NF o i ck ok le in s s Background to Beakers is the result of an inspiring session at the yearly (s e& r conference of European Association of Archaeologists in The Hague in d s September 2010. The conference brought together thirteen speakers on . Background e ) the subject Beakers in Transition. Together we explored the background k to the Bell Beaker complex in different regions, departing from the idea a that migration is not the comprehensive solution to the adoption of Bell to Beakers e Beakers. Therefore we asked the participants to discuss how in their region Beakers were incorporated in existing cultural complexes, as one of the B B a manners to understand the processes of innovation that were undoubtedly c Inquiries into regional part of the Beaker complex. o k cultural backgrounds of In this book eight of the speakers have contributed papers, resulting in a g t diverse and interesting approach to Beakers. We can see how scholars in r the Bell Beaker complex Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Poland, Switzerland, France, Morocco o d even, struggle with the same problems, but have different solutions edited by u n everywhere. The book reads as an inspiration for new approaches and for Harry Fokkens & Franco Nicolis n a discussion of cultural backgrounds instead of searching for the oldest d u Beaker. t o The authors are all established scholars in the field of Bronze Age research. o Of the editors Harry Fokkens is a professor of European Prehistory at r Leiden University and well known for his research in the Low Countries and B g in a broader European context. He published several books on settlement e a research, amongst others Bronze Age settlements in the Low Countries k k (Oxbow 2008, with S. Arnoldussen). Franco Nicolis is the Director of the e c Heritage Office of the autonomous Province of Trento and published r a many articles and books on Bell Beakers. He was the organiser of the s conference Bell Beakers today (Riva del Garda 1998) and published a two B volume book on the conference (2001). Sidestone Press S i ISBN: 978-90-8890-084-6 d e Bestelnummer: SSP87390001 s t o Artikelnummer: SSP87390001 n 9 789088 900846 e This is a digital offprint from: Fokkens, H. & F. Nicolis (eds) 2012: Background to Beakers. Inquiries into regional cultural backgrounds of the Bell Beaker complex. Leiden: Sidestone Press Sidestone Press * A new generation of Publishing This is a free offprint, read the entire book at the Sidestone e-library! You can find the full version of this book at the Sidestone e-library. Here most of our publications are fully accessible for free. For access to more free books visit: www.sidestone.com/library Download Full PDF Visit the Sidestone e-library to download most of our e-books for only € 4,50. For this minimal fee you will receive a fully functional PDF and by doing so, you help to keep our library running. www.sidestone.com/library © 2012 Authors Published by Sidestone Press, Leiden www.sidestone.com Sidestone registration number: SSP87390001 ISBN 978-90-8890-084-6 Photograph cover: Q.P.J. Bourgeois; inset: J. Turek Cover design: K. Wentink, Sidestone Press Lay-out: P.C. van Woerdekom, Sidestone Press Contents 1 Background to Dutch Beakers. A critical review of 9 the Dutch model Harry Fokkens 2 No longer north of the beakers. Modeling an inter- 37 pretative platform for third millennium transfor- mations in Norway Christopher Prescott 3 Exploring agency behind the Beaker phenomenon. 61 The navigator’s tale Robert Van de Noort 4 The end of the Neolithic in Western Switzerland. 81 Peopling dynamics through nonmetric dental study Jocelyne Desideri, Martine Piguet, Robin Furestier, Florence Cattin, and Marie Besse 5 The Beaker transition in Mediterranean France 117 Olivier Lemercier 6 Bell Beakers and the cultural milieu of north 157 European plain Janusz Czebreszuk and Marzena Szmyt 7 The Bell Beaker phenomenon. Meanings of region- 177 al transmission Katarzyna Mikołajczak and Radosław Szczodrowski 8 Origin of the Bell Beaker phenomenon. The 191 Moroccan connection Jan Turek Chapter 6 B B ell eakers and the cultural e milieu of north uropean plain Janusz Czebreszuk and Marzena Szmyt Abstract It is clear that not only cultural backgrounds for the Bell Beakers in north and south Poland are different, but also that the Bell Beakers in these two parts of the country vary. The authors deal with the northern zone (Pomerania, Wielkopolska and Kujawy regions) where strong connections are observed with the Single Grave Culture (from northern Germany and Jutland) and with the regional Corded Ware Culture. Bell Beaker traits are recorded there mostly on settlements and not in burials. A long typochronological Bell Beaker sequence is established and their important role in the long-lasting cultural developments in the region is proposed. Keywords Bell Beakers, northwest Poland, Corded Ware Culture, Single Grave Culture, typochronological sequence, long-lasting cultural development czebreszuk & szmyt 157 In the general view of the Bell Beakers in Europe Polish lands con- stitute north-eastern range (Fig. 1). The Bell Beaker relics are known there from the western (Western Pomerania, Kujawy, Wielkopolska, Silesia) and southern (Małopolska) parts of the country (Fig. 2) (Czebreszuk 2003). The last ten years of research have shown that the Bell Beakers were not of the same provenance but derived from three different areas, which shows the activity of three different Bell Beaker cen- tres. More specifically, Bell Beaker traits in the north (Pomerania, Wielkopolska and Kujawy) derive from Jutland and northeast Germany (Czebreszuk 2001) while in Silesia they show affinities with the Bohemian Bell Beakers (Makarowicz 2003). In Małopolska they are an offshoot of the Bell Beakers from Moravia (Budziszewski and Włodarczak 2010). The situation in Małopolska (Fig. 3) is special because we deal there with graves only, the traits of which are rooted in the Moravian Bell Beakers. This link is interpreted as a result of migration north of the Carpathians, most probably across the Moravian Gate, by a small group of people, representing the Moravian Bell Beaker Culture (Budziszewski and Włodarczak 2010). Their presence in Małopolska was an important factor in the origins of the Mierzanowice culture, which flourished best in its early stages of development that grew directly on a ‘Beaker’ substra- tum (Kadrow and Machnik 1997). In Silesia and northwest Poland, the Bell Beakers had an impact on many areas of life and brought about more long-range cultural ef- fects. They are a sign that populations inhabiting these regions took part in far-reaching networks of cultural contacts and witnessed pro- gressive changes in their social structure (Czebreszuk 2001; 2003; Makarowicz 2003). Both regions, however, display clear differences in the origins of the Bell Beakers and in the role they played in re- gional cultural milieus. The Silesian Bell Beakers (Fig. 4), known exclusively from funer- ary contexts, were related to those in the Bohemian Basin. However, not much more can be said on this subject due to the lack of re- search into the Silesian Bell Beakers. Despite the fact that more re- cent data are available (e.g. Gralak 2007), general findings still rely on publications from the 1970s and 1980s (Wojciechowski 1972; 1987). Similar difficulties hinder the study of the period that pre- cedes the Bell Beakers and that relates to the Corded Ware Culture. By contrast, far more is known on the time horizon following the Bell Beakers, when the Únětice Culture thrived in both regions. At that time, Trans-Sudete cultural ties were strong, which is illustrated by the traits of the Bohemian and Silesian Únětice Culture (Zich 1996; Butent-Stefaniak 1997; Bartelheim 1998). 158 background to beakers Figure 1. Bell Beakers in Europe: overall view. Czebreszuk 2003, simplified. Figure 2. Bell Beakers in Poland and its connections with others centres. czebreszuk & szmyt 159 Figure 3. Bell Beaker pottery from Małopolska. Some examples: 1, 2, 5, 6, 12, 14 – Samborzec, 4, 7, 10, 11, 19, 21 – Beradź, 8, 20 – Święcice, 9, 13, 17, 18 – Złota, 22, 23 – Sandomierz. Makarowicz 2003. 160 background to beakers