Posted by ROSHAN B.S on Aug. 24, 2014, 10:48 a.m.
Two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area. In 1999, the remains of aBronze Age bridge were found on the foreshore north of Vauxhall Bridge.[39] This bridge either crossed the Thames, or went to a (lost) island in the river. Dendrology dated the timbers to 1500BC.[39] In 2010 the foundations of a large timber structure, dated to 4500BC, were found on the Thames foreshore, south of Vauxhall Bridge.[40] The function of the mesolithic structure is not known. Both structures are on South Bank, at a natural crossing point where the River Effra flows into the River Thames.[40]
Although there is evidence of scattered Brythonic settlements in the area, the first major settlement was founded by the Romans in 43 AD.[41] This lasted for just seventeen years and around 61, theIceni tribe led by Queen Boudica stormed it, burning it to the ground.[42] The next, heavily planned, incarnation of Londinium prospered and superseded Colchester as the capital of the Roman provinceof Britannia in 100. At its height during the 2nd century, Roman London had a population of around 60,000.