city in Britain in which to live in 2014 and 2017; it won the European Green Capital Award in 2015. Toponymy Early recorded place names in the Bristol area include the Roman-era British Celtic Abona (derived from the name of the Avon) and the archaic Welsh ('fort on the chasm'), which may have been calqued as the modern English Clifton. The current name "Bristol" derives from the Old English form , which is typically etymologised as 'place at the bridge'. It has also been suggested that means "the place called Bridge by the place called Stow", the Stow in question referring to an early religious meeting place at what is now College Green. However, other derivations have been proposed. It appears that the form prevailed until 1204, and the Bristolian 'L' (the tendency for the local dialect to add the sound "L" to many words ending in a neutral vowel) is what eventually changed the name to Bristol. The original form of the name survives as the surname Bristow, which is derived from the city. History Archaeological finds, including flint tools believed to be between 300,000 and 126,000years old made with the Levallois technique, indicate the presence of Neanderthals in the Shirehampton and St Annes areas of Bristol during the Middle Palaeolithic. Iron Age hill forts near the city are at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down, on the side of the Avon Gorge, and on Kings Weston Hill near Henbury. A Roman settlement, Abona, existed at what is now Sea Mills (connected to Bath by a Roman road); another was at the present-day Inns Court. Isolated Roman villas and small forts and settlements were also scattered throughout the area. Middle Ages Bristol was founded by 1000; by about 1020, it was a trading centre with a mint producing silver pennies bearing its name. By 1067, Brycgstow was a well-fortified burh, and that year the townsmen beat back a raiding party from Ireland led by three of Harold Godwinson's sons. Under Norman rule, the town had one of the strongest castles in southern England. Bristol was the place of exile for Diarmait Mac Murchada, the Irish king of Leinster, after being overthrown. The Bristol merchants subsequently played a prominent role in funding Richard Strongbow de Clare and the Norman invasion of Ireland. The port developed in the 11th century around the confluence of the Rivers Frome and Avon, adjacent to Bristol