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The Isle of Wight is rich in historical and archaeological sites. These range from prehistoric fossil beds which include dinosaur remains, to dwellings and artefacts of the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman period and beyond. During the Mesolithic period, "sea levels in the North Sea and the English Channel were some 30 to 40m lower than those of today – Britain was a peninsula of northern Europe." The Isle is geologically linked to Armorica and there has been some cross-channel tilts that has affected sea level as the Channel can be considered as an active geological fault area. The island was formed at the end of the last Ice age. The River Solent was the largest tributary of the Channel River that drained the Hampshire Basin from the Early Pleistocene or late Pliocene. A rise in global sea level flooded the former river valley of the Solent to the north and the future English Channel to the south. This cut Wight off from the island of Britain and the Continental landmass. Once open to the sea, tidal scouring widened the Solent: the sequence of tidal ingress (whether from east, west or south) remains unclear. The English Channel flooded about 9,000 years ago. ==Etymology and early history== In the 1st century BC, the Graeco-Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus (V. 22) refers to an unlocated ''Ίκτιν'' (''Ictin''), which is possibly a reference to the Isle of Wight.〔St. Michael's mount at Land's end is another possibility. Full but inconclusive discussion is at romanmap.com - () (accessed 11 August 2009)〕 A century later, Pliny the Elder uses ''Vectis'' and in the mid 2nd century Ptolemy confirms the position of Vectis as "...below ''Magnus Portus''."〔"The Great Port", possibly at or near the site of modern Bosham Harbour, between Portsmouth and Chichester: ()〕 The form ''Vectis'' seems reasonably robust but Rivet and Smith〔Rivet, A. and Smith, C., The Place-Names of Roman Britain, Book Clubs Associates (1979), 487-9.〕 were uncertain of its etymology. A gloss on an AD 1164 MS of Nennius that equates Old English ''wiht'' with Latin ''divorcium'' has encouraged many writers to think that the Isle of Wight sits like a lever (Latin ''vectis'') between the two arms of the Solent. The word could be Brittonic, from a Celtic root akin to Irish ''fecht'' "journey" and Welsh ''gwaith'' "work". A 2010 detailed study of the etymology〔Durham, A, The origin of the names Vectis and Wight, Proc. Isle Wight nat. Hist. archaeol. Soc. 25, 93-97.〕 draws attention to the Proto-Germanic word '' *wextiz'', which would have been written ''Vectis'' in Latin, and survives in various modern-language forms, including Modern English ''whit'' "something small" (English ''wight'' is considered a revival of the Middle English word), German ''wicht'' "dwarf, imp", Dutch ''wicht'' "little girl" and Norwegian ''vette'' "being, creature (especially supernatural)". This might suggest that the fundamental meaning is something like "daughter island" or "little companion"; however Germanic languages were not widely spoken in Britain at this time, and the name ''Vectis'' is attested before the large-scale migration of Germanic-speaking peoples to Britain (not before the late Roman period). Julius Caesar recognised the culture of this general region as "Belgic", but made no reference to ''Vectis''. Later, Suetonius describes the first century Roman invasion of ''Vectis'' by the Second Legion Augusta, commanded by the Claudian legate and future emperor Vespasian, who ''"proceeded to Britain where he fought thirty battles, subjugated two warlike tribes, and captured more than twenty towns, besides the entire Isle of Vectis"''.〔(Channel 4 - Time Team 2002 )〕 The Isle of Wight became an agricultural centre in Roman times, and at least seven Roman villas are known on the island.〔Villas are known at Brading, Carisbrooke, Clatterford (southwest of Carisbrooke), Combley (on Robin Hill), Gurnard, Newport, and Rock (north of Brighstone).〕 The Roman villas at Newport and Brading have been excavated and are open to the public.〔David Wharton Lloyd, Nikolaus Pevsner, (2006), ''The Buildings of England: Isle of Wight'', pages 15-16. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10733-1〕 When fully developed around 300 AD, Brading was probably the largest villa on the Island, being a courtyard villa with impressive mosaics.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of the Isle of Wight」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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