed the channel as raiders, only later establishing themselves on the island.<ref>Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 2.4, 5.2</ref> In 122 the Romans fortified the northern border with [[Hadrian's Wall]], which spanned what is now [[Northern England]]. In 142 Roman forces pushed north again and began construction of the [[Antonine Wall]], which ran between the [[River Forth|Forth]]–[[River Clyde|Clyde]] isthmus, but they retreated back to Hadrian's Wall after 20 years. Although the native Britons south of Hadrian's Wall mostly kept their land, they were subject to the [[Governors of Roman Britain|Roman governors]], whilst the Brittonic-Pictish Britons north of the wall probably remained fully independent and unconquered. The Roman Empire retained control of "Britannia" until its departure about 410, although parts of Britain had effectively shrugged off Roman rule decades earlier.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

=== Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain === {{Main|Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|}}

[[File:Britonia6hcentury.png|thumb|right|Britons migrated westwards during the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]]|309x309px]] Fifty years or so after the time of the Roman departure, the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]-speaking [[Anglo-Saxons]] began a migration to the south-eastern coast of Britain, where they began to establish their own kingdoms, and [[Old Irish]]-speaking [[Scoti]] migrated from [[Dál nAraidi]] (modern [[Northern Ireland]]) to the west coast of Scotland and the Isle of Man.{{sfn|Pattison|2008|p=[https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2603190/#sec2]}}{{sfn|Pattison|2011|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}} At the same time, Britons established themselves in what is now called [[Brittany]] and the [[Channel Islands]]. There they set up their own small kingdoms and the [[Breton language]] developed from Brittonic [[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic]] rather than [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] or [[Frankish language|Frankish]]. A further Brittonic colony, [[Britonia]], was also set up at this time in [[Gallaecia]] in northwestern [[Spain]].

Many of the old Brittonic kingdoms began to gradually disappear in the centuries after the Anglo-Saxon and Scottish Gaelic invasions; Parts of the regions of modern [[East Anglia]], [[East Midlands]], [[North East England]], [[Argyll]], and [[South East England]] were the first to fall to the Germanic and Gaelic Scots invasions. The kingdom of Ceint (modern Kent) fell in 456 AD. Linnuis (which stood astride modern Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire) was subsumed as early as 500 AD and became the English [[Kingdom of Lindsey]].

[[Regni]] (essentially modern [[Sussex]] and eastern [[Hampshire]]) was likely fully conquered by 510. [[Ynys Weith]] ([[Isle of Wight]]) fell in 530, [[Caer Colun]] (essentially modern Essex) by 540. The [[Gaels]] arrived on the northwest coast of Britain from Ireland, dispossessed the native Britons, and founded [[Dal Riata]] which encompassed modern [[Argyll]], [[Skye]], and [[Iona]] between 500 and 560. [[Deifr]] (Deira) which encompassed modern-day Teesside, Wearside, Tyneside, Humberside, Lindisfarne ([[Medcaut]]), and the [[Farne Islands]] fell to the Anglo-Saxons in 559, and Deira became an Anglo-Saxon kingdom after this point.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons - Deira|url=https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/EnglandDeira.htm|website=www.historyfiles.co.uk}}</ref> Caer Went had officially disappeared by 575, becoming the Anglo-Saxon [[kingdom of East Anglia]]. [[Kingdom of Gwent|Gwent]] was only partly conquered; its capital [[Caer Gloui]] ([[Gloucester]]) was taken by the Anglo-Saxons in 577, handing [[Gloucestershire]] and [[Wiltshire]] to the invaders, while the westernmost part remained in Brittonic hands, and continued to exist in modern Wales.

[[Caer Lundein]], encompassing [[London]], St. Albans and parts of the [[Home Counties]],<ref>[[Nennius]] (c. 828). ''History of the Britons''. [https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Britons#Cities_of_Britain Chapter 6: "Cities of Britain"].</ref> fell from Brittonic hands by 600, and Bryneich, which existed in modern Northumberland and County Durham with its capital of Din Guardi (modern [[Bamburgh]]) and which included Ynys Metcaut ([[Lindisfarne]]), had fallen by 605 becoming Anglo-Saxon Bernicia.{{sfn|Koch|2006|loc=Cumbric|pp=515&ndash;516}} Caer Celemion (in modern Hampshire and Berkshire) had fallen by 610. Elmet, a large kingdom that covered much of modern Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire and likely had its capital at modern Leeds, was conquered by the Anglo-Saxons in 627. [[Pengwern]], which covered [[Staffordshire]], [[Shropshire]], [[Herefordshire]], and [[Worcestershire]], was largely destroyed in 656, with only its westernmost parts in modern Wales remaining under the control of the Britons, and it is likely that Cynwidion, which had stretched from modern Bedfordshire to Northamptonshire, fell in the same general period as Pengwern, though a sub-kingdom of Calchwynedd may have clung on in the Chilterns for a time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kessler |first=P. L. |title=Kingdoms of British Celts - Cynwidion |url=https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/BritainCynwidion.htm |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=The History Files |language=en}}</ref>

[[Novant]], which occupied Galloway and Carrick, was subsumed by fellow Brittonic-Pictish polities by 700. [[Aeron (kingdom)|Aeron]], which encompassed modern [[Ayrshire]],{{sfn|Bromwich|Foster|Jones|1978|p=157}} was conquered by the Anglo-Saxon [[kingdom of Northumbria]] by 700.

=== ''Yr Hen Ogledd'' (the Old North) === {{Main|Yr Hen Ogledd|}}

[[File:Yr.Hen.Ogledd.550.650.Koch.jpg|thumb|''[[Yr Hen Ogledd]]'' (the Old North) c. 550 – c. 650]] Some Brittonic kingdoms were able to successfully resist these incursions: [[Rheged]] (encompassing much of modern [[Northumberland]] and [[County Durham]] and areas of southern Scotland and the [[Scottish Borders]]) survived well into the 8th century, before the eastern part peacefully joined with the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of [[Bernicia]]–[[Northumberland]] by 730, and the west was taken over by the fellow Britons of [[Ystrad Clud]].{{sfn|Chadwick|Chadwick|1940|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}}{{sfn|Kapelle|1979|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}} Similarly, the kingdom of [[Gododdin]], which appears to have had its court at [[Din Eidyn]] (modern [[Edinburgh]]) and encompassed parts of modern [[Northumberland]], [[County Durham]], [[Lothian]] and [[Clackmannanshire]], endured until approximately 775 before being divided by fellow Brittonic Picts, Gaelic Scots and Anglo-Saxons.

The [[Kingdom of Cait]], covering modern [[Caithness]], [[Sutherland]], [[Orkney]], and [[Shetland]], was conquered by Gaelic Scots in 871. [[Dumnonia]] (encompassing [[Cornwall]], [[Devonshire]], and the [[Scilly Isles|Isles of Scilly]]) was partly conquered during the mid 9th century AD, with most of modern Devonshire being annexed by the Anglo-Saxons, but leaving Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly ([[Enesek Syllan]]), and for a time part of western Devonshire (including [[Dartmoor]]), still in the hands of the Britons, where they became the Brittonic state of [[Cornwall|Kernow]]. The [[Channel Islands]] (colonised by Britons in the 5th century) came under attack from [[Norsemen|Norse]] and [[Danes|Danish]] [[Viking]] attack in the early 9th century, and by the end of that century had been conquered by Viking invaders.

The [[Kingdom of Ce]], which encompassed modern [[Marr, Scotland|Marr]], [[Banff, Aberdeenshire|Banff]], [[Buchan]], [[Fife]], and much of [[Aberdeenshire]], disappeared soon after 900. [[Fortriu]], the largest Brittonic-Pictish kingdom which covered [[Strathearn]], [[Morayshire]] and [[Easter Ross]], had fallen by approximately 950 to the Gaelic [[Kingdom of Alba]] ([[Scotland]]). Other Pictish kingdoms such as [[Circinn]] (in modern [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]] and [[The Mearns]]), [[Kingdom of Fib|Fib]] (modern [[Fife]]), [[Fidach]] ([[Inverness]] and [[Perthshire]]), and [[Ath-Fotla]] ([[Atholl]]), had also all fallen by the beginning of the 11th century or shortly after.

The Brythonic languages in these areas were eventually replaced by the [[Old English]] of the Anglo-Saxons, and [[Scottish Gaelic]], although this was likely a gradual process in many areas. Similarly, the Brittonic colony of [[Britonia]] in northwestern [[Spain]] appears to have disappeared soon after 900. The kingdom of [[Ystrad Clud]] (Strathclyde) was a large and powerful Brittonic kingdom of the [[Hen Ogledd]] (the 'Old North') which endured until the end of the 11th century, successfully resisting Anglo-Saxon, Gaelic Scots and later also Viking attacks. At its peak it encompassed modern Strathclyde, [[Dumbartonshire]], [[Cumbria]], [[Stirlingshire]], [[Lanarkshire]], [[Ayrshire]], [[Dumfries and Galloway]], [[Argyll and Bute]], and parts of [[North Yorkshire]], the western [[Pennines]], and as far as modern [[Leeds]] in [[West Yorkshire]].{{sfn|Kapelle|1979|p=}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}}{{sfn|Broun|1999|loc="Dunkeld and the origin of Scottish identity"}}{{sfn|Forsyth|2005|pp=28&ndash;32}}{{sfn|Woolf|2007|loc="Constantine II"}}{{efn|cf. {{harvnb|Bannerman|1999|loc=Chapter 3/"The Scottish takeover of Pictland and the relics of Columba"}}, representing the "traditional" view.}} Thus the Kingdom of Strathclyde became the last of the Brittonic kingdoms of the 'Old North' to fall in the 1090s when it was effectively divided between England and Scotland.{{sfn|Charles-Edwards|2013|pp=12, 575}}{{sfn|Clarkson|2014|pp=12, 63–66, 154–158}}

=== Wales, Cornwall and Brittany ===

The Britons also retained control of [[Wales]] and Kernow (encompassing [[Cornwall]], parts of [[Devon]] including [[Dartmoor]], and the [[Isles of Scilly]]) until the mid 11th century when Cornwall was effectively annexed by the English, with the Isles of Scilly following a few years later, although at times Cornish lords appear to have retained sporadic control into the early part of the 12th century {{Citation needed|date=November 2025}}.

Wales remained free from Anglo-Saxon, Gaelic Scots and Viking control, and was divided among varying Brittonic kingdoms, the foremost being [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]] (including [[Clwyd]] and [[Anglesey]]), [[Kingdom of Powys|Powys]], [[Deheubarth]] (originally [[Kingdom of Ceredigion|Ceredigion]], [[Seisyllwg]] and [[Dyfed]]), [[Kingdom of Gwent|Gwent]], and [[Kingdom of Morgannwg|Morgannwg]] ([[Glamorgan]]). These Brittonic-Welsh kingdoms initially included territories further east than the modern borders of Wales; for example, Powys included parts of modern [[Merseyside]], [[Cheshire]] and [[the Wirral]] and Gwent held parts of modern [[Herefordshire]], [[Worcestershire]], [[Somerset]] and [[Gloucestershire]], but had largely been confined to the borders of modern Wales by the beginning of the 12th century.

However, by the early 12th century, the Anglo-Saxons and Gaels had become the dominant cultural force in most of the formerly Brittonic ruled territory in Britain, and the language and culture of the native Britons was thereafter gradually replaced in those regions,<ref>[https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13752-germanic-invaders-may-not-have-ruled-by-apartheid.html "Germanic invaders may not have ruled by apartheid"]. ''New Scientist'', 23 April 2008.</ref>{{failed verification|date=February 2025}} remaining only in Wales, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and [[Brittany]], and for a time in parts of Cumbria, Strathclyde, and eastern Galloway. [[Cornwall]] (Kernow, [[Dumnonia]]) had certainly been largely absorbed by England by the 1050s to early 1100s, although it retained a distinct Brittonic culture and language.{{sfn|Williams|Martin|2002|pp=341–357}} Wales and Brittany remained independent for a considerable time, however, with Brittany united with [[France]] in 1532, and Wales united with [[England]] by the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542]] in the mid 16th century during the rule of the [[Tudors]] (Y Tuduriaid), who were themselves of Welsh heritage on the male side.

Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isles of Scilly continued to retain a distinct Brittonic culture, identity and language, which they have maintained to the present day. The [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Breton language]]s remain widely spoken, and the [[Cornish language]], once close to extinction, has experienced a revival since the 20th century. The vast majority of place names and names of geographical features in Wales, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and Brittany are Brittonic, and Brittonic family and personal names remain common. During the 19th century, many Welsh farmers migrated to [[Patagonia]] in [[Argentina]], forming a community called [[Y Wladfa]], which today consists of over 1,500 Welsh speakers.

=== Eastern England ===

[[East of England|Eastern England]] was populated by Brythonic tribes such as the [[Iceni]], [[Corieltauvi]], and [[Catuvellauni]]. In the most common view, the Britons of Eastern England were assimilated by Anglo-Saxons in the first 200 years of invasion, from 450-600 AD, as their kingdoms were conquered. This view is often supported by the lack of Brythonic toponyms in the region, and by various mentions such as the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' entry for 491 AD: "[[Ælle of Sussex|Aelle]] and [[Cissa of Sussex|Cissa]] begirt [[Andredesceaster]] and slay all who dwell therein, nor was there for that reason one Briton left alive".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hodgkin |first=Thomas |title=The history of England, from the earliest times to the Norman Conquest |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/68870/pg68870-images.html |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=www.gutenberg.org |language=en}}</ref>

Evidence of continuing Brythonic presence in Eastern England can be found in the ''Life of Saint Guthlac'', a biography of the East Anglian [[hermit]] who lived in [[the Fens]] during the early 8th century. [[Guthlac of Crowland|Saint Guthlac]] was described as attacked on several occasions by people he believed were Britons living in the Fens.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Late survival of Celtic population in E. Anglia |url=https://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/repubs/gray_2_papers/pages/late_survival.html |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=www.cantab.net}}</ref> The 12th century story ''[[Havelok the Dane]]'' includes a Saxon king Alsi, of Brittonic origin, who ruled over [[Lincolnshire|Lincoln]], [[Parts of Lindsey|Lindsey]], [[Rutland]] and [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]]. In the year 1090 a monk in [[Ramsey, Cambridgeshire|Ramsey]] wrote that "the savage and untamable race of the Britons was ravaging far and wide in the province of [[Huntingdon]]". This suggests that Britons were still living in the Fens by 11th century and most likely practiced their own style of Christianity, which was considered pagan by local Anglo-Saxons.<ref name=":0" /> Another story from Ramsey mentions raids of Britons not far from [[Royston, Hertfordshire|Royston]] in the 10th century.<ref>''Chronicon Abbatiae Rameseiensis, p. 140''</ref> In ''[[The Memorials of Cambridge]]'' we can find a line "If any of the gild slay a man, and he be an avenger by compulsion (''neadwraca'') and compensate for his violence, and the slain man be a ''twelfhynde'' man, let each of the gild give half a mark for his aid: if the slain man be a ''ceorl'', two oras: if he be Welsh (''Wylisc'') one ora", where "Wylisc" refers to a Briton. We may infer that, though a Welsh servile population existed in [[Cambridgeshire]] in the tenth century, it was not so numerous as elsewhere, and that there the Welshman's life was more respected.<ref name=":0" /> The legend of [[Wandlebury Hill|Wandlebury]], popular in Cambridge, contains several pagan elements, mentioning a town ''Cantabrica'' and a tribe of ''Wandali'' near [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]], who were "''savagely murdering the Christian''s".<ref>Gervase of Tilbury, ''Otia Imperialia'' (c.13th century)</ref> The legend was first written in 1211 by [[Gervase of Tilbury]], and can be seen an original Celtic story, originated at the end of the Roman Empire during the raids of [[Vandals]], which later passed to local Anglo-Saxon population.<ref>{{Cite web |title=On The Wandlebury legend |url=https://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/repubs/gray_2_papers/pages/wandlebury.html |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=www.cantab.net}}</ref>

Oosthuizen (2016) mentions six placenames in the region with the "''wealh-''" root, which means 'Briton', including ''Walewrth'', ''[[Walsoken]]'' and ''Walpole''. Other examples of Brythonic toponyms include [[River Great Ouse]], from Proto-Celtic '''*'''''Udso-s'' ('water'), [[River Welland]] (possibly from "''wealh''-" root), [[River Cam]] (Granta), from Proto-Celtic *kambos ('crooked'), [[Chettisham]] (compare Welsh "''coed''", meaning 'wood'), [[Chatteris]] (from the same root), [[King's Lynn]], from Brythonic *''llɨnn'' ('lake').<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oosthuizen |first=Susan |date=2016 |title=Culture and identity in the early medieval fenland landscape |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35281533.pdf}}</ref><ref>Green, T., 2012. Britons and Anglo-‐Saxons.</ref> [[Comberton]], a parish in South Cambridgeshire, is derived from the root "cymry", that refers to all Britons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Cambridgeshire/Comberton |access-date=2025-08-21 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref>

=== Northern Iberia === {{Main|Britonia|}}

In the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD, a colony called Britonia was established in northern Galicia. The British settlements first appeared at the [[First Council of Lugo]] in 569 and later, a separate bishopric was established, with the first Bishop being [[Mailoc|Maeloc]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Young |first=Simon |date=Summer 2003 |title=Young, Bishops of the Early Medieval Spanish Diocese of Britonia.pdf |url=https://www.academia.edu/35836466 |journal=Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies |volume=45 |issue= |pages=1–19}}</ref> Despite the exact location of the diocese isn't known, as well as how long did Brythonic culture and language perfromed in the region, several toponyms across [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and [[Asturias]] containing root bret- or brit- can be still found,<ref>Fleuriot, Leon (1980) Les origines de la Bretagne</ref> including Bretelo in [[Ourense]], ''Bertoña'' in [[A Capela]] or El Breton in [[Corvera de Asturias|Corvera]], Asturias.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Young |first=Simon |title= Note: Iberian ''Addenda'' to Fleuriot's ''Toponymes''|url=https://www.academia.edu/35836577 |journal=Peritia |date=2002 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=479–482 |doi=10.1484/j.peri.3.506}}</ref>

==Genetics== {{Further|Celts#Genetics}} {{See also|Bell Beaker culture#Genetics|Urnfield culture#Genetics|Hallstatt culture#Genetics|La Tène culture#Genetics|Gauls#Genetics|Celtiberians#Genetics}} Schiffels et al. (2016) examined the remains of three Iron Age Britons buried ca. 100 BC.{{sfn|Schiffels et al.|2016|p=1}} A female buried in [[Linton, Cambridgeshire]] carried the maternal haplogroup [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H1e]], while two males buried in [[Hinxton]] both carried the paternal haplogroup [[Haplogroup R1b-L21|R1b1a2a1a2]], and the maternal haplogroups [[Haplogroup K (mtDNA)|K1a1b1b]] and [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H1ag1]].{{sfn|Schiffels et al.|2016|p=3|loc=Table 1}} Their genetic profile was considered typical for [[Northwest Europe]]an populations.{{sfn|Schiffels et al.|2016|p=1}} Though sharing a common Northwestern European origin, the Iron Age individuals were markedly different from later [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] samples, who were closely related to [[Danes]] and [[Dutch people]].{{sfn|Schiffels et al.|2016|p=5}}

Martiniano et al. (2018) examined the remains of a female Iron Age Briton buried at [[Melton, East Riding of Yorkshire|Melton]] between 210 BC and 40 AD.{{sfn|Martiniano et al.|2018|pp=1-2}} She was found to be carrying the maternal haplogroup [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U2|U2e1e]].{{sfn|Martiniano et al.|2018|p=3|loc=Table 1}} The study also examined seven males buried in Driffield Terrace near [[York]] between the 2nd century AD and the 4th century AD during the period of [[Roman Britain]].{{sfn|Martiniano et al.|2018|pp=1-2}} Six of these individuals were identified as native Britons.<ref name="Martiniano_2018_6">{{harvnb|Martiniano et al.|2018|p=6}}. "Six of the seven individuals sampled here are clearly indigenous Britons in their genomic signal. When considered together, they are similar to the earlier Iron-Age sample, whilst the modern group with which they show closest affinity are Welsh. These six are also fixed for the Y-chromosome haplotype R1b-L51, which shows a cline in modern Britain, again with maximal frequencies among western populations. Interestingly, these people do not differ significantly from modern inhabitants of the same region (Yorkshire and Humberside) suggesting major genetic change in Eastern Britain within the last millennium and a half. That this could have been, in part, due to population influx associated with the Anglo-Saxon migrations is suggested by the different genetic signal of the later Anglo-Saxon genome."</ref> The six examined native Britons all carried types of the paternal [[Haplogroup R-L151|R1b1a2a1a]] and carried the maternal haplogroups [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H6a1a]], [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H1bs]], [[Haplogroup J (mtDNA)|J1c3e2]], [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H2]], [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H6a1b2]] and [[Haplogroup J (mtDNA)|J1b1a1]].{{sfn|Martiniano et al.|2018|p=3|loc=Table 1}} The indigenous Britons of Roman Britain were genetically closely related to the earlier Iron Age female Briton, and displayed close genetic links to modern [[Celts]] of the [[British Isles]], particularly [[Welsh people]], suggesting genetic continuity between Iron Age Britain and Roman Britain, and partial genetic continuity between Roman Britain and modern Britain.{{sfn|Martiniano et al.|2018|pp=1}}<ref name="Martiniano_2018_6"/> On the other hand, they were genetically substantially different from the examined [[Anglo-Saxon]] individual and modern [[English people|English]] populations of the area, suggesting that the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]] left a [[Genetic evidence of Anglo-Saxon migration in Britain|profound genetic impact]].{{sfn|Martiniano et al.|2018|pp=1, 6}}

==See also== {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * [[Celtic nations]] * [[Celtic language decline in England]] * [[Cornish people]] * [[Cumbric]] * [[English people]] * [[Fortriu]] * [[Genetic history of the British Isles]] * [[Gododdin]] * [[History of the British Isles]] * [[Kingdom of Cat]] * [[Kingdom of Ce]] * [[Kingdom of Strathclyde]] * [[List of Celtic tribes]]{{div col end}}

== Footnotes == {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

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H.|year=2002|title=Domesday Book: a complete translation|location=London|publisher=Penguin}} * {{citation |last=Woolf |first=Alex |year=2007 |title=From Pictland to Alba 789–1070 |work=The New Edinburgh History of Scotland |volume=2 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press}} * {{cite book|author1-last=Young|author1-first=Simon|year=2002|title=Britonia: camiños novos|location=Noia|publisher=Toxosoutos|isbn=978-84-95622-58-7|language=es|volume=17|series=Serie Keltia}} {{Refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/british_prehistory/iron_01.shtml BBC – History – Native Tribes of Britain] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20031011210131/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/bloodofthevikings/genetics_results_07.shtml DNA from ethnic Britons found in Ireland] *[https://scarf.scot/ Scottish Archaeological Research Framework (ScARF)]

{{Celts}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Britons (Historical)}} [[Category:Celtic Britons| ]] [[Category:Historical Celtic peoples]] [[Category:Iron Age Britain]] [[Category:Ancient Britain]] [[Category:Ethnic groups in Scotland]]