colour scheme
Timeline
Prehistory
The Palaeolithic (400,000 - 10,000 years ago)
The Palaeolithic was the period in which people lived by hunting and gathering on the open tundra plains of Europe before the close of the last ice age. Before the Upper Palaeolithic (30 000 – 10 000 years ago) archaic Homo Sapiens such as Neanderthals and their predecessor Homo Heidelbergis inhabited Europe, rather than modern humans.
The Mesolithic (8,000 - 4,000 BC)
The Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) is the period after the last ice age (8000 BC), lasting until the advent of farming around 3500-4000 BC. People subsisted by hunting and foraging.
The Neolithic (4,000 - 2,000 BC)
The Neolithic (New Stone Age) is the period in which people began farming and making pottery.
The Bronze Age (2,000 - 700 BC)
The period is marked by the introduction of metallurgy - mainly copper and tin in the form of bronze alloy. Stone tools were used in conjunction with metal tools.
The Iron Age (700 BC - AD 55)
The period saw the widespread use of metallurgy and the complete replacement of stone tools.
Decorative stud
The hand–axe found at Magdalen Street, Exeter
A Palaeolithic implement
Mesolithic microliths from Retreat Field, Topsham
Neolithic polished axe from Waybrook Cottages, Alphington
Neolithic flint axe fragment, St Bridget’s Nursery, Topsham
Neolithic polished axe fragment from Goldsmith Street, Exeter
Neolithic axe fragment from Topsham
Flint tools found between Topsham and Countess Wear
Flints from the Ludwell Valley
Bronze Age Burial
Bronze Age axe from the Exeter area
Broken Early Bronze Age knife from the Cathedral Close excavations
The Mount Howe Mycenean axe
The Pinhoe hoard of Bronze Age metalwork
An Iron Age round house, Guildhall Shopping Centre
Iron Age coin of the people of Dorset (obverse)
An Armorican coin found in Northernhay Gardens (obverse)
Neolithic and Iron Age pottery from Friernhay Street
Iron Age coin of the people of Dorset (reverse)
An Armorican coin found in Northernhay Gardens (reverse)
The Iron Age settlement in Southernhay
The Iron Age settlement in Southernhay
Plan of the Iron Age settlement in Southernhay
Iron Age pottery undergoing reconstruction at Exeter City Museums
A Bronze Age armlet
