From about 2300BC, changes occurred in Northern European society that marked the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The Beaker People or Bell Beaker People were integral in this process. Named after the bell-shaped pottery vessels associated with them, they introduced not only changes in burial practice and language but metallurgy, which in its turn increased trade and mobility as people searched for the new goods and materials they required.

Origins of the Beaker People

Originating in the temperate zones of Europe, possibly the area of modern Spain, the Beaker People probably spread into Central and Western Europe in search of copper and tin. From here, they came into contact with the Battle Axe or single grave culture and merged with them. This hybrid culture continued to spread through central Europe and onto Britain.

Early Bronze Age Innovations

The Beaker People were responsible for various cultural innovations. It has been speculated that they helped spread the Indo European language. However, the material record establishes several distinct traits associated with them. These traits may represent the actual presence of Beaker cultural groups or the spread of their ideas to other areas.

Beaker Burials

High-status Beaker style burials were simple and individual compared to the megalithic tombs common to the rest of Western Europe. Grave goods included weapons and jewellery made from materials and using technology unknown in the Neolithic. They were further distinguished by the distinct pottery vessels that gave the group their name. These bell-shaped pots or drinking beakers stamped with horizontal decoration were common to graves associated with Beaker culture.

Bronze Age Metallurgy

Although they did not discover metallurgy, the Beaker People were responsible for its spread as their search for ready sources of copper and tin to make bronze took them through central and northern Europe. 

Copper ore was a by-product of flint mining. The early Beaker People and other Neolithic groups used flint for tools and arrowheads but had no idea what to do with the metal. This changed when they came into contact with the technology for processing metals that spread from the Balkans and the Mediterranean. 

Beaker groups could now develop more efficient weaponry: tanged daggers and copper spearheads. They also began to produce gold jewellery. However, as ore sources were exhausted, they needed to find new ones. This need was satisfied through migration to new locations with ore or trade for materials. Whichever method was prevalent, other aspects of Beaker Culture travelled too.

The Beaker People and Wessex Culture

The so-called Wessex culture of early Bronze Age southwest Britain resulted from the spread of Beaker culture when people migrated in search of iron and tin. Grave finds from this culture— such as those of the Amesbury Archer — include stone axes and elaborately decorated daggers and gold and amber ornaments. This period corresponds with the third phase of Stonehenge’s construction, which restarted now after a hiatus. This suggests a new, more prosperous society based on advanced technology with widespread trade links.

This new society does not necessarily suggest the Beaker people supplanted the indigenous population; it is also possible that new ideas and goods could have spread peacefully. For example, amber beads from Wessex have been found in the shaft graves at Mycenae, indicating an established trade network. Perhaps with goods came new ideas and styles, taken up by local chieftains keen to enhance their standing.