History questions
Use these examples to check whether the topic has stuck. Review why each answer is right or wrong, then start the drill when you are ready to answer without hints.
Wiltshire
Stonehenge stands in the English county of Wiltshire
Correct answer
Cornwall
South-west county; home to many prehistoric sites but not Stonehenge
Cheshire
North-west county; site of the Jodrell Bank radio telescope
Bedfordshire
Midland county; no connection to Stonehenge
People lived in roundhouses and buried their dead in tombs
Bronze Age people lived in roundhouses and buried the dead in round barrows.
Correct answer
People were nomads and hunters
Nomadic hunter-gatherers preceded the Bronze Age; Bronze Age peoples were more settled.
People started to use plastics
Plastics are a 20th-century invention; the Bronze Age involved metal tools and ornaments.
People were farmers who lived in large villages
Bronze Age people farmed but lived in roundhouses, not large villages.
Explanation
During the Bronze Age people lived in roundhouses and buried their dead in tombs called round barrows.
They were farmers who lived in large villages
Large village settlements are more associated with later periods.
They were divided into clans
Clan structures were prominent in Scotland and Ireland; Bronze Age organisation differed.
They were nomads and hunters
Nomadic hunter-gatherers preceded the Bronze Age by thousands of years.
They were accomplished metalworkers
Bronze Age people were skilled metalworkers, producing tools, ornaments and weapons in bronze and gold.
Correct answer
Explanation
The people of the Bronze Age were accomplished metalworkers who made many beautiful objects in bronze and gold, including tools, ornaments and weapons.
10,000 years ago
That is when Britain was permanently separated from the continent by the Channel
4,000 years ago
Around 4,000 years ago people learned to make bronze — the Bronze Age
Correct answer
8,000 years ago
No major era is pinpointed to 8,000 years ago in this context
6,000 years ago
6,000 years ago the first farmers arrived in Britain
Explanation
Around 4,000 years ago, people learned to make bronze. We call this period the Bronze Age.
Cheshire
Cheshire is famous for Jodrell Bank radio telescope, not Stonehenge.
Wiltshire
Stonehenge stands in Wiltshire and was probably a gathering place for seasonal ceremonies.
Correct answer
Cornwall
Cornwall is the south-west tip of England; Stonehenge is further east in Wiltshire.
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is in the East Midlands; Stonehenge is in southern England.
Explanation
The ancestors of these first farmers probably came from south-east Europe. These people built houses, tombs and monuments on the land. One of these monuments,Stonehenge, still stands in what is now the English county of Wiltshire.
The people of the Iron Age
Iron Age people minted Britain's first coins, some inscribed with the names of Iron Age kings
Correct answer
The Romans
The Romans introduced roads and law, but the first British coins predate their conquest
The Anglo-saxons
Anglo-Saxons arrived after the Romans left in AD 410; coins came centuries earlier
The people of the Stone Age
Stone Age people built monuments like Stonehenge but did not mint coins
Explanation
The people of the Iron Age made the first coins to be minted in Britain, some inscribed with the names of Iron Age kings. This marks the beginnings of British history.
8,000 years ago
8,000 years ago Britain was still inhabited by hunter-gatherers, not farmers
10,000 years ago
10,000 years ago Britain was only just becoming permanently separated from the continent
4,000 years ago
4,000 years ago marks the Bronze Age, not the arrival of first farmers
6,000 years ago
The first farmers arrived around 6,000 years ago, likely from south-east Europe
Correct answer
Explanation
The first farmers arrived in Britain about 6,000 years ago. The ancestors of these first farmers probably came from south-east Europe. These people built houses, tombs and monuments on the land.
Celtic
Iron Age people spoke Celtic languages, still related to Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish today.
Correct answer
Irish
Irish is a Celtic language, but the broader family spoken across Iron Age Europe was Celtic.
French
French developed from Latin after the Roman period; it was not spoken in Iron Age Britain.
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon was brought to Britain by Germanic invaders centuries after the Iron Age.
Explanation
The language spoken during the Iron Age was part of the Celtic language family.
Skara Brae
Skara Brae on Orkney is the best-preserved Stone Age village in northern Europe.
Correct answer
Stonehenge
Stonehenge in Wiltshire is a monument, not a preserved village.
Bayeux
Bayeux is a French town known for its tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman conquest.
Maiden
Maiden Castle in Dorset is an Iron Age hill fort, not a Stone Age village.
Explanation
Skara Brae on Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland, is the best preserved prehistoric village in northern Europe, and has helped archaeologists to understand more about how people lived near the end of the Stone Age.
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe is an English town whose name derives from the Viking (Danelaw) languages, not a prehistoric village.
Danelaw
The Danelaw was the area of England under Viking rule, not a prehistoric village.
Skara Brae
Skara Brae on Orkney is the best-preserved prehistoric village in northern Europe, key to understanding Stone Age life.
Correct answer
Stonehenge
Stonehenge in Wiltshire is a Stone Age monument used for ceremonies, not a preserved village site.
Explanation
Skara Brae on Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland, is the best preserved prehistoric village in northern Europe, and has helped archaeologists to understand more about how people lived near the end of the Stone Age.
The Bronze Age
Bronze Age people made beautiful metalwork but not coined money; coinage came later in the Iron Age.
The Iron Age
Iron Age people made the first coins to be minted in Britain, some inscribed with the names of Iron Age kings.
Correct answer
The Middle Ages
Coinage had been in use in Britain for over a thousand years before the Middle Ages.
The Stone Age
Stone Age peoples had no metal-working capability; they used flint tools.
Explanation
The Iron Age people of Britain made the first coins to be minted in Britain. Some were inscribed with the names of Iron Age kings, marking the beginnings of recorded British history.
Farmers, craft workers or warriors
Iron Age people worked mainly as farmers, craft workers or warriors.
Correct answer
Engineers, teachers or lawyers
These professions did not exist in Iron Age Britain.
Knights, doctors or musicians
Knights belonged to the medieval feudal period, not the Iron Age.
Fishermen and butchers
The study material lists no such occupations for Iron Age people.
Explanation
During the Iron Age most people were farmers, craft workers or warriors.
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