Great Britain

===Prehistoric period===
{{Main|Prehistoric Britain}}
Great Britain was probably first inhabited by those who crossed on the [[land bridge]] from the [[European mainland]]. [[Happisburgh footprints|Human footprints]] have been found from over 800,000 years ago in [[Norfolk]]<ref name="bbc-2014-02-07">{{cite news|last=Ghosh|first=Pallab|author-link=Pallab Ghosh |title=Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26025763|work=BBC News|access-date=7 February 2014|date=7 February 2014}}</ref> and traces of [[early humans]] have been found (at [[Boxgrove Quarry]], Sussex) from some 500,000 years ago<ref>{{Cite book|last= Gräslund| first= Bo| title = Early humans and their world|url= https://archive.org/details/earlyhumanstheir00grsl_719|url-access= limited|publisher=Routledge|location=London|year=2005|page=[https://archive.org/details/earlyhumanstheir00grsl_719/page/n70 62]|chapter=Traces of the early humans | isbn=978-0-415-35344-1}}</ref> and [[modern humans]] from about 30,000 years ago. Until about 16,000 years ago, it was connected to [[Ireland]] by only an [[ice bridge]], prior to 9,000 years ago it retained a land connection to the continent, with [[Doggerland|an area of mostly low marshland]] joining it to what are now [[Denmark]] and the [[Netherlands]].<ref name=drowning>Edwards, Robin & al. "[http://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/2262/40560/1/Edwards%26Brooks_INJ08_TARA.pdf The Island of Ireland: Drowning the Myth of an Irish Land-bridge?]" Accessed 15 February 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Nora McGreevy |title=Study Rewrites History of Ancient Land Bridge Between Britain and Europe |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tiny-islands-survived-tsunami-almost-separated-britain-europe-study-finds-180976430/ |website=smithsonianmag.com |publisher=Smithsonian Magazine |access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref>

In [[Cheddar Gorge]], near [[Bristol]], the remains of animal species native to mainland Europe such as [[antelope]]s, [[brown bear]]s, and [[wild horse]]s have been found alongside a human skeleton, '[[Cheddar Man]]', dated to about 7150 BC.<ref>Lacey, Robert. ''Great Tales from English History''. New York: Little, Brown & Co, 2004. {{ISBN|0-316-10910-X}}.</ref> Great Britain became an island at the end of the [[last glacial period]] when sea levels rose due to the combination of melting [[glacier]]s and the subsequent [[isostatic rebound]] of the crust.
Great Britain's [[Iron Age]] inhabitants are known as [[Britons (historic)|Britons]]; they spoke [[Celtic languages]].