For millennia, Kent has been a place that connects Britain to the wider world, as it does to this day. This is clear from the earliest written records, and from many finds that archaeologists have unearthed across the Kentish landscape. This is due to Kent’s advantageous geographical position, at the shortest crossing point between the British Isles and mainland Europe, where the Channel and the North Sea meet. Though these seas have sometimes formed a defensive barrier, more often they have been a means of migration, trade, and communication. And it was not just from across Europe that people and goods came to Kent; the archaeological and historical records contain plenty of evidence of Kent’s connections beyond Europe, to Asia, Africa, and the New World. Such connections stretch back for hundreds and sometimes even thousands of years, long before the rise of the British Empire. On these pages, learn about some of the places, people and objects that show that the story of Kent is a truly diverse one.