The Stone Age timeline
From the oldest known stone tools to the people who found Stonehenge and Ötzi. Every date is an estimate from the source linked.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| about 3.3 million years ago | The oldest known stone tools are made Encyclopaedia Britannica: Stone Age |
| 950,000–700,000 years ago | People leave tools and footprints at Happisburgh, Norfolk Natural History Museum: First Britons |
| about 500,000 years ago | People live at Boxgrove, West Sussex Natural History Museum: First Britons |
| about 450,000 years ago | The Anglian glaciation makes Britain too cold for people Natural History Museum: First Britons |
| about 400,000 years ago | Early Neanderthals are in Britain (the Swanscombe skull) Natural History Museum: First Britons |
| at least 40,000 years ago | The Kent’s Cavern jaw: our own species in Britain Natural History Museum: First Britons |
| at least 8,500 BC | The Star Carr house is built University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010) · checked 29 Oct 2026 |
| about 10,000 years ago | Cheddar Man lives Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy |
| about 4100 BC | Farming arrives in Britain English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves |
| over 5,300 years ago | Ötzi the Iceman lives in the Alps South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology: Ötzi the Iceman |
| about 3000 BC | The first Stonehenge ditch and bank are dug English Heritage: History of Stonehenge |
| around 2600 BC | Flint mining at Grime’s Graves begins English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves |
| about 2500 BC | The Stonehenge stone circle goes up English Heritage: History of Stonehenge |
| about 2400 BC | The first metal objects appear in Britain English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves |
| 1868–70 | Canon Greenwell proves Grime’s Graves was a flint mine English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves |
| 1903 | Cheddar Man’s skeleton is found Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy |
| 1918 | Stonehenge is given to the nation English Heritage: History of Stonehenge |
| 1991 | Ötzi is found by hikers South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology: Ötzi the Iceman |
Gaps and returns
About 450,000 years ago the Anglian glaciation, the most extreme cold stage of the last million years, made life in Britain impossible for people. Natural History Museum: First Britons No human remains or tools at all have been found in Britain from 180,000 to 60,000 years ago. Natural History Museum: First Britons
Neanderthals came back across Doggerland, land that is now under the North Sea. Natural History Museum: First Britons People have lived in Britain continuously only since about 12,000 years ago. Natural History Museum: First Britons
Prehistoric dates are estimates, and good sources don’t always agree. Some give years “BC”, some “years ago”, and period names start and end at different times in different places. Each fact here links to who said it, and things that can change, like what’s on display or what the curriculum says, show the date we checked them. See when sources disagree for every difference side by side.