Bell Beaker people in Britain: migration, mobility and diet

Parker Pearson, Mike; Chamberlain, Andrew; Jay, Mandy; Richards, Mike; Sheridan, Alison; Curtis, Neil; Evans, Jane; Gibson, Alex; Hutchison, Margaret; Mahoney, Patrick; Marshall, Peter; Montgomery, Janet; Needham, Stuart; O’Mahoney, Sandra; Pellegrini, Maura; Wilkin, Neil

Abstract

The appearance of the distinctive ‘Beaker package’ marks an important horizon in British prehistory, but was it associated with immigrants to Britain or with indigenous converts? Analysis of the skeletal remains of 264 individuals from the British Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age is revealing new information about the diet, migration and mobility of those buried with Beaker pottery and related material. Results indicate a considerable degree of mobility between childhood and death, but mostly within Britain rather than from Europe. Both migration and emulation appear to have had an important role in the adoption and spread of the Beaker package.

Citation

Parker Pearson, M., Chamberlain, A., Jay, M., Richards, M., Sheridan, A., Curtis, N., …Wilkin, N. (2016). Bell Beaker people in Britain: migration, mobility and diet. Antiquity, 90(351), 620-637. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.72

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 30, 2015
• Online Publication Date: May 17, 2016
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Dec 2, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 7, 2015
• Journal: Antiquity
• Print ISSN: 0003-598X
• Electronic ISSN: 1745-1744
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 90
• Issue: 351
• Pages: 620-637
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.72