The best estimate for the population of what we now call Britain in 100BC is probably 1,500,000. The archaeological evidence suggests that the density was greatest in the warmer South but there was settlement up to the North of Scotland and beyond. It is unthinkable to suppose that our locality had no inhabitants. We have no maps to guide us but clues on the ground like house plot patterns, field shapes and transport routes suggest that there were probably several sites where extended families lived and farmed. The most obvious of these is the area at Townhead around the bottom of Esp Lane.
The land there is well watered and drained and is good alluvial soil. It is protected from the worst of the weather from the south west by Weets hill but not overshadowed by it so had the benefit of full sun. Evidence from other prehistoric farmsteads is that a position on the slope from the valley bottom was always favoured, it was not boggy and in winter wasn't a frost trap. We know from evidence in the Bolton Priory accounts that Barlick was well-wooded in the 14th century, and seems to have been the best source of large building timber for thirty miles around. This being the case, there is no reason to suppose that in 100BC good timber wasn't readily available. Fragmented stone was present just below the surface and could easily be obtained in a shallow delph. There was ample scope to supplement farming with hunter-gathering activities and if needed there were peat beds nearby for alternative fuel.
Some of the most persuasive evidence for me is the settlement pattern. The modern house plots are not aligned on Esp Lane, rather the lane winds its way between them. In other words, there were boundaries present before Esp Lane appeared and the settlement was roughly the same size as it is today. We have to nail our flag to the mast at some point when we are constructing a hypothesis and I have settled on this to be a major site around 100BC.
In political terms, the settlement was most probably a family unit of perhaps 20 or 30 people, was part of the Setantii tribe and came under the overall control of the Brigantes who were, territorially, the largest tribe in Britain and occupied what later became the kingdom of Northumbria. Thanks to Roman records we even know the name and some of the history of the leader of the Brigantes until her death around 60AD. She was Cartimandua who had good relations with the Romans as a client tribe and this is borne out by the the fact that she deposed her spouse when he rebelled against the Romans. The Roman Road from Ilkley to Ribchester which passes to the north of the town without any obvious defensive forts or way-stations apart from a night halt at Elslack bears this out. We have another brick in the wall so I'll build on this next week.
Esp Lane bottom and the house sites.
