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Funerary Diversity and Cultural Continuity

The British Beaker Phenomenon Beyond the Stereotype

Bibliographic Data

ID11003003
AuthorsAnna Bloxam (0000-0002-7649-1681, University of Nottingham, corresponding author), Mike Parker Pearson (0000-0002-7341-121X, University College London)
Year2022
Volume88
Pages261-284
Publication date2022-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueProceedings of the Prehistoric Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0079-497X • E-ISSN: 2050-2729
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/ppr.2022.2
OpenAlexW4285386267
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited70

The Beaker phenomenon in Britain is typically represented by a particular form of pottery and its inclusion in graves with flexed or crouched inhumations referred to as Beaker burials. Analysis of the full range of burial evidence, however, reveals a high degree of variability in funerary rites including cremation and skeletal disarticulation. Summed probability distribution analysis of radiocarbon dates provides evidence for continuity of these other, atypical rites from the pre-Beaker Late Neolithic ( c. 3000–2450 cal bc ) through the Chalcolithic ( c. 2450–2200 cal bc ) and into the Early Bronze Age (after c. 2200 cal bc ). Regional diversity is apparent in Beaker period funerary treatments and grave good provision between these typical and atypical rites, as is differential selection of rites on the basis of age and biological sex. This evidence for within and between community funerary diversity has implications for understanding the large-scale processes of cultural and genomic transformation across this period of major transition in British prehistory

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Beaker · Bronze · Bronze Age · Chalcolithic · Diversity (politics · Geography · Grave goods · Period (music · Pottery · Prehistory · Radiocarbon dating · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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Unique citing works4
Citations per year0,8
Citation span2021 - 2026 (6)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 4
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