Beaker people in Britain: migration, mobility and diet

In view of the multiplication of Bell Beaker sites in Normandy, a first work of analysis and synthesis has been undertaken. The inventory of sites and ceramic wares first made it possible to fill the geographical vacuum that this area represented within the European Bell Beaker phenomenon. Its analysis made it possible to define the main characteristics as well as the links with earlier and later cultures. Bell Beakers in Normandy are a late phenomenon. Nevertheless, we can adapt previously retained definitions – even those resulting from work in southern France and the rest of Europe – to it. However it quickly appears that this culture falls under a much wider phenomenon of transition between the Final Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. The beaker cannot here be separated from other ceramic forms known in common ceramics or more characteristic elements from the Early Bronze Age, in particular from the “ Groupe des Urnes à Décors Plastiques”, which seems to confirm certain theories outlined before. After a classification of the pots and a small seriation, we were able to set up a proposal for a relative chronology which shows a gradual transition between the Final Neolithic and Early Bronze Age during a period we could qualify as “ Chalcolithic” and in which Bell Beakers are a central and recurring phenomenon.

In terms of funerary archaeology, the Bell Beaker period in Europe exhibits two main burial complexes: collective burials in the West and single graves in the East. This study focuses on the implication of stone wristguards, as well as other objects associated with archery, included in select single inhumation burials of the Eastern complex. Such stone wristguards are currently interpreted as a piece of protective equipment used by archers; however their fabrications in stone and the overall lack of evidence for usage raises the question of practicality. Were these wristguards used in the everyday lives of warriors or were they symbolic? And were the individuals interred with these wristguards archers themselves? Answering these questions could address a bigger question concerning the presence of a social class of archers and its implications towards the importance of warfare at a time of transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. In order to respond to these questions, this paper first examines the evidence and the archaeological perspective on archery and warfare throughout the Neolithic, culminating in the Bell Beaker period. This is followed by an anthropological approach attempting to identify specialized archery from the osteological remains of 27 Bell Beaker individuals from Bohemia (Czech Republic), 10 of whom were buried in the presence of stone wristguards thus classifying them as "suspected archers". Anthropological analyses involved integrating the human biomechanics of archery with classifications of entheseal changes in order to postulate on an individual’s likelihood of having been a specialized archer. While these analyses revealed minimal differences between specific points on the skeletons of the suspected and non-suspected archers, the suspected archers do share some common characteristics. This study validates the use of anthropological analyses in identifying specialized archers. These results also indicate that the individuals interred with stone wristguards were likely archers themselves. Identifying a specialized archer in the presence of artisanal archery goods provides additional evidence for a class of archers during the Bell Beaker period.

This book offers the first synthesis on the place and evolution of lithic industries in northern France, between the 3rd millennium and the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. This work is based on twenty-five years of research conducted in the departments of Nord, Pas-de-Calais, and Somme. The corpus comprises about thirty collections totaling more than 70,000 flint artifacts from sites attributed to the Final Neolithic group of Deûle-Escaut, the Bell Beaker culture, and the Early Bronze Age. Beyond the techno-functional characterization of productions, the book examines the place and role—both utilitarian and symbolic—of this technical subsystem and its evolution, within a context marked by the development of metallurgy. This cultural technology approach aims, beyond the studied object, to uncover the society that produced it by attempting to establish connections between technical and socio-cultural phenomena. A dynamic reading of the modalities of acquisition, manufacturing, and consumption of lithic tools is made possible by addressing operational processes from a global perspective and by varying the scales of analysis. A shift in the status of lithic industries marks the transition to a new tradition at the beginning of the Bronze Age. A historical and anthropological interpretation of the evolution of technical systems, from stone to metal, is proposed. At the end of the 3rd millennium and the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, the diffusion of new metallic objects expanded in scale and extended across Europe. In northern France, on the periphery of major metallurgical centers, the use of flint for everyday tools continued until the Late Bronze Age.

Jong-Il Kim, Formation and Change in Individual Identity between the Bell Beaker Culture and the Early Bronze Age in Bavaria, South Germany. (British Archaeological Reports, International Series S1450, Oxford: Archaeopress, 2005, 205 pp., 72 illustr., 4 appendices of data, pbk, ISBN 1841718866) - Volume 12 Issue 1-3

The excavations at Meadowend Farm, Clackmannanshire (NGR: NS 9280 9040) produced evidence for occupation at various times between the Early Neolithic and the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Significantly, it yielded the largest and best-dated assemblage of Middle Neolithic Impressed Ware yet encountered in Scotland, comprising at least 206 vessels. Episodes of Early to (pre-Impressed Ware) Middle Neolithic activity were represented by pits and post holes scattered across the excavated areas, some containing pottery of the Carinated Bowl tradition and some with charred plant remains; three blades of pitchstone and one of non-local flint were also found. The phase of activity associated with the Middle Neolithic Impressed Ware pottery (c 3350‒3000 cal BC) is represented mostly by clusters of pits, some containing hearth waste and/or charcoal, charred cereal grain and burnt hazelnut shell fragments. A stone axehead and a broken roughout for an axe- or adze-head were associated with this phase of occupation. There then appears to have been a hiatus of activity of around a millennium before occupation resumed. One Early Bronze Age structure and pits dating to around 2000 cal BC (plus undated pits containing possible Beaker pottery) were succeeded by four Early to Middle Bronze Age roundhouses dating to c 1750‒1300 cal BC and a large pit containing parts of at least 37 pots, and subsequently by two large double-ring roundhouses, an oval building, and ancillary structures and features dating to the Middle to Late Bronze Age, c 1300‒900 cal BC. There is also evidence suggesting low level activity during the Iron Age, plus two medieval corn-drying kilns. Environmental evidence indicates cereal growing from the earliest period, and local woodland management. This publication focuses on the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods and discusses the significance of this site for our understanding of these periods, and particularly for the Middle Neolithic, in Scotland.

The excavations at Meadowend Farm, Clackmannanshire produced evidence for occupation at various times between the Early Neolithic and the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Significantly, it yielded the largest and best-dated assemblage of Middle Neolithic Impressed Ware yet encountered in Scotland, comprising at least 206 vessels. Episodes of Early to (pre-Impressed Ware) Middle Neolithic activity were represented by pits and post holes scattered across the excavated areas, some containing pottery of the Carinated Bowl tradition and some with charred plant remains; three blades of pitchstone and one of non-local flint were also found. The phase of activity associated with the Middle Neolithic Impressed Ware pottery (c 3350‒3000 cal bc) is represented mostly by clusters of pits, some containing hearth waste and/or charcoal, charred cereal grain and burnt hazelnut shell fragments. A stone axehead and a broken roughout for an axe- or adze-head were associated with this phase of occupation. There then appears to have been a hiatus of activity of around a millennium before occupation resumed. One Early Bronze Age structure and pits dating to around 2000 cal bc (plus undated pits containing possible Beaker pottery) were succeeded by four Early to Middle Bronze Age roundhouses dating to c 1750‒1300 cal bc and a large pit containing parts of at least 37 pots, and subsequently by two large double-ring roundhouses, an oval building, and ancillary structures and features dating to the Middle to Late Bronze Age, c 1300‒900 cal bc. There is also evidence suggesting lowlevel activity during the Iron Age, plus two medieval corn-drying kilns. Environmental evidence indicates cereal growing from the earliest period, and local woodland management. This publication focuses on the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods and discusses the significance of this site for our understanding of these periods, and particularly for the Middle Neolithic, in Scotland.

The need to better understand economic change and the social uses of long-ago established pottery types to prepare and consume food has led to the study of 124 distinct ceramic vessels from 17 settlement and funerary sites in Central Germany (present day Saxony-Anhalt). These, dated from the Early Neolithic (from 5450 cal. BCE onwards) to the Late Bronze Age (1300-750 cal. BCE; youngest sample ca. 1000 BCE), include vessels from the Linear Pottery (LBK), Schiepzig/Schöningen groups (SCHIP), Baalberge (BAC), Corded Ware (CWC), Bell Beaker (BBC), and Únětice (UC) archaeological cultures. Organic residue analyses performed on this assemblage determined the presence of vessel contents surviving as lipid residues in 109 cases. These were studied in relation to the changing use of settlement and funerary pottery types and, in the case of burials, to the funerary contexts in which the vessels had been placed. The obtained results confirmed a marked increase in the consumption of dairy products linked to innovations in pottery types (e.g., small cups) during the Funnel Beaker related Baalberge Culture of the 4th millennium BCE. Although the intensive use of dairy products may have continued into the 3rd millennium BCE, especially amongst Bell Beaker populations, Corded Ware vessels found in funerary contexts suggest an increase in the importance of non-ruminant products, which may be linked to the production of specific vessel shapes and decoration. In the Early Bronze Age circum-Harz Únětice group (ca. 2200-1550 BCE), which saw the emergence of a highly hierarchical society, a greater variety of animal and plant derived products was detected in a much more standardised but, surprisingly, more multifunctional pottery assemblage. This long-term study of lipid residues from a concise region in Central Europe thus reveals the complex relationships that prehistoric populations established between food resources and the main means to prepare, store, and consume them.

Over the last several decades, the application of aDNA and strontium isotope analyses on archaeologically recovered human remains has provided new avenues for the investigation of mobility in past societies. Data on human mobility can be valuable in the reconstruction of prehistoric residential patterns and kinship systems, which are at the center of human social organization and vary across time and space. In this paper, we aim to contribute to our understanding of mobility, residence, and kinship patterns in late Prehistoric Iberia (c. 3300–1400BC) by providing new strontium data on 44 individuals from the site of Humanejos (Parla, Madrid). The study presented here is multi-proxy and looks at these new data by interweaving biological, chronological, and archaeological information. This analysis found that 7/44 individuals buried at Humanejos could be identified as non-local to the necropolis. Although more men (n = 5) than women (n = 2) were found in the non-local category, and more non-local individuals were identified in the pre-Bell Beaker (n = 5) than in Bell Beaker (n = 1) or Bronze Age (n = 1), we find no statistically significant differences concerning sex or time period. This contrasts with other archaeological datasets for late prehistoric Europe which suggest higher female mobility, female exogamy, and male-centered residential patterns were common. At Humanejos, we have also identified one non-local female whose exceptional Beaker grave goods suggest she was an individual of special status, leading to additional questions about the relationships between gender, mobility, and social position in this region and time period.

Die Nutzung der siedlungsungünstigen Mittelgebirgsregionen in neolithischer Zeit dokumentiert sich im wesentlichen durch das Verbreitungsbild von Steingeräten. Die folgende Studie widmet sich der Region des mittleren Teutoburger Waldes nordwestlich von Bielefeld, in der sich anhand von Pfeilbewehrungen sowie Äxten und Beilen eine Begehung seit der Rössener Kultur nachweisen läßt.

Excavations at Tinney's Lane, Sherborne in 2002 uncovered extensive evidence for Late Bronze Age settlement and pottery production, dating from a short time period probably within the 12th or 11th century calbc. Well-preserved deposits of burnt stone, broken vessels, and burnt sherds, together with resulting debris redeposited in associated pits, were accompanied by a series of post-hole structures interpreted as round-houses and four-post settings. Environmental evidence in the form of charcoal, charred plant remains, and molluscs has provided important information concerning sources of fuel and water for pottery production as well as allowing a reconstruction of the local vegetation. Finds of fired clay, metal, stone, shale, flint, and bone include items from distant sources, informing topics such as site status and exchange, and include many categories of tools and equipment that would have been used within the pottery-making processes. Analysis of the spatial distribution of these finds amongst the structures and surviving layers of burning has allowed the definition of a series of industrial activity areas, each comprising one or more round-houses, a four-post structure, bonfire bases or pits used for firing, and other pits with specific related functions. Altogether the site has provided some of the best evidence for pottery production within prehistoric Britain.

A number of examples where authors have invoked the concept of an underworld in explaining various prehistoric activities are catalogued and considered. In drawing this material together it is hoped that the case for exploring the underworld as a general theme in pre‐Iron Age Britain is made. In addition, the usefulness of looking at various prehistoric activities from the perspective of the underworld is considered. In particular, the phenomenon of inversion is examined.

Preface Introduction: towards a mature archaeology Ian Hodder Part I. Ethnographic models: pre-depositional theory: 1. Anthropological models in archaeological perspective George Dalton 2. Kalinga pottery: an ethnoarchaeological study William Longacre 3. Society, economy and culture: an ethnographic case study amongst the Lozi Ian Hodder 4. People and space: a case study on material behaviour Roland Flectcher Part II. Settlement Pattern: despositional, post-depositional and analytical theory: 5. Stone Age visiting cards: approaches to the study of early land use patterns Glynn Isaac 6. Off-site archaeology: an alternative approach for the short-sited Robert Foley 7. Black holes in British prehistory: the analysis of settlement distributions Les Groube 8. The colonisation of Europe: the analysis of settlement processes Fred Hamond Part III. Subsistence Pattern: analytical and interpretive theory: 9. Population, resources and explanation in prehistory Paul Wilkinson 10. Plough and pastoralism: aspects of the secondary products revolution Andrew Sherratt 11. Counting sheep in Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece Paul Halstead 12. The effects of environmental change on the scheduling of visits to the Elands Bay Cave, Cape Province S.A John Parkington Part IV. Social Pattern: analytical and interpretive theory: 13. Conceptual frameworks for the explanation of sociocultural change Christopher Tilley 14. Archaeological theory and communal burial in prehistoric Europe Robert Chapman 15. Towards a socioeconomic model for the Middle Bronze Age in southern England Ann Ellison Index.

En el presente trabajo se ha realizado un amplio catálogo de los adornos campaniformes y epicampaniformes de los principales yacimientos sardos, identificando la secuencia espacial y cronológica campaniforme inherente a los objetos ornamentales, desde las primeras expresiones del fenómeno en Cerdeña hasta el Bronce Antiguo, periodo en el cual en la isla se manifestarían los caracteres finales del campaniforme, con su hibridación en las facies iniciales del Bonnanaro, mostrando los rasgos evolutivos de cada uno de los elementos y realizando, contemporáneamente, comparaciones con la Península Ibérica y con otras zonas del arco Mediterráneo.

Integrated investigations on infrared spectroscopic characteristics of metabolites and on applications of infrared spectroscopy to foodstuff production, food processing, and tasting are described. As the important metabolites, saccharides, which play very important roles in various functions, located in the central position of the metabolic pathways, were selected, and the spectral features of the saccharides and related materials are discussed. Additionally, the applications of spectral analysis to the monitoring of the enzyme reaction and the sugar metabolic processes, which are the main materials in food processing, are described. Furthermore, the studies on the spectroscopic measurements during the cultivation of agricultural products as foodstuffs and in the tasting as the final quality evaluation of foods are represented. These results suggest that infrared spectroscopy could be very effective for evaluating foodstuff production and the tasting of the processed foods and that the applied topics should provide fundamental information about the spectral behavior of the metabolites and bioproducts.

ABSTRACTTechnology plays a central role in efforts to eliminate weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Past efforts to destroy WMD and related materials have commonly featured novel combinations of technologies designed to meet unique circumstances. In order to present the technical aspects of elimination in a context that can inform future elimination missions, this article begins by noting technology's important role. It then highlights challenges that will shape technical decisions for future missions, focusing on uncertainties, the evolution of WMD threats, the need to balance technical investments, and fighting complacency. It then offers lessons from past WMD elimination missions, including the importance of remaining innovative and agile, using a range of scenarios for planning technical options, consulting early with the full range of stakeholders who could support or challenge technical decisions, developing strong communications plans, and ensuring that plans account for critical enabling technologies. Finally, it recommends that the United States maintain elimination “on-ramps” for a range of potential future elimination missions, create a standing body to help maintain technical elimination capacity, and internationalize planning and implementation.