I've been binging Time Team recently, which is a long-running history/archaeology series based on Great Britain (England/Wales/Scotland/Ireland mostly) originally produced by the BBC. The details of settlements dating back into the Neolithic (ca 4000BC) and the existence of trade between the Island and people as far away as the Eurasian Steppes at that time is crazy to think about. The people were connected to the land in a way I don't think we understand anymore as a society. "Bronze Age" or "Iron age" don't mean a lot until you start looking at how these people (who are probably many of our ancestors) lived and the thriving culture they enjoyed.Thanks so much for the recommendations. I’ll have to see if I can find them in the library.
I am a firm believer that people were much more connected to each other than history teaches us. There were ideas and practices that were exchanged between those who were open to them, and that nothing now is exactly as it was back then.