The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

The Earlier Bronze Age
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Figure 5.3 Ceramic chronologies for the Late Neolithic, Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age, taking
a minimal view of the radiocarbon ranges. Dates are in calibrated years BC.
Source: M.Hamilton
regionality, production, distribution, status and deposition. In many respects, the aim of establishing a
finely tuned ceramic chronology (Figure 5.3) for the Earlier Bronze Age has not been realized. Even
the seven-step sequence proposed in the early 1970s for Beaker decoration, and adopted by some
archaeologists, has been undermined by a comprehensive radiocarbon dating programme on Beakerassociated
materials (Kinnes et al. 1991). The notional sequence of Beaker pottery (2700–1700 BC),
Food Vessels (2200–1800 BC), Collared Urns (2000–1700 BC) and Biconical Urns (1800–1400 BC)
can be viewed either as a series of chronological overlaps or, less likely, as a chest-of-drawers replacement
of one style by another, due to the relative imprecision of the radiocarbon method.
The finely made Beakers stand out from an otherwise crude ceramic tradition, indicating that
the coarseness of other Early Bronze Age wares was a matter of cultural preference and not one
of prehistoric incompetence. Found throughout Europe, Beakers are identified by their S-shaped
profile of an open mouth, narrow neck and bulge in the middle. They are often decorated,
mainly in a series of horizontal zones of impressed cord, incised line and impressed comb patterns.
Those found in burials (Figure 5.4) may have been made specifically made for the grave. Their
poorer fabrics and smooth surfaces indicate that they were to be looked at rather than used
(Boast in Kinnes and Varndell 1995). The larger of these funerary vessels often accompany adult
male corpses, while small Beakers are often found with the bodies of children (Case in Kinnes
and Varndell 1995). Their interpretation as a high-status item has been dismissed; they do not
take long to produce and were not sought-after trade items. Even the popular notion that they
contained an alcoholic beverage such as mead or an unusual cocktail of alcohol and cannabis
may be only a small dimension of their use. Pollen in a grave at Ashgrove (Fife) may derive from
mead spilled from a Beaker, but residues from other burials have been interpreted as the remains
of floral tributes (Tipping 1994). Elsewhere in northern and eastern Europe, Beaker pots succeed
Corded Ware (Chapter 4), and both styles have been interpreted as evidence of invaders or
immigrants moving in and replacing indigenous populations. In many parts of Europe, the Beaker
forms part of a material culture ‘package’ (including barbed-and-tanged flint arrowheads, copper
or bronze awls, archers’ wristguards, and metal or flint daggers) that some archaeologists have
interpreted as the material manifestation of a religious cult or ideology rather than a movement
of people (Burgess and Shennan in Burgess and Miket 1976). Re-examination of the invasionist