Hello, and welcome to this lesson.

My name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about Bronze and Iron Age Britain and how life changed during that time.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain how and when the Iron Age began in Britain and describe who the Celts were.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are Iron Age, smelting, Celts, and tribe.

I'm going to say those again, and I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Iron Age, smelting, Celts, tribe.

Good job.

Let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Here are some definitions for each of our keywords.

The Iron Age is a period in history when people used iron.

When metal ores are heated up to extract the metal, it is called smelting.

Celts were groups of people living in Britain and across Europe during the Iron Age.

A tribe is a group of people living and working together.

Pause the video here to make a note of the keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we will be working through together in today's lesson.

When did the Iron Age begin and the Celtic people.

In the first learning cycle, we will explore the beginning of the Iron Age.

In Britain, the Iron Age began around 2,800 years ago at the end of the Bronze Age and lasted until the Roman invasion.

Julius Caesar invaded Britain around 2000 years ago and Britain became part of the Roman Empire, which brought changes to the language, culture, and ways of life in Britain.

The Iron Age is the third and final section of prehistory.

A time before written records were kept and before writing systems were used.

Prehistory consists of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age.

The time periods get their names from the materials people used to make tools from at those times, so stone, bronze, and iron.

The Romans brought writing systems with them to Britain, meaning that for the period after their invasion, historians can look at written records as well as artefacts to find out about the past.

For the time before their arrival, archaeologists use artefacts to work out what the Iron Age was like.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

How long ago did the Iron Age begin in Britain? Approximately 2 million years ago.

Approximately 4,000 years ago.

Approximately 2,800 years ago.

Take a moment to pause.

Hmm, what do you think? How long ago did the Iron Age begin in Britain? If you said approximately 2,800 years ago, you are absolutely right, well done.

Can you have a go at completing this timeline using the time periods below? So we have the Stone Age, Roman Britain, Iron Age, Bronze Age, and they're all muddled up at the moment.

Where do they go on this timeline? Pause the video here to take a moment and have a discussion with your partner.

Where do these time periods go on this timeline? When you're ready to restart, press play.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at where those time periods go? So we have the Stone Age first around 2 million years ago, then the Bronze Age, and followed by the Iron Age.

Remember, these are all three parts of prehistory, a time before written records, and each of these time periods are named after materials that tools were made out of, so stone, bronze, and iron.

And that leaves us with Roman Britain, so the invasion of the Romans was around 2000 years ago.

Well done if you managed to get those time periods in the correct order.

Well done.

So what is iron? Well, iron is a metal just like tin or copper.

There are many types of metal such as gold, silver, copper, aluminium, and iron, and today we use metals to make lots of different things such as knives and forks, coins, keys, pots and pans.

And did you know that metal comes from the ground? It's found in the ground as an ore, which has to be mined, so it has to be dug up out of the ground.

An ore is a rock or soil containing metal.

The ore is heated up to extract the metal, and this is called smelting.

Now, iron ore is found in lots of places, so it's very common.

However, it's difficult to smelt as it needs to be heated up to a very high temperature.

Hmm, I can imagine it's tricky.

Look at this image of iron ore here.

How interesting that that's dug up out of the ground.

Now, the Iron Age began when people started to use iron instead of bronze to make items like tools and weapons.

Iron was stronger and harder than bronze, which meant it was more effective, and tools and weapons made from iron lasted a lot longer.

So when iron is very hot, it can be hammered, bent, or twisted into different shapes, and when it cools again, it becomes hard.

So take a look at this image here of an iron worker hammering iron when it's hot.

You can see how it glows orange and how they're hammering that end to shape, bend, or twist it.

It looks quite hot, doesn't it? Iron was used to make many different weapons and tools because it was so hard and so strong.

So we've got some tools and weapons here.

We got an iron plough, an iron sword, an iron chisel and hammer, and an iron sickle.

What do you think these tools were used for? Take a moment to have a discussion with your partner.

What do you think they were used for? And when you're ready to continue, press play.

Well, the iron plough was a tool widely used during the Iron Age.

A plough is a tool used by farmers to turn the soil before planting seeds.

Iron weapons such as swords were made from iron during the Iron Age, and they were of course used for battles and for fighting.

Iron chisels and hammers were other common tools used during the Iron Age.

Chisels and hammers were tools used together to carve, chip, and shapes wood and stone.

They would've been very useful when making wooden houses.

An iron sickle is a farming tool, so a bit like the iron plough.

It was used by farmers to chop down and harvest crops such as barley.

Hmm, interesting things that iron can make.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

The Iron Age began when people started to use iron instead of blank to make tools and weapons.

What goes in that gap? Bronze, stone, or wood? Hmm, take a moment to think.

If you said bronze, that's absolutely correct.

Well done.

Good job.

That brings us to our first learning task for this lesson.

You will need a pen and paper, so make sure that you're ready with those.

I'd like you to complete each of the sentences below.

The Iron Age started after.

The Iron Age began because people started to.

Iron was better for making tools because.

Okay, so I'd like you to write out each of those sentences, those statements, and finish those for me.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time, and when you are ready to continue, press play.

Well done for completing that learning task.

Shall we have a look at what you could have written? So you might have written something like this.

The Iron Age started after the Bronze Age.

The Iron Age began because people started to use iron instead of bronze to make tools.

Iron was better for making tools because it was stronger and harder.

Good job.

Well done if you've written something similar to complete each of these statements.

That brings us to the second part of this lesson.

In this second part, we're going to explore the Celtic people.

The people living in Britain during the Iron Age are often called the Celts.

The Celts also lived in different parts of Europe during the Iron Age.

It is thought that the Celts settled in Britain after travelling across Europe, but archaeologists are not sure exactly when they arrived or if they came peacefully.

The Celts were groups of people with similar lifestyles, languages, beliefs, and customs. In the Iron Age, the Celts lived in small tribes across Britain and Europe.

Remember, a tribe is a group of people living and working together.

As there are no written records kept by the Celts, archaeologists use artefacts to find out about them.

The Romans wrote about the Celts when they invaded Britain, and this information can be used to tell us more about the Celts, but should be considered carefully.

Why do you think that is? Well, because the Romans were their enemy, so everything they wrote about the Celts might not have been exactly fair or accurate.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What were the people who lived in Iron Age Britain called? The Celts, the Romans, the Victorians.

Hmm, take a moment to think.

Have a quick discussion with your partner, and when you're ready to continue, restart the video.

If you said the Celts, that's absolutely right.

Well done.

Now, archaeologists believe that during the Iron Age the Celtic people lived in groups to farm animals and grow crops.

They also believed that the Celts lived in roundhouses made from wood, so the houses were constructed from wooden posts arranged in a circle.

The walls were made from wattle and daub and constructed between the posts.

So wattle is thinner strips of wood woven through the posts, and daub is a mixture of clay and straw that was used to cover the wattle.

So imagine quite a sticky mixture going on top of that wood.

Then it would go hard to create the walls of those houses.

And roofs were made from straw, just like thatched roofs today.

Archaeologists believe that during the Iron Age, the Celtic people traded food and items with other tribes.

So if they had extra food, they would be able to either sell or exchange it for other items that maybe they didn't have, and they traded those with other tribes, but archaeologists also believe that sometimes the Celts would fight other tribes.

So taking a look there, we've got a bundle of wheat and we've got an iron sword.

We've got those artefacts there that help us decide and learn about what the archaeologists know about the Celts.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Archaeologists believe the Celts were a nomadic people who did not settle in one place, tribes who farmed and traded, hunter gatherers who lived in temporary shelters.

Hmm, what do the archaeologists believe the Celts were? Take a moment to pause and have a think before selecting your answer.

If you said tribes who farmed and traded, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

Good job.

That brings us to the next learning task of this lesson.

I'd like you to talk to your partner and tell them about the Celtic people in the Iron Age.

Who were they? What do archaeologists believe about them? Try to use some of these words.

Celts, tribes, farmers, traded, and fought.

And listen to your partner carefully.

Can you add any more information about the Celtic people during the Iron Age? So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a good discussion with your partner and tell them about the Celtic people in the Iron Age.

When you're ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Did you have a good discussion? Do you think you were able to tell them all about the Celtic people in the Iron Age? Well, your discussion might have gone a little bit like this.

The Celts were groups of people with similar lifestyles, language, beliefs, and cultures.

In the Iron Age, the Celts lived in small tribes across Britain and Europe.

They were farmers.

They traded and fought with other tribes, and the Celts lived in round wooden houses.

Well done if you said something similar to your partner and you could both tell each other about the Celtic people in the Iron Age.

So before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about the beginning of the Iron Age.

We have certainly learned a lot during this session.

The Bronze Age was gradually replaced by the Iron Age in Britain around 2,800 years ago.

This happened when iron working began to replace bronze manufacture.

Iron is a common metal and is harder than bronze, but it's more difficult to smelt as it requires really high temperatures to get it to melt down.

At the time of this change, much of Britain was inhabited, was lived in, by the Celtic people.

The Celts lived in tribes across Britain and Europe.

Thank you for joining me during this lesson, and I really look forward to seeing you for the next one.

See you next time.