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Before The Romans:

• Neolithic & Bronze Age
• Iron Age & Brigantes
• The Roman Conquest

What was here before the Romans?

People have known for a very long time that Romans lived in Castleford from the thousands of pieces of Roman pottery, coins and other Roman objects found in the town. But there were people living in the Castleford area thousands of years before the Romans came to Yorkshire. Archaeologists digging on Roman sites in the town have found objects from the earlier Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. There are also pre-Roman sites known in the area around Castleford.

Why is there less evidence for prehistoric Castleford?
During prehistory many objects were made from wood, leather and bone. Archaeologists rarely find these ‘organic’ materials on sites because they tend to decay more quickly than the ‘inorganic’ Roman pottery and metal finds.

What other evidence is there?
Botanical (plant) evidence shows that people may have lived in the Castleford area as early as 8500 BC when most of the area was woodland. By about 4000 BC they were beginning to clear woodland for agriculture. By the time the Romans arrived, the area around Castleford was mainly open land. It was already being intensively farmed.

Timeline: