The Bell Beaker phenomenon
A distinctive drinking cup spreads across Europe — and in Britain, so do the people.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 1 thousand years
- Known to
- ± 100 years
- Era
- Bronze Age, Holocene
Bell-shaped pots, archer's wristguards and copper daggers appear from Iberia to Hungary to Britain from around 2800 BCE. Whether this was a migration or a fashion was debated for a century; ancient DNA gave a split answer. In central Europe the package spread largely without population change, but in Britain the arrival of Beaker material coincides with a replacement of around 90 per cent of the gene pool within a few hundred years.