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Excavation of the Amesbury Archer
© Wessex Archaeology
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The Beaker Folk |
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The Beaker Folk
As these people lived long before history started to be written down, the name "Beaker folk" is one that archaeologists have given to them. In fact, the very idea of these people is something that archaeologists have created.
What the Beaker Folk are best known for - Beakers
© Wessex Archaeology |
Excavations across Europe, from Spain to Scandinavia and from Austria to Ireland, have unearthed a large number of items, which have been dated and shown to be from the Bronze Age. The most famous of these objects are the drinking cups called Beakers. It was thought that a distinct people used these pots in everyday life, and in death; burials with these pots alongside the dead have been use to chart the growth and expansion of the Beaker folk.
In the Stone Age people were often buried in great tombs. These tombs were used for generations and the mourners placed only a few gifts with the dead. Graves, with beakers, are often individual burials and burial with other gifts became more common, especially for men.
The most commonly found objects are metal knives, of copper or bronze, gold jewellery, stone arrowheads, and the stone wrist guards that protected the arm from the lash of the bowstring. These burials offer almost a stereotype of male behaviour; cups for drinking and weapons for fighting.
Words: Dr Andrew P Fitzpatrick
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