Britain has one of the richest, yet most underappreciated, records of early human history in the world. While human fossils are rare, ancient Britons left behind tools and animal bones in river deposits and caves that reveal tantalising clues about their behaviour and way of life. By analysing this trail of evidence, scientists from Britain, Europe and North America, working jointly from over 20 different research institutions, have collaborated to gain an incredible insight into the lives of our ancient relatives.
When the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain (AHOB) project was born in 2001, the researchers set out to address key questions about the early prehistory of Britain, including when people first arrived here, who they were and when Britain became an island. The idea was to reconstruct the past lives of ancient Britons by carrying out new excavations, but also by reanalysing old finds in existing collections,
