Formation and Change in Individual Identity between the Bell Beaker Culture and the Early Bronze Age in Bavaria, South Germany

In 1994, H. de Lumley's teams of researchers finished the colossal task—initiated more than 20 years earlier—of recording every pecked rock engraving of Mont Bégo's rock art. The following year, in the book Le grandiose et le sacré, Lumley defined the site as a sacred mountain and attributed rock engravings, considered as ex-votos, to the Early Bronze Age and the Bell Beaker period. However, it is hard to recognize what interpretations can be directly drawn from the data: some exceptional rock engravings are considered as representative of the whole corpus of rock engravings and the most numerous ones are considered as a ‘bruit de fond’ [background noise]. Furthermore, recognition of associations—where rock engravings are contemporaneous and significantly grouped—had been criticised, and the hypothesis that all the rock engravings can be considered as a single archaeological event seems also to be contradicted by studies of superimpositions. We developed a GIS and a comprehensive database, with statistics, to identify specific spatial configurations, seriation effects and, finally, the evolution of the rock art. By going further in the periodization, our aim is to propose some provisional hypotheses about the meaning of Mont Bégo's rock engravings.

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Harcosnők klubja? – Specializált társadalmi helyzetű nők a késő rézkor időszakában Magyarországon

Kaposvári Rippl-Rónai Múzeum Közleményei ◽

10.26080/krrmkozl.2018.5.79 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 79-94

Author(s):

Tünde Horváth

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Late Phase ◽

Transitional Period ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Copper Age ◽

Late Neolithic ◽

Neolithic Culture ◽

The Status ◽

Bell Beaker

This article focus on the status of the woman in the main cultures (Baden complex and Yamna) of the Late Copper Age (3600–2800 BC) and the transitional period (2800–2600 BC). Although the Bell Beaker complex belongs to the Early Bronze Age in Hungary (2500–1900 BC), in European terminologies it is a Late Neolithic culture and belongs to the Reinecke A0 horizon in its late phase, which is why I included it into my research. I identify charismatic people displaying signs of agression in these three culture complexes, whose personalities are associated with warfare. In all three cultures there were women with specialised status: their knowledge, property and profession raised them above the average man and woman.

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Arrows of Power from Brittany to Denmark (2500–1700 BC)

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/ppr.2017.5 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 83 ◽

pp. 247-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Clément Nicolas

Keyword(s):

Comparative Study ◽

Social Status ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

North West ◽

Cultural Complex ◽

Sacred Objects ◽

The Social ◽

Bell Beaker

This article presents a comparative study of the arrowheads found in graves dating to between 2500 BC and 1700bcin north-west France, southern Britain and Denmark. The aim is to characterise their modes of production and functions during a period which successively sees the introduction of copper then bronze metallurgy, the former accompanying the appearance of Bell Beaker pottery and associated practices in these areas. Several modes of production are proposed, from individual manufacture by Bell Beaker-using warriors to specialist production for elite use during the Early Bronze Age. Over and above their function as weapons – arguably associated more with interpersonal combat than with hunting – arrowheads served to portray and emphasise the social status of the individuals. In the case of the Early Bronze Age Armorican arrowheads, they should be regarded as ‘sacred’ objects, made for display and enhancing the power of the chiefs. Lastly, arrows are placed in the broader perspective of major trends affecting Europe during the Bell Beaker period and then the Early Bronze Age, while the distribution of arrowheads with slanted barbs suggests the operation of an Atlantic cultural complex.

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The copper-based artefacts from Sion/Petit-Chasseur (Valais, Switzerland) during the Late Neolithic, the Bell Beaker period and the Early Bronze Age (3200–1550 BC)

Around the Petit-Chasseur Site in Sion (Valais, Switzerland) and New Approaches to the Bell Beaker Culture ◽

10.2307/j.ctvqmp0qq.9 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 59-76

Author(s):

Florence Cattin ◽

Philippe Curdy ◽

Barbara Guénette-Beck ◽

Adrian Wichser ◽

Andrea Ulrich ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Late Neolithic ◽

Bell Beaker

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Female exogamy and gene pool diversification at the transition from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in central Europe

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1706355114 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 114 (38) ◽

pp. 10083-10088 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Corina Knipper ◽

Alissa Mittnik ◽

Ken Massy ◽

Catharina Kociumaka ◽

Isil Kucukkalipci ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Material Culture ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Central Europe ◽

Dna Analysis ◽

Human Mobility ◽

Isotope Ratios ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Late Neolithic ◽

Bell Beaker ◽

The Bronze Age

Human mobility has been vigorously debated as a key factor for the spread of bronze technology and profound changes in burial practices as well as material culture in central Europe at the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. However, the relevance of individual residential changes and their importance among specific age and sex groups are still poorly understood. Here, we present ancient DNA analysis, stable isotope data of oxygen, and radiogenic isotope ratios of strontium for 84 radiocarbon-dated skeletons from seven archaeological sites of the Late Neolithic Bell Beaker Complex and the Early Bronze Age from the Lech River valley in southern Bavaria, Germany. Complete mitochondrial genomes documented a diversification of maternal lineages over time. The isotope ratios disclosed the majority of the females to be nonlocal, while this is the case for only a few males and subadults. Most nonlocal females arrived in the study area as adults, but we do not detect their offspring among the sampled individuals. The striking patterns of patrilocality and female exogamy prevailed over at least 800 y between about 2500 and 1700 BC. The persisting residential rules and even a direct kinship relation across the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age add to the archaeological evidence of continuing traditions from the Bell Beaker Complex to the Early Bronze Age. The results also attest to female mobility as a driving force for regional and supraregional communication and exchange at the dawn of the European metal ages.

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