It's the Ancient's on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes your host and in today's podcast

we'll sound the claxon because we've got another ancient history legend on the show.

Sir Barry Cunliffe. Barry, who's been on archaeological excavation since the 1960s, he was

part of the team that uncovered the famous Cupid Honour Dolphin mosaic which you can go

and see today at Fishborne Roman Palace in southern Britain. Barry, he's still doing many, many

projects and one of his most recent books is all about the history of Brittany, that part of

Northwest France that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. So we headed up Sophie, one of our key

history hit podcast editors and myself to meet Barry in person to talk all about Brittany's ancient

history and in this first podcast we focus in on Brittany's ancient history before the arrival

of Julius Caesar and the Romans. So we cover thousands of years of history stretching from the

mesolithic period down to the Iron Age and the arrival of Greek traders and a famous Greek

explorer called Pithias. Barry was an absolute delight to meet Antichapty so without further ado,

here is the brilliant Sir Barry Cunliffe.

Barry, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Pleasure to do so.

Now ancient Brittany, I'm Brittany before the Romans first of all because like the whole

region of Brittany and antiquity, you mentioned words, I mean we'll mention words like identity

that important to the Atlantic. See, it seems like a region, I know it's a cliche but unlike any other

in the ancient West and Mediterranean, in the ancient world. It is really, I think it's its

geography that makes it special. If you think of France, Northwest corner of France, it's like a great

horn sticking out of the Northwest corner of France and it juts out into the Atlantic and it's not

of France, it's of the Atlantic. It's really rather like Devon and Cornwall and Wales and Ireland

and Galithia. It belongs to the Atlantic and it's got its back to France. So throughout prehistory

...