Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History (Documentary, English)
Genres: History
Status: Ended
Premiered: 2005-10-29
Ended: 2005-12-03
Network: ITV1
Country: GB
Introduced by Alistair Moffat this is the story of Scotland before history. Beginning 10,000 years ago, it is a beautifully shot record of our prehistory, taking in the spectacular monuments on Orkney and the Isle of Lewis as well as the fortress of Dunadd and the sacred landscape of the Kilmartin Valley in Argyll. When the pioneers came north after the end of the last ice age, settled by the sea and loch shores and along the riverbanks, they began the continuous history of Scotland. The lost sub-continent of Doggerland, now submerged beneath the waves of the North Sea, is a key theme, bringing many of our ancestors from the east. The story continues with the huge and brutal Roman invasion in 77AD, the end of the empire and the rise of the Gaelic-speaking Argyll kings, the men who at last began to talk of Alba, of Scotland.