Families, Prestige Goods, Warriors & Complex Societies: Beaker Groups of the 3rd Millennium cal BC Along the Upper & Middle Danube

摘要

From the Middle Copper Age in the mid-4th millennium cal "c, and throughout the whole Late Copper Age, we observe the emergence of supra-regional, expansionistic 'cultures'. Originating in south-east Europe, they expanded into central and northern Europe, eventually reaching the west and the margins. Typical of these are the Cernavoda lll/Bolerdz cultures; then, later, the Baden sequence, along with the Globular Amphora Culture adjacent to the northern arc of the Carpathian mountains. The Corded Ware/Single Grave Cultures, and finally the Bell Beaker Culture, follow in a third stage from the first quarter of the 3rd millennium cal uc. The latter expand - emerging from the Iberian Peninsula according to current research - towards the east in a fourth stage, reaching Britain and Ireland, Central Europe, and the central Mediterranean by 2500 cal /.!(.. it is now common knowledge that this Bell Beaker phenomenon does not represent a homogeneous unit, but splits into at least four supra-regional groupings. Of these, the Centred European, or Bell Beaker East Group, is the focus of this study.