History of Scotland History of Scotland The recorded begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. North of this was Caledonia, inhabited by the "Picti", whose uprisings forced Rome's legions back to Hadrian's Wall. As Rome finally withdrew from Britain, Gaelic raiders called the "Scoti" began colonising Western Scotland and Wales. Prior to Roman times, prehistoric Scotland entered the Neolithic Era about 4000 BC, the Bronze Age about 2000 BC, and the Iron Age around 700 BC. The Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata was founded on
Scotland during the Roman Empire to purchase truces from the natives, and eventually the spread of Christianity. The Ravenna Cosmography utilises a 3rd- or 4th-century Roman map and identifies four "loci" (meeting places, possibly markets) in southern Scotland. "Locus Maponi" is possibly the modern Lochmabenstane near Gretna which continued to be used as a muster point well into the historic period. Two of the others indicate meeting places of the Damnonii and Selgovae, and the fourth, "Manavi" may be Clackmannan. From the time of Caracalla onwards, no further attempts were made to permanently occupy territory in Scotland. The intermittent Roman presence in Scotland coincided with