Prehistoric Brent

The new Brent Museum, due to open in the summer, is set out chronologically and the story it tells begins thousands of years ago during prehistoric times. The change from Prehistory to History is generally defined as when an area starts using a writing system. This means that all over the globe prehistory ends and history starts at different times. In Egypt history is thought to start in 3200 BC  but in Australia it is suggested to begin in about 1788 AD with the arrival of colonialists. In Britain history is considered to begin when the Roman invasion in 43 AD.

Prehistory is usually investigated by archaeologists. Due to the lack of writing from this time archaeologists look at the material left behind by people in the past and try to work out what life may have been like.

Brent Museum does not have a lot of material from the prehistoric period. The artifacts themselves are rare and the museum was set up in 1977, a long time after a lot of the building work in Brent had been completed. This means potential archaeological objects and sites have been built over and there are few spaces archaeologists can now investigate. If you do wish to look into excavations carried out by archaeologists in Brent reports can be accessed online or in hard copy from Brent Museum and Archives.

Archaeology from our neighboring boroughs including Hounslow, Barnet, Ealing and Camden shows us there was people in the area during the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods (800,000 years ago to 2500 BC). These Stone-Age people must have also been active in Brent. At the moment however we just haven’t found any evidence of these people and so we must keep looking.This example of a flint tool was found in the nearby borough of Barnet.

Around 2500 BC people begin to make Copper and Bronze tools and weapons and the Bronze Age began. We are excited that along side some of Brent Museum and Archives prehistoric pottery which we will be displaying a Bronze Age object on loan from the Museum of London. It is a Middle Bronze Age axe which was recorded as being found in Neasden. It is dated to 1500-1150 BC and could have had a few different roles. It could have been hafted onto a wooden handle and used as a tool but metal artifacts like this were also sometimes used as votive offerings. If you are interested in finding out more about Bronze Age objects made from Gold or Bronze there are guides on the Portable Antiquities Scheme website.

Votive offerings were sometimes left in rivers and lakes. This tradition carried on through the Bronze Age (2500-800 BC) into the Iron Age (800 BC- 50 AD) when this spearhead was made and then deposited in the Thames near Mortlake. This spearhead will also be on loan to us from the Museum of London to illustrate the sorts of objects that were used by the Iron Age inhabitants of the area.

 For more information about Prehistoric Britain:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/europe/room_51_europe_10,000-800_bc.aspx

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/europe/room_50_britain_and_europe.aspx

http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/whats-on/galleries/london-london/