You might think Northumberland's visible history begins with the Romans, but if you look carefully you'll find evidence of civilisation in the county long before the Mediterranean invaders arrived.
Northumberland has the greatest concentration of hillforts in Britain and some of them date from the Iron Age or earlier.
They can be found using a modern Ordnance Survey map and make for a fascinating visit.
The forts had ditches and earth walls, and archeologists have found remains of round houses in the fort enclosures. They were also meeting places for local people who used them to swap news and trade and pen in their animals.
The largest hillfort in the county is at Yeavering Bell, a twin peaked hill near the River Glen in the heart of the Cheviot Hills. There's also a great example at Old Bewick Hill, near Alnwick.
But signs of a pre-Iron Age civilisation also exist in the county. The countryside is dotted with rock carvings made by Neolithic and early Bronze Age people living in the county between 6,000 and 3,500 years ago.
Like all UK rock art, the examples you will see in Northumberland are in the style of a cup and a ring. The meaning of the patterns is a mystery.
An exhaustive 40 year survey of these panels was carried out by rock art expert Stan Beckensall and there is a website listing the panels and their locations at http://rockart.ncl.ac.uk.
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