Lincolnshire History

Prehistoric Lincolnshire (to c. AD 43): Landscape, settlement and the Corieltauvi

Before the Roman conquest, Lincolnshire was shaped by changing landscapes, early farming communities and the rise of the Corieltauvi kingdom.

A landscape in flux

Prehistoric Lincolnshire was not the flat, drained county familiar today. Over thousands of years, it changed from a cold Ice Age environment into a region of chalk uplands, river valleys, marshland and coastal wetlands. The Lincolnshire Wolds, the Lincoln Edge and the fenland margins all offered different possibilities for settlement, movement and survival.

This changing landscape shaped every phase of human activity. Higher ground provided safer routes and living space, while rivers and wetlands offered fish, wildfowl, reeds and transport. Prehistoric Lincolnshire was therefore not a single environment but a varied territory in which people adapted to climate, water and terrain over a very long period.

The first hunters and gatherers

The earliest traces of human activity in Lincolnshire belong to the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age. During warmer phases between glaciations, early humans and Neanderthals moved through the region, leaving worked flints in river gravels such as those of the Witham and Trent. These finds suggest temporary occupation by highly mobile groups who hunted large animals and followed changing environmental conditions.

After the last Ice Age, the Mesolithic brought a different way of life. By around 10,000 BC, the climate was warming and Britain was gradually becoming separated from mainland Europe as sea levels rose. Hunter-gatherers lived across Lincolnshire's higher ground, especially on the Edge and the Wolds, making use of woodland, river valleys and coastal resources. Their tools were small flint microliths, and their movements followed seasonal patterns of hunting, fishing and gathering.

The coming of farming

The Neolithic, beginning around 4000 BC, marked one of the great turning points in Lincolnshire's history. Farming communities introduced domesticated crops and animals, gradually clearing woodland and creating more settled patterns of life. Wheat, barley and cattle changed both diet and land use, while permanent occupation became more visible in the archaeological record.

This period also saw the construction of large monuments. Long barrows on the Lincolnshire Wolds, including the well-known example at Giants' Hills near Skendleby, show that these communities buried their dead collectively and marked the landscape in durable ways. Such monuments were more than graves. They expressed identity, memory and control of territory, showing that parts of Lincolnshire were now being shaped by communities with lasting ties to particular places.

Metal, water and exchange

The Bronze Age brought further change from around 2500 BC. Metalworking introduced new materials, new forms of prestige and new patterns of exchange. Burial practices shifted from communal long barrows to round barrows, often associated with individuals and grave goods. This suggests a more clearly ranked society in which status could be displayed through objects such as bronze weapons, ornaments and pottery.

Water remained especially important in Lincolnshire during this period. As wetter conditions encouraged the spread of peat and marsh in low-lying areas, communities adapted with remarkable skill. Timber trackways, log boats and other wooden structures found in the Ancholme and Witham valleys show that transport by water was vital. Lincolnshire was not isolated. It was part of wider networks of coastal and inland exchange through which goods such as salt, amber and crafted objects could move.

The Iron Age and the Corieltauvi

By the Iron Age, beginning around 800 BC, Lincolnshire had become the heartland of the Corieltauvi, a tribal confederation whose territory covered much of the East Midlands. This was a settled and organised society built around enclosed farmsteads, local centres of power and established agricultural production. The region was no longer simply occupied; it was structured politically and economically.

The Corieltauvi left behind evidence of both wealth and sophistication. Hillforts such as Honington Camp and Yarborough Camp point to defended sites and local authority, while coinage demonstrates trade and political organisation. Their coins, often showing stylised horses and named rulers, are among the clearest signs of developed leadership in late prehistoric Lincolnshire. The county also produced some of the most striking Iron Age objects found in Britain, including the Witham Shield, whose elaborate design suggests high levels of metalworking skill and ritual significance.

Salt production was another major element of this economy. Along the Lincolnshire coast, communities produced salt by evaporating seawater in ceramic vessels, leaving behind the distinctive waste known as briquetage. Salt was a valuable commodity for preserving food and supporting trade, and it linked the coast to inland settlements across the region. By the late Iron Age, Lincolnshire was not a marginal landscape but a productive and connected one.

The eve of Roman rule

On the eve of the Roman invasion in AD 43, Lincolnshire was already a settled agrarian landscape with long traditions of farming, exchange and territorial organisation. The Witham Gap, where the river cut through the limestone ridge, had both strategic and symbolic importance long before it became Roman Lincoln. Routes, resources and existing centres of settlement made the region attractive to an expanding imperial power.

The transition to Roman rule appears to have been less dramatic here than in some other parts of Britain. The Corieltauvi do not seem to have resisted in the same way as the Iceni or other tribes more strongly associated with rebellion. That relative pragmatism helps explain why Lincolnshire could be absorbed into the Roman system while still carrying forward many older patterns of settlement and land use. Prehistoric Lincolnshire ended not as a wilderness, but as a complex regional society ready to be drawn into a new imperial world.

Key facts

• Lincolnshire's prehistoric landscape was highly varied: Chalk uplands, river valleys, wetlands and coastal marsh all shaped where people lived and how they moved.
• Human activity stretches back to the Paleolithic: Flint tools from river gravels show that early humans and Neanderthals passed through the region during warmer periods.
• Neolithic farming transformed the county: From around 4000 BC, settled communities cleared woodland, kept livestock and cultivated crops on a growing scale.
• Long barrows marked territory as well as burial: Monuments such as Giants' Hills at Skendleby show that early farming groups created visible and lasting claims on the landscape.
• Bronze Age Lincolnshire was closely tied to water: Trackways and log boats found in wetland areas reveal the importance of rivers, marshes and water transport.
• The Corieltauvi made Lincolnshire a tribal heartland: In the Iron Age, the county formed part of a powerful regional confederation centred on farming, trade and local authority.
• The Witham Shield is one of Britain's most important Iron Age finds: Its fine Celtic decoration suggests both skilled craftsmanship and ritual use.
• Salt production made the coast economically important: Briquetage sites show that prehistoric Lincolnshire was producing salt on a significant scale.
• Late prehistoric Lincolnshire was already connected and organised: Coinage, defended sites and established settlements all point to a sophisticated society before Roman rule.

Timeline of prehistoric Lincolnshire