People in the four lands of Britain derive from a host of ancestral sources, notably:
• the prehistoric cultures which produced such impressive monuments as the stone circles of Avebury and Stonehenge;
• the ancient Celtic peoples who inhabited western and central Europe;
• the Romans who occupied Britain for over 300 years from the invasion in AD 43;
• the Angles, Saxons and Jutes - Germanic peoples who began raiding and settling in Britain from the third century;
• Scots from Ireland, who began to settle in what became known as Scotland in the sixth century (merging with the indigenous Picts to form one kingdom under Kenneth Macalpin in the ninth century);
• the Vikings from Scandinavia, who pillaged and settled areas of Britain and Ireland from the end of the eighth century; and
• the Normans from France, who invaded England in 1066.
The last thousand years have witnessed the assimilation of all these strands — and many new ones besides, following on from global exploration, the expansion of trade and international rivalry, and the growth of the Empire.
At the same time political, social, economic and religious trends, pressures and crises have all evolved to create the beliefs, lifestyle and expectations that are prevalent among the people today.
Past events — modern legacies