Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-5r2nc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-09T00:58:49.696Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Beaker Culture Metal and Mobility in Atlantic Europe: Some Implications for Genetic and Language Origins

from Part III - The Cultural and Linguistic Significance of Bell Beakers along the Atlantic Fringe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2023

By
William O’Brien
Edited by
Kristian Kristiansen ,
Guus Kroonen  and
Eske Willerslev
Kristian Kristiansen
Affiliation:
Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden
Guus Kroonen
Affiliation:
Universiteit Leiden
Eske Willerslev
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen
Get access

Summary

The importance of metal for an understanding of the international Beaker culture is well established, whether as a driver of trade connections and other forms of exchange, or as a material expression of ethnicity, ideology, or social relations. While copper and gold were used in earlier times in Europe, Beaker groups can be associated with a spread of metallurgical knowledge across the Atlantic zone during the later third millennium BC. This chapter will consider long-distance networks of metal production and supply in relation to the mobility of the Beaker culture. The nature of those connections will be explored, whether they involved migration of ethnic groups or the small-scale movement of specialists, their ideas and material culture, through trade and other forms of exchange. The implications for genetic and language origins will be considered, with a focus on connections between Iberia, France, and Ireland in that period.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited
Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics
 , pp. 146 - 156
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abercromby, J. 1912. A study of the Bronze Age pottery of Great Britain and Ireland. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Almagro-Gorbea, M. 1995. Ireland and Spain in the Bronze Age. In: Waddell, J. & Shee Twohig, E. (ed.), Ireland in the Bronze Age, 136–148. Dublin: Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Ambert, P. 1995. Les mines préhistoriques de Cabrières (Herault): quinze ans de recherches. Etat de la question. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 92(4): 499–508.Google Scholar
Ambert, P. 1998. Importance de la métallurgie campaniforme en France. In: L’Enigmatique Civilisation Campaniforme, Archéologia 9: 36–41.Google Scholar
Ambert, P. 2001. La place de la métallurgie campaniforme dans la première métallurgie française. In: Harrison, R. et al. (ed.), Bell beakers today, 577–588. Trento: Proceedings of the 1998 Riva del Garda conference.Google Scholar
Ambert, P., Carozza, L., Lecholon, B., & Houles, N.. 1996. De la mine au metal au sud du Massif Central au Chalcolithique. Archéologie en Languedoc 20: 35–42.Google Scholar
Armit, I., & Reich, D.. 2021 The return of the Beaker Folk: Rethinking migration and population change in British Prehistory. Antiquity 95(384): 1464–1477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beddoe, J. 1885. The races of Britain. Bristol: Arrowsmith.Google Scholar
Billard, C. 1991. L’habitat des Florentins à Val-de-Reuil (Eure). Gallia Prehistoire 33: 140–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billard, C., Bourhis, J. R., Desfossés, Y., Evin, J., Hault, M. F., Lefèbvre, D., & Paulet-Locard, M. A.. 1991. L’habitat de Florentins à Val-de-Reuil (Eure). Gallia Préhistorie 33: 140–171.Google Scholar
Blas Cortina, M. A. De 1998. Producción e intercambio de metal: la singularidad de las minas de cobre prehistóricas del Aramo y El Milagro (Asturias). In: de Castro, G. Delibes, Millán, A. Ramos, et al., Minerales y metales en la prehistoria reciente (Studia Archaeologica 88), 71–103. Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid y Fundación Duques de Soria.Google Scholar
Blas Cortina, M. A. De 1999. Asturias y Cantabria. In: de Castro, G. Delibes & Ruiz, I. Montero (ed.), Las primeras etapas metalúrgicas en la península Ibérica: II estudios regionals, 41–62. Madrid: Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset y Ministerio de Educación y Cultura.Google Scholar
Blas Cortina, M. A. 2015. La cuestión canpaniforme en el Cantábrico Central y las minas de cobre prehistóricas de la sierra del Aramo. CuPauam (Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología) 41: 165–179.Google Scholar
Blas Cortina, M. A. De & Fernández, M. Suárez. 2010. La minería subterránea del cobre en Asturias: un capítulo esencial en la prehistoria reciente del norte de Espana. In: Cortina, M. A. De Blas, de Castro, G. Delibes, Valdes, A. Villa, & Fernández, M. Suárez (ed.), Cobre y Oro. Minería y Metalurgia en la Asturias Prehistórica y Antigua, 43–82. Oviedo: Real Instituto de Estudios Asturianos.Google Scholar
Bowen, E. G. 1972. Britain and the western seaways. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Brace, S. et al. 2019. Ancient genomes indicate population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain. Nature Ecology and Evolution 3: 765–771.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bray, P. & Pollard, A. M.. 2012. A new interpretative approach to the chemistry of copper-alloy objects: Source, recycling and technology. Antiquity 86: 853–867.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Briard, J. & Roussot-Larroque, J.. 2012. Les débuts de la métallurgie das la France Atlantique. In: Bartelheim, M., Pernicka, E., & Krause, R., (ed.), The beginnings of metallurgy in the Old World, 135–160. Rahden: Verlag Marie Leidorf.Google Scholar
Brindley, A. 2004. Prehistoric pottery. In: O’Brien, W., Ross Island: Mining, metal and society in early Ireland (Bronze Age Studies 6), 316–338. Galway: National University of Ireland Galway.Google Scholar
Burgess, C. 1980. The age of Stonehenge. London: Dent.Google Scholar
Bussmann, H. 1996. Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cardoso, J. 1989. Leceia: Resultados das escavações efectuadas 1983–8. Oeiras: Câmara Municipal de Oeiras.Google Scholar
Carey, J. 2001. Did the Irish come from Spain? History Ireland 9(3): 8–11.Google Scholar
Carey, J. 2005. Lebor Gabála and the legendary history of Ireland. In: Fulton, H. (ed.), Medieval Celtic literature and society, 32–48. Dublin: Four Courts Press.Google Scholar
Carlin, N. 2018. The Beaker phenomenon? Understanding the character and context of social practices in Ireland 2500–2000 BC. Leiden: Sidestone Press.Google Scholar
Carlin, N. & Brück, J.. 2012. Searching for the Chalcolithic: Continuity and change in the Irish Final Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. In: Allen, M. J., Gardiner, J., & Sheridan, A., (ed.), Is there a British Chalcolithic? (Prehistoric Society Research Paper 4), 193–210. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
Case, H. J. 1995. Irish Beakers in their European context. In: Waddell, J. & Shee Twohig, E. (ed.), Ireland in the Bronze Age, 14–29. Dublin: Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Cassidy, L., Martiniano, R., Murphy, E., Teasdale, M., Mallory, J., Hartwell, B., & Bradley, D.. 2016. Neolithic and Bronze age migration to Ireland and establishment of the insular Atlantic genome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 113(2): 368–373.Google Scholar
Clarke, D. L. 1970. Beaker pottery of Great Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cunliffe, B. 2001. Facing the ocean: The Atlantic and its peoples. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cunliffe, B. 2008. Europe between the oceans 9000 BC – AD 1000. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
FitzPatrick, A. 2009. In his hands and in his head: The Amesbury Archer as metalworker. In: Clark, P. (ed.), Bronze Age connections: Cultural contact in prehistoric Europe, 176–188. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
FitzPatrick, A. 2013. The arrival of the Beaker set in Britain and Ireland. In: Koch, J., & Cunliffe, B. (ed.), Celtic from the West 2, 41–70. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
FitzPatrick, A., Delibes de Castro, G., Guerra Doce, E., & Velasco Vázquez, J.. 2016. Bell Beaker connections along the Atlantic façade: the gold ornaments from Tablada del Rudrón, Burgos, Spain. In: Doce, E. Guerra & Lettow-Vorbeck, C. L. Von (ed.), The economic foundations supporting the social supremacy of the Beaker groups, 37–54. Oxford: Archaeopress.Google Scholar
Forde, C. D. 1930. Early cultures of Atlantic Europe. American anthropologist 32(1): 19–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gandois, H. & Carlier, C. Le. 2015. Quid des traces d’activités métallurgiques sur le site de l’anse de la République à Talmont-Saint-Hilaire (Vendée)?. In: Boulet-Gazo, S. (ed.), Le campaniforme et l’âge du bronze dans les Pays de la Loire, 146–157. Project Collectif de Recerche Rapport d’activité-Année 2014.Google Scholar
Gandois, H., Burlot, A., Mille, B., & de Veslud, C. Le Carlier. 2019. Early Bronze Age axe-ingots from Brittany: Evidence for connections with southwest Ireland? Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 119: 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, C. 2013. Beakers into bronze: Tracing connections between western Iberia and the British Isles 2800–800 BC. In: Koch, J. & Cunliffe, B. (ed.), Celtic from the West 2, 71–99. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
Grogan, E. & Roche, H.. 2010. Clay and fire: The development and distribution of pottery traditions in prehistoric Ireland. In: Stanley, M., Danaher, E., & Eogan, J. (ed.), Creative minds: Production, manufacturing and invention in ancient Ireland, 27–45. Dublin: National Roads Authority.Google Scholar
Koch, J. & Cunliffe, B. (ed.). 2010. Celtic from the West 1. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
Koch, J. & Cunliffe, B. (ed.), 2013. Celtic from the West 2. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
Koch, J. & Cunliffe, B. (ed.), 2016. Celtic from the West 3. Oxford: Oxbow Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labaune, M. 2013. Bell Beaker metal and metallurgy in Western Europe. In: Prieto Martínez, M. Pilar & Salanova, L. (ed.), Current researches on Bell Beakers. Proceedings of the 15th international Bell Beaker conference: From Atlantic to Ural, 177–188. Santiago de Compostela: Copynino.Google Scholar
MacWhite, E. 1951. Estudios sobre las relaciones Atlánticas de la Península Ibérica en la Edad del Bronze. Madrid: Seminario de historia primitiva.Google Scholar
Mallory, J. P. 1989. In search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, archaeology and myth. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Mallory, J. P. 2013. The origins of the Irish. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Mallory, J.P. 2016. Archaeology and language shift in Atlantic Europe. In: Koch, J. & Cunliffe, B. (ed.), Celtic from the West 3, 387–406. Oxford: Oxbow Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merkl, M. B. 2010. Bell Beaker metallurgy and the emergence of fahlore-copper use in Central Europe. Interdisciplinaria archaeologica 1(1): 19–27.Google Scholar
Mitchell, F. & Cooney, T.. 2004. Vegetation history in the Killarney valley. In: W. O’Brien, Ross Island: Mining, metal and society in Early Ireland. Bronze Age Studies 6, 481–493. Galway: National University of Ireland Galway.Google Scholar
Montero Ruiz, I. 1994. El origen de la metalurgia en el sureste Peninsular. Almeria: Instituto de Estudios Almerienses.Google Scholar
Muller, R., Goldenberg, G., Bartleheim, M., Kunst, M., & Pernicka, E.. 2007. Zambujal and the beginnings of metallurgy in southern Portugal. In: La Niece, S., Hook, D., & Craddock, P. (ed.), Metal and mines: Studies in archaeometallurgy, 15–26. London: Archetype.Google Scholar
Needham, S. P. 2002. Analytical implications for Beaker metallurgy in north-west Europe. In: Bartelheim, M., Pernicka, E., & Krause, R. (ed.), Die anfänge der metallurgie in der alten welt, 99–133. Freiberg: Forschungen zur Archäometrie und Altertumswissenschaf 1.Google Scholar
Needham, S. P. 2005. Transforming Beaker culture in north-west Europe: Processes of fusion and fission. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 71: 171–217.Google Scholar
Nicolas, T. 2014. Les lingotières De Trédarzec (Crec’h Choupet; Côtes-d’Armor) et de Bédee (ZAC de Gabrielles, Ille-et-Vilaine). Des indices de métallurgie de la fin du IIIme millenaire AV. J.-C. en Bretagne. Bulletin de l’APRAB 12: 134–136.Google Scholar
Ni Lionain, C. 2012. Lebor Gábála Erenn: The use and appropriation of an Irish origin legend in identity construction at home and abroad. Archaeological review from Cambridge 27(2): 13–51.Google Scholar
Northover, J. P. 1999. The earliest metalwork in southern Britain. In: Hauptmann, A. (ed.), The Beginnings of Metallurgy: Proceedings of the international conference, 211–226. Bochum: Der Anschitt, Beiheft 9.Google Scholar
Northover, J. P. 2004. Ross Island and the physical metallurgy of the earliest Irish copper. In: O’Brien, W., Ross Island: Mining, metal and society in early Ireland (Bronze Age Studies 6), 525–538. Galway: National University of Ireland Galway.Google Scholar
O’Brien, W. 2001. New light on Beaker metallurgy in Ireland. In: Harrison, R. et al. (ed.), Bell Beakers Today, 144–160. Trento: Proceedings of the Riva del Garda conference, May 1998.Google Scholar
O’Brien, W. 2004. Ross Island: Mining, metal and society in early Ireland (Bronze Age Studies 6). Galway: National University of Ireland Galway.Google Scholar
O’Brien, W. 2012. The Chalcolithic in Ireland: A chronological and cultural framework. In: Allen, M. J., Gardiner, J., & Sheridan, A. (ed.), Is there a British Chalcolithic? (Prehistoric Society Research Paper 4), 211–225. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
O’Brien, W. 2015. Prehistoric copper mining in Europe 5500–500 BC. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
O’Brien, W. 2016. Language shift and political context in Bronze Age Ireland: Some implications of hillfort chronology. In: Koch, J. & Cunliffe, B. (ed.), 2016. Celtic from the West 3, 219–246. Oxford: Oxbow Books, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olalde, I. et al. 2018. The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe. Nature 555: 190–196.Google Scholar
Oppenheimer, S. 2007. The origins of the British: The new prehistory of Britain and Ireland from Ice-Age hunter-gatherers to the Vikings as revealed by DNA analysis. London: Constable.Google Scholar
Parker Pearson, M., Sheridan, A., Jay, M., Chamberlain, A., Richards, M., & Evans, J. (ed.). 2019. The Beaker people: Isotopes, mobility and diet in prehistoric Britain (Prehistoric Society Research Paper 7). Oxford: Oxbow Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Querré, G. 2009. Métallurgie et hautes températures Campaniforme et Artenac. In: Laporte, L. (ed.), Des premiers paysans aux premiers métallurgistes su la caçade Atlantique de la France (3500–2000 av. J.-C.), 540–541. Chauvigny: Mémoire 33 de L’Association des Publications Chauvinoises.Google Scholar
Quinn, B. 2005. The Atlantean Irish: Ireland’s oriental and maritime heritage. Dublin: Lilliput Press.Google Scholar
Raftery, B. 1994. Pagan Celtic Ireland: the enigma of the Irish Iron Age. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. 1987. Archaeology and language. The puzzle of Indo-European origins. London: Jonathan Cape.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. 2013. Early Celtic in the West: The Indo-European context. In: Koch, J. & Cunliffe, B. (ed.), Celtic from the West 2, 207–217. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
Salanova, L. 2016. Bell Beakers and identities in Atlantic Europe (3rd millennium BC). In: Koch, J. & Cunliffe, B. (ed.), Celtic from the West 3, 13–39. Oxford: Oxbow.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Standish, C., Dhuime, B., Hawkesworth, C., & Pike, A.. 2015. A non-local source of Irish Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age gold. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 81: 149–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timberlake, S. 2016. Copper mining, prospection and the Beaker phenomenon in Wales: The significance of the Banc y Tynddol gold disc. In: Koch, J. & Cunliffe, B. (ed.), Celtic from the West 3, 111–138. Oxford: Oxbow.Google Scholar
Waddell, J. 1992. The Irish Sea in prehistory. The Journal of Irish Archaeology 6: 29–40.Google Scholar
Waddell, J. 2010. The prehistoric archaeology of Ireland. Dublin: Wordwell.Google Scholar
Waddell, J. & Conroy, J.. 1999. Celts: Maritime contacts and linguistic change. In: Blench, R. & Spriggs, M. (ed.), Archaeology and language IV, 127–138. London: Routledge.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×