10.2 The Bronze Age (3000 BC Greece, 2200 BC Britain)

At the start of the 3rd millennium BC (late Neolithic/early Calcholitic) there was another significant change taking place in Western Europe. A Culture called “Bell Beaker”, after the shape of its pottery, appeared. As there were still no Dynasties and few identifiable events, technology forms the basis of historic dating and people are named after the pottery they produced or the location where it is found. Again its spread was a mixture of technology seepage and migration, and this time the main technology they brought was metalworking, and importantly they gradually introduced the Bronze Age to Western Europe. Although there is some uncertainty where the Beaker People originated, it is likely that they came from East Central Europe. The Beaker People expanded quite rapidly in their search for new sources of metal ores. They have been found over a wide area, particularly along transport routes such as rivers and coasts, including the Iberian Peninsular, Germany, Britain (where their Culture remained the longest), Switzerland, most of France and Ireland, along the Danube valley to Hungary and on islands such as Sicily and Sardinia. It is surprising how mobile people were around the 4th millennium BC, often travelling hundreds of miles between their birthplace and burial, as shown by dental analysis. Although the Beaker People kept somewhat apart, they influenced the indigenous Neolithic groups, and they took over or adapted some of people’s beliefs and customs. There were several waves of these migrants over a period. For example, seven distinct waves can be identified in Britain.

The Beaker People introduced the Bronze Age along with their pottery beakers to Britain, initially with copper in about 2,400 BC and bronze appearing around 2,150 BC. Bronze is made from copper and tin and is much harder than either. The earliest beakers were of the Rhine style, which British potters adapted over time to suit local requirements. Domestic pottery was also adapted to make ornate funerary urns for cremation remains. Some very fine Beakers were considered prestige items, and transported over distances such as the one found in Chesham, Bucks, that clay analysis showed was made in Middle Rhine. A beaker dated to the late 3rd millennium BC was found in a grave amongst other pots in Scotland. A grave of an archer found in Wiltshire, England, not far from Stonehenge and dated to 2,300 BC, contained as many as 190 artefacts. They included pottery, copper tools that he brought from Europe and worked gold. He appeared to represent “Central European Man”, and tooth analysis indicated he originated in the Alps. In Britain, the beakers were mainly ritual and were little used domestically. Bodies were buried individually in pits, curled up head to the south, men facing east and women west possibly to face the sun at different times of the day. The Beaker People also brought circular houses, with thatch, turf or hide roofs, replacing the previous rectangular houses.

Hunting and food gathering needed a calendar, and both the moon and sun were used. It has been suggested that the Lascaux cave paintings (13,000 BC) were a lunar calendar, and Stonehenge, that was an active site from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age, could have been a solar calendar around 2,400 BC. This was about the time the Beaker People built its second, bluestone, stage, possibly using stones brought 160 miles by sea/rivers and rollers from South Wales, although some could have been left much closer by a glacier.