4000-2200 BC Neolithic

Unlike southern and eastern England, northern England does not have much evidence for the large causewayed enclosure monuments that are a feature of early Neolithic settlement. It has been suggested that this is because the land could not support as large a population as that of the south and east so there were not as many people available to build these monuments. However, the region has many examples of later Neolithic monuments such as henges and stone circles which also require many man-hours to build. It may be that people in northern England did indeed build enclosures, but that they are no longer visible on the surface of the land and so have yet to be discovered and excavated.

One of the major resources of the region was hard stone which was excellent for making axes. Axe production took place on a relatively large scale; in Cumbria for example, there are a number of sites where stone was quarried and axes roughed out. Axes made from this stone have been found in other parts of England. The axes may have got there through trade or exchange, but either way it shows that people in northern England were in contact with other Neolithic communities.