Synopsis
Adam Hart-Davis and Jamie Darling examine the highlights of ancient British technology.
- Programme: What the Ancients Did for Us
- Episode: 06: The Britons
- Channel: BBC Two
- Broadcast year: 2008
Licence: ERA Licence required
Free to watch for UK schools, colleges and universities with an ERA Licence
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from What the Ancients Did for Us
01: The Islamic World | What the Ancients Did for Us
01: The Islamic World | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the most extraordinary inventions from the early Islamic World.
02: The Chinese | What the Ancients Did for Us
02: The Chinese | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the most extraordinary inventions from the ancient Chinese world.
03: The Aztecs, Maya and Incas | What the Ancients Did for Us
03: The Aztecs, Maya and Incas | What the Ancients Did for Us
Roving reporter Hermione Cockburn describes Aztec, Mayan and Incan inventions, including chocolate, suspension ...
04: The Indians | What the Ancients Did for Us
04: The Indians | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the greatest inventions from the ancient Indian world.
05: The Mesopotamians | What the Ancients Did for Us
05: The Mesopotamians | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the greatest inventions from the world of the Mesopotamians.
07: The Romans | What the Ancients Did for Us
07: The Romans | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the greatest inventions from the world of ancient Rome.
08: The Egyptians | What the Ancients Did for Us
08: The Egyptians | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the greatest inventions from the world of ancient Egypt.
09: The Greeks | What the Ancients Did for Us
09: The Greeks | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the greatest inventions from the world of ancient Greece.
More resources about Pre-history
03: The Aztecs, Maya and Incas | What the Ancients Did for Us
03: The Aztecs, Maya and Incas | What the Ancients Did for Us
Roving reporter Hermione Cockburn describes Aztec, Mayan and Incan inventions, including chocolate, suspension ...
01: Beginnings | Michael Wood: The Story of India
01: Beginnings | Michael Wood: The Story of India
Michael Wood journeys through the subcontinent, tracing the diversity of its peoples, cultures and landscapes. He charts th...
01: Survival | Andrew Marr's History of the World
01: Survival | Andrew Marr's History of the World
Andrew Marr traces 70,000 years of history, beginning with the earliest humans. From Africa, they spread around the world, ...
01: The Islamic World | What the Ancients Did for Us
01: The Islamic World | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the most extraordinary inventions from the early Islamic World.
05: The Mesopotamians | What the Ancients Did for Us
05: The Mesopotamians | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the greatest inventions from the world of the Mesopotamians.
S01E01: Age of Ice | A History of Ancient Britain
S01E01: Age of Ice | A History of Ancient Britain
Neil Oliver travels back to ice age Britain as he begins the epic story of the evolution of the land and its occupants over...
S01E02 | Hidden Wales with Will Millard
S01E02 | Hidden Wales with Will Millard
Will Millard visits mid-Wales and the west of the country and uncovers a lead mine that is thousands of years old.
01: New Dawn | Walking with Beasts
01: New Dawn | Walking with Beasts
The series following on from Walking with Dinosaurs. begins 49 million years ago. The world is heavily forested and birds rule the planet,...
02: Whale Killer | Walking with Beasts
02: Whale Killer | Walking with Beasts
36 million years ago mammals ruled the world. It is in the sea, however, that the most monstrous mammals can be found.
03: Land of Giants | Walking with Beasts
03: Land of Giants | Walking with Beasts
25 million years ago in the Oligocene Epoch lived the Indricotheres. Weighing 15 tonnes and standing 7 metres tall, they were the la...
04: Next of Kin | Walking with Beasts
04: Next of Kin | Walking with Beasts
We travel back 3 million years to Ethiopia, where Australopithecus, one of the first upright apes, lived in danger of being hunted by s...
04: The Indians | What the Ancients Did for Us
04: The Indians | What the Ancients Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis builds and tests some of the greatest inventions from the ancient Indian world.
05: Sabre Tooth | Walking with Beasts
05: Sabre Tooth | Walking with Beasts
This episode follows the progress of a Smilodon called Half Tooth. Smilodon was the largest of all the sabre tooth cats which roamed So...
06: Mammoth Journey | Walking with Beasts
06: Mammoth Journey | Walking with Beasts
Last in the series follows a herd of mammoths as they make their way south for winter, running a gauntlet of ice-age hunters includ...
Amanirenas | Africa's Great Civilisations
Amanirenas | Africa's Great Civilisations
Henry Louis Gates Jr investigates Amanirenas, the Queen of the Kingdom of Kush.
Bronze Age Britain | Learning Zone
Bronze Age Britain | Learning Zone
Life in Bronze Age Britain through the eyes of one family as they learn how copper and tin is mined, and make bronze using a furnace.
Bronze Age Stonehenge gold | Learning Zone
Bronze Age Stonehenge gold | Learning Zone
There are also lots of barrow burials around Stonehenge and one of them, Bush Barrow Man, is used to find out about Bronze Age times.
Bronze Age: making metal | Learning Zone
Bronze Age: making metal | Learning Zone
Raksha visits Butser Ancient Farm to make a bronze age axe head exactly the way Bronze Age man would have done so.
Bronze Age: wool | Learning Zone
Bronze Age: wool | Learning Zone
Raksha visits the Bronze Age at an ancient farm and learns how to make woollen cloth.
Early humans and the development of culture | Africa's Great Civilisations
Early humans and the development of culture | Africa's Great Civilisations
Henry Louis Gates Jr investigates early human migration from Africa and the development of culture...
More from Adam Hart-Davis
S02E06: South East | Local Heroes
S02E06: South East | Local Heroes
Adam Hart-Davis's search for Britain's greatest scientific pioneers is in South-East England, where he looks at the work of Hertha Ayrton, ...
The Clock That Changed the World | A History of the World
The Clock That Changed the World | A History of the World
Adam Hart-Davis tells the story of the amazing 280-year-old wooden clock, made in Lincolnshire, that changed timeke...
03: The Aztecs, Maya and Incas | What the Ancients Did for Us
03: The Aztecs, Maya and Incas | What the Ancients Did for Us
Roving reporter Hermione Cockburn describes Aztec, Mayan and Incan inventions, including chocolate, suspension ...
20: Anglesey | Hart-Davis on History
20: Anglesey | Hart-Davis on History
Adam Hart-Davis and Jayne Constantinis visit Anglesey, featuring a look at the Menai Straits, Welsh music, Beaumaris Castle, Amlwch Port...
02: The Applyance of Science | What the Stuarts Did for Us
02: The Applyance of Science | What the Stuarts Did for Us
Hart-Davis travels around Britain to introduce the idea and inventions of the Stuart Period in science and enginee...
01: Seeying the Worlde | What The Tudors Did For Us
01: Seeying the Worlde | What The Tudors Did For Us
The development of scientific instruments gave the Tudors new worlds to explore, both on land and on sea. And did the Eng...
04: Crime and Punishment | What the Victorians Did For Us
04: Crime and Punishment | What the Victorians Did For Us
Adam Hart-Davis investigates the Victorian innovations that left a lasting impression on British society. In this p...
01: Life of Luxury | What the Romans Did for Us
01: Life of Luxury | What the Romans Did for Us
Adam Hart-Davis investigates the lavish lifestyles of the Romans, visiting the sumptuous villa at Fishbourne, the famous bath...
15: West Norfolk | The History Hour
15: West Norfolk | The History Hour
Adam Hart-Davis concludes his tour of Britain with a visit to west Norfolk to look at the region's farming history.