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proved by similarities between the chemical structure of the malachite and that of the settlement's copper products and slag.

Physical Features

The settlement is located on the high bank of the river at a deep section. Two periods of construction have been revealed. Built during the initial construction project, the primary fortress during Sintashta times had a round layout. The defensive walls were built of vertically sunken large pine logs. Circling the fortress was a ditch 4.5 m wide and 3 m deep. The houses were trapezoidal in form adjoining to the wall, forming the inside an unbroken ring. The entrance is accessible from the central square. In each dwelling is a hearth and signs of metal smelting and manufacturing (Vinogradov 1995: 17).

In the Petrovka epoch, the settlement was reorganized. It was a fortress covering an area of 2 ha, and was rectangular with rounded corners. The defensive wall consisted of adjoining timbers, supplemented by the soil. The houses were rectangular, around 160 sq m, sunken into the ground 0.4 m, with timber frame walls. Each dwelling has round stone hearths with signs of metal smelting and wells, which could serve for the smelting of metal (Grigor'ev 1994, 1995).

Cultural Aspects

The fundamental occupation of the settlement was animal husbandry. Sacrificial offerings have been revealed: heads and legs of largeand small-horned cattle, horses, and burials of dogs, bones on the hearths. More than 1,200 copper objects were found and were connected with the metallurgy. There are no signs of social stratification or specialization of crafts. All of the southern Ural region was a metal smelting zone from which copper was exported to the Don and Volga regions (Grigor'ev 1994:18).

In the Ust'ie settlement's ideology, importance was placed on ritual sacrifice of children and animals, which were buried at the entrance of the stone dwelling (Vinogradov 1995:18), and a cult of the dead. The burial ground at Solnze II consists of 20 earth burial mounds, typical with a 12-16-m diameter, and a height of 0.4-0.5 m, and two large mounds 30 m in diameter

Andronovo 21

and I m in height, with altar on an embankment. In the center are one to two large rectangular pits, faced and covered with wood, above which fires were conducted. In the pits or under them lay skulls and legs of bulls, sometimes two chariot's horses, or dog (Epimakhov 1996). The body accompanied the inventory. Pots, made of clay with a tinge of shell, often on cloth patterns. Flat-bottomed biconical vessels entirely ornamented with herring-bone in combination with triangles, rhombuses, pyramids, rounded bulges. Stone and bone arrowheads are found, frequently along with complex bows, copper awls and hooks, puttees of lash, objects of metallurgical production: nozzles, lumps of copper, slags, and abrasives. In two graves are supply chariots, for which wheels have been excavated the gutters. Metallurgy and war chariots played a large role in Sintashta society, and chariot-warrior was sometimes a metallurgist. But social stratification and the emergency of a warrior elite still were not combined with property stratification.

References

Epimahov. A. V. (1996). "Kurgannyi mogil"nik Solntse II-Nekropol' ukreplennogo poseleniia Usfe epokhi srednei bronzy" ["Cemetery solnze II-Necropolis of the Fortified Settlement Ust'e in the Bronze Age"]. Materialy po arkheologii i etnografii Juzhnogo Urala [Material on Archeology and Ethnography in the Southern Ural Region].

22-42.

Grigoryev, S. A. (1994). "Drevniaia metallurgiia Juzhnogo Urala:

Aftoreferat dissertatsiC' ["Ancient Metallurgy in the Southern Ural Region. Independent Study Dissertation"]. Moscow.

Grigoryev, S. A. (1995). "Metallurgicheskoe proizvodstvo epokhi bronzy Juzhnogo Zaural'ia" ["Metallurgical Production of the Bronze Age in South Transuralia"]. Rossiia i Vostok 2 Russia and the East: 122~126.

Vinogradov, N. B. (1995). "Khronologiia, soderzhanie, i kul'turnaia prinadlezhnosf pamiatnikov sintashtinskogo tipa bronzovogo veka v Juzhnom Zaural'e" ["Chronology, Subsistence and Culture Affiliated with the Sintashta Type Monuments of the Bronze Age in Southern Transuralia"]. Istoricheskie nauki: Vestnik Cheliabinskogo pedagogicheskogo instituta ["Institute of Science. Bulletin of the Cheliabinsk Pedagogical Institute"] 17~25.

ELENA KUZMINA

Institute for Cultural Research

Moscow

Russia

Aurignacian

ABSOLUTE TIME PERIOD: c. 40,000-25,000 B.P.

RELATIVE TIME PERIOD: Follows the Mousterian tradition and precedes the Perigordian tradition.

LOCATION: Europe.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: The Aurignacian peo-

ples are the first modern humans in Europe. In addition to their anatomical differences from the earlier Neandertal (Mousterian) peoples, the Aurignacians brought with them a distinct stone tool technology based on the use of blades struck from blade cores. They also produced some of the first, and still among the most impressive, works of art.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

The Aurignacian peoples lived in a period between glacial maxima as ice sheets were retreating and grasslands and forests were expanding in Europe. The climate was generally colder and drier than that found in Europe today, although during the middle of the tradition there developed a period of comparatively warmer and wetter conditions. The environment was dominated by grasslands and pine forests. In some areas, birch and oak

forests were present. These environments supported a rich array of large Pleistocene mammals, from cave bear and lion to mammoth and wooly rhinocerous, with the grasslands supporting vast herds of more familiar animals such as the horse, bison, and antelope.

Settlements

The Aurignacians were seminomadic peoples who apparently wandered through a distinct territory exploiting seasonally abundant resources. Some Aurignacian groups appear to have followed herds of Pleistocene animals, while others moved considerably shorter distances on their seasonal rounds. Settlements for all Aurignacian peoples were short term and ephemeral. The most obvious settlements, archaeologically, are those that took place in caves or rockshel- ters-Iocations which were reoccupied seasonally for many years. These caves and rockshelters also provided natural housing for their occupants. Elsewhere, small circular huts covered with brush or a skin tent provided basic shelter. Most were occupied by small groups ofless than 20 or 30 people, probably reflecting an extended family. However, there are some sites where it appears that larger numbers, perhaps even hundreds, of people gathered. Whether these were seasonal gatherings for trade, ritual, or to exploit particular abundant resources is not clear, although all may have taken place.

Economy

The Aurignacian peoples were hunters of Pleistocene big game. In forested areas, deer and boar seem preferred species, while reindeer and horse seem to have been preferred in grasslands. It has been argued that most individual groups or bands came to focus on a particular animal species or range species, such as reindeer, horse, or mammoth, depending on the group's location.

Stone, bone, and wood were all used for tools. Stone tools were made using blades struck from prepared cores. Among the most common tools are scrapers and retouched blades. Bone was used for awls, needles, and for unique "split-base" projectile points. Wood was used for spear shafts and spear throwers (as was bone and antler), among other items.

The Aurignacian peoples used shell and bone to create personal ornaments such as beads and pendants. Some of these items (shell, for example) were apparently traded fairly broadly, as specific types of raw material are found long distances from their sources. While it is possible that Aurignacian groups traveled widely to distant sources of desired raw materials, it is more likely that trade moved these materials among Aurignacian groups.

Sociopolitical Organization

Little is known about Aurignacian sociopolitical organization. Engraved antler batons have been interpreted as markers of authority or office, but whether such an interpretation is accurate is unknown. Most communities were small, were likely based on an extended family, and were probably acephalous. However, the larger communities noted above, which likely formed for trade or ritual, may have had positions of leadership associated with them; that is, positions that existed only as long as people were gathered together. Even in these cases, however, it is most likely that authority was achieved through age and ability, and was not ascribed to particular people or groups.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Most Aurignacian art is small and portable, for example, small animal figurines. Others are incorporated into tools, such as spear throwers. Another group of items, however, are abstract, and have been the focus of considerable discussion. The most famous, an engraved bone plaque from the Blanchard rock shelter, has been interpreted as being a lunar calendar, and other examples of counting or calendrical items have also been found. The meaning of these works of art is, of course,

Aurignacian 23

open to speculation. Animal figures may have been totems for kinship groups or have represented animal spirits. Similarly, human figures may have represented spirits or gods. Some works or art may have been used to tell a story or have been used for instruction, while others may simply reflect pure artistic expression.

The Aurignacians buried their dead in graves, often accompanied by tools, ornaments, and other items, suggesting a belief in the afterlife. The possible association of animal and human figurines with spirits also suggests a rich set of supernatural beliefs, which we can only vaguely perceive through their expressive culture. It has been argued that the major themes ofAurignacian art all reflect cycles of life-birth and death, the phases of the moon, the menstrual cycle-through which the Aurignacians both marked time and patterned their existence.

Suggested Readings

Bailey, Geoff (Ed.), (1983). Hunter-Gatherer Economy in Prehistoric Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Collins, Desmond, and John Onians (1978). "The Origins of Art." Art History I: 1-25.

Dickson, D. Bruce (1990). The Dawn of Belief Tuscon: University of Arizona Press.

Gamble, Clive (1986). The Paleolithic Settlement of Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hahn, Joachim (1972). "Aurignacian Signs, Pendants and Art Objects in Central and Eastern Europe." World Archaeology 3: 252-266.

Hahn, Joachim (1977). Aurignacien: Das Altere Jungpalaolithikum in MittelundOsteropa. Cologne: Bohlau, Fundamenta Reihe A, Band 9.

Klein, Richard (1973). Ice Age Hunters of the Ukraine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Knecht, Heidi, Anne Pike-Tay, and Randall White (Eds.), (1993).

Before Lascaux: The Complex Record of the Early Upper Paleolithic.

Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Marshack, Alexander (1972). The Roots of Civilization. New York: McGraw-Hili.

Mellars, Paul (1994). "The Upper Paleolithic Revolution," Oxford Illustrated Prehistory of Europe ed. Barry Cunliffe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 42-78.

Soffer, Olga (1985). The Upper Paleolithic of the Central Russian Plain.

New York: Academic Press.

Sonneville-Bordes, Denise de (1973). "The Upper Paleolithic, ca.

33,000-10,000 B.C." France Before the Romans, ed. Piggot, Stuart, Glyn Daniel, and Charles McBurney. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Press,

30-60.

Strauss, Lawrence G. (1990). "The Early Upper Paleolithic of Southwest Europe." The Emergence of Modern Humans: An Archaeological Perspective, ed. Mellars, Paul. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 276--302.

PETER N. PEREGRINE

Department of Anthropology

Lawrence University

Appleton, Wisconsin

United States

RELATIVE TIME PERIOD:

ABSOLUTE TIME PERIOD:

Bell Beaker

c. 4500-3600 B.P.

Chalcolithic and, in some areas, until the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.

LOCATION: The Bell Beaker has a widespread distribution in central and western Europe. This type of vessel, and the different objects that are usually associated to it, can be found from Denmark, southern Scandinavia and the British Isles to the southern Iberian Peninsula; and from the Atlantic coast to Hungary, Italy, and Sicily. And we can also find a certain number of sites in northern Africa where there is a presence of Bell Beaker: in the Atlantic coast of Morocco and in the coastal region of the Rif mountains. Despite this large area of influence, the Bell Beaker presence is not uniform or regular: There are defined areas of influence in this large area.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: The Bell Beaker is a

characteristic type of beaker with a form eminiscent of an inverted bell. It is usually finely decorated with horizontal bands made with incised, impressed, or excised techniques, and it is usually ornamented all over. The vessels are excellently made, well finished, and thoroughly fired to a red-brown or reddish color. Associated with the Bell Beaker is a group of objects called the Bell Beaker "package" or "set." Among these objects there are tanged copper daggers, ornaments of

sheet gold, tanged flint arrowheads, V-perforated buttons, wristbands to protect the archers' forearms, and ornaments such as bracelets in the shape of a half-moon.

REGIONAL SUBTRADITION: The differences in decoration have allowed us to suggest a theory of chronological evolution. The early Bell Beakers have a so-called International style and form a group in which can be found cord-decorated beakers (for example, the "All Over Corded" beakers) as well as beakers pertaining to the "Maritime" style (decorated with bands filled with impressions made with a comb or a cord). These early Bell Beakers can be found in all the areas where there is a presence of Bell Beakers.

After the International style came the Regional styles. Each region has its own style of decoration and uses its own techniques of impression, incision, and excision. Some of these Regional styles are the Veluwe type, in the Netherlands; the Pyrinaean style, in Southeast France and Northeast Spain; and the Salomo, Ciempozuelos, and Palmela styles, in the Iberian peninsula. In recent years, some authors have suggested the existence of a new complex, the rhodano-rhenan complex, with an area of influence from the middle Rhine to the French Midi. The Bell Beakers of the rhodanorhenan complex do not have a particular decoration, but they differ from the other Bell Beakers in the sense that they are usually found together with a group of "complementary" vessels that have a domestic use and

that are umque and characteristic of the rhodanorhenan communities.

IMPORTANT SITES: Embusco and Camp de Laure (France); Los Millares and Fuente Olmedo (Spain); Zambujal and Vilanova de Sao Pedro (Portugal); New Grange (Ireland); Querciola (Italy); Molenaarsgraaf (The Netherlands); SchafsHid (Germany); Brandvsek (Bohemia); Le Petit Chasseur (Switzerland); Avebury and Stonehenge (Great Britain); and Bingia eMonti (Sardinia).

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

Climate. The communities associated with the Bell Beaker emerged during the Subboreal, a climatic period of the years 5000-2700 B.P. During this period, particularly during its first half, the climate became warmer (the average temperature increased 1-20 C) and drier compared with the previous period (Atlantic period, 8000-5000 B.P.). In general, vegetation changed: The population of oak trees decreased, and the population of beech trees and fir trees increased. In the Mediterranean area, there was an increase in the number of holm oak woods, which became a progressive substitute for the oak woods, and there was a clear extension of the pine trees. It is suggested that the population of holm oak trees increased in part because of the deforestation and manipulation of nature in a historical period during which human communities began to work intensively on nature in order to obtain the best conditions to develop their agricultural and cattle-raising techniques.

In the Atlantic area, where there was a small decrease in the population of beech trees, a significant and continual process of deforestation and farming changed the landscape. During the Subboreal period, the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines had moved backward; that is why some coastal settlements were covered by the seawaters in the late Subboreal period and in the Atlantic period, when the sea level increased agam.

Settlements

Settlement System. It seems that the population of the areas of influence of the Bell Beaker was mainly dispersed. The settlements are single or isolated, or, at most, there are concentrations of 10 to 20 domestic units. This type of settlement may allow its inhabitants to move with a certain frequency. We do not know the

Bell Beaker 25

exact periods of movement, but we think they have a clear relation to short productive cycles. This itinerancy may depend on crop and pasture rotation, as well as on the need to find the necessary raw materials for industrial activities. But nevertheless, in some sites, the archaeological entries are so numerous that we have to talk of major (even fortified) settlements. Some examples are Los Millares (Southeast Spain), Vilanova de Sao Pedro (Portugal), Camp de Laure (France), and Mount Pleasant (Great Britain). These settlements cover up to a few hectares and are usually found in easily defensible areas, such as hills or river spurs. The fortified settlements had a hierarchical system of population with an area of influence more or less extensive.

Community Organization. The communities associated with the Bell Beaker lived first and foremost in highly fertile soils, although they also exploited previously marginal lands, as well as lands suitable for intense farming activity.

Production Organization. Only in the central parts of some settlements, such as Los Millares (Spain), Zambujal and Rotula (Portugal), have objects related to copper working been found: mineral remains, copper drops, and finished objects. And it is in these central parts of the settlements that the Bell Beakers are found. The fact that the metallurgical and ceramic industries were placed together leads us to the conclusion that it is in the central parts of the settlements where the individuals of higher social status lived and worked the available raw materials.

Housing. There is usually one room per house, where individuals prepared and ate food and slept. The houses are usually oval or rectangular and are 2-20 m long and 1.5-7 m wide. There may have been posts to support the roof, and the walls and the roof may have been made of vegetal elements and/or of adobe. There were few architectural remains, only a hearth, which is used to light the room and for cooking. We do not know much of the Bell Beaker houses, but it seems that there are no particular architectural differences between the houses of the wealthier and higher social status individuals and the houses of the rest of the individuals. In major settlements with defensive structures, the houses were oval or circular, with stone floors and vegetal and mud walls, and again there is no evidence of internal division of space. The defensive structures of these settlements were large stone walls, sometimes reinforced with bastions and towers. In a few reported cases, there is evidence of the existence of a wooden palisade.

26Bell Beaker

Population, Health, and Disease. The Bell Beaker communities developed in a period of demographic growth, as we can deduce from the numerous sites of this period, the fact that the Bell Beaker communities moved to and exploited previously marginal lands, and the fact that in some areas there was a more permanent and nuclear type of settlement. But there are some differences depending on the different areas of study. In the areas where there was a dispersed type of settlement, the number of inhabitants per settlement was not very high (one or two families). On the other hand, in the areas where there are remains of fortified settlements, the number of inhabitants may be higher. For example, Los Millares (Spain) may have had between 1,000 and 1,500 inhabitants, considering the surface of the settlement and the minimum number of individuals necessary to benefit from the fortifications.

Despite all the studies of Bell Beaker communities, there are some basic demographic elements that remain unknown, such as size and structure of the local populations, nutritional patterns, health, mortality rates, and age groupings. The population studies (or paleoanthropological studies) have traditionally focused on contrasting or refuting, with the help of biometrics, one of the most famous hypotheses of the spreading of the Bell Beaker, which considers the Bell Beaker to be the most characteristic element of a particular group of people or "folk." For a long time it was confidently believed that there was a group of people native to central Europe, physically unique, and responsible for the creation and diffusion of the Bell Beaker pottery. Early work suggested that the men in particular were above average height and more robust than usual, and their skulls were brachycephalic, instead of doliocephalic like the skulls of most of the European local populations. But the characterization of the "Bell Beaker Folk" was through partial studies of groups of people too small to be regarded as representative populations. Recent studies suggest that the different skull shapes are not genetic, but a consequence of the diet changes caused by the climatic and cultural and social changes of this period.

Economy

Subsistence. The subsistence production in the Bell Beaker communities was based on a mixed economy: The cereal-producing agriculture was more intense than in the previous periods, and there was an increase in two types of farming: the use of animal force and the use of animal-derived products (leather, wool, milk). In the Mediterranean area, transhumance was very important,

but in other areas, such as Central Europe, Great Britain, and the Southeast of the Iberian peninsula, production was based on intensive agriculture, thanks to the generalization of some innovations such as the plow, the carts drawn by animals, and a primitive system of irrigation. In Great Britain, for example, there is evidence of the division of land into plots and of the use of fertilizers.

Wild Foods. Part of the diet of the Bell Beaker communities consisted of wild plants and animals. However, the effects of the extensive deforestation made by these communities were soon evident: The landscape was progressively becoming more open and, as a consequence, hunters had to go further to hunt wild animals. There was a decrease in the consumption of wild ungulate animals and a parallel increase of the consumption of domestic herbivores. But we have enough evidence to say that part of the meat diet consisted in wild animals (deer, goats, wild boars, hares, rabbits, aurochs, beavers, bears). It is suggested that between 10 and 20 percent of the meat diet consisted of wild animals. Plants were also an important source for them: some fruits, as well as esparto grass, vines, olive trees. Finally, because of the location of most of the remaining sites, we must assume the consumption of fish and mollusk (freshand saltwaters).

Domestic Foods. Agriculture was more intense than before, and there was an increase in the exploitation of different types of wheat (hard wheat or Triticum durum; Triticum compactum), barley (pearl barley) leguminous plants, and other plants (oats, flax). There was also an increase in the exploitation of domestic animals (first and foremost oxen, sheep, goats, and pigs). The most important domestic animal was the ox, because of (1) the number of proteins it provided to the general diet,

(2) because of its derivatives (leather, milk), and (3) because of its strength (to drive carts and pull plows). It seems that the pig became progressively more important. And there is evidence of the use of other animals, such as dogs and horses. But some authors wonder if horses were always domestic or not. In some areas, like Hungary, horses were an important source of meat, whereas in other areas, such as England, they were a great help in farm work and the transport of objects.

Industrial Arts. The technology of the Bell Beaker communities is usually quite simple. It seems that everybody knew all the crafts. The utensils are manufactured in each house for domestic use. There are some industrial activities, such as working copper and stone, which probably were only mastered by a few individuals.

Utensils. Among the most frequent utensils were:

(1) ceramic vessels, decorated Bell Beakers as well as undecorated vessels. The most recent studies of different areas of Europe show that, in general, all the vessels were locally produced and fired with simple techniques, for example, with open fires. (2) Flint tools are usually made with local stones. There have been found common tools such as scrapers, burins, awls, sheets, different types of flint arrowheads; and uncommon tools, which in some areas represent up to 40 percent of all the lithic material that has been found. Among these uncommon tools are denticulate tools, tools with irregular shapes, and small pieces of bones. (3) Polished axes made of hard stones. In some areas, these axes may have been exchanged in regional circulation networks. (4) Grinding tools made of metamorphic rocks or of sedimentary rocks, depending on the local availability. (5) Metal objects, usually made of arsenical copper. The most frequent metal objects are weapons (different types of arrowheads, including the famous Palmela arrowheads) and ornaments (bracelets, pins).

Ornaments. In this period, there is a great variety of ornaments (different shapes and different raw materials). The necklaces are made with pieces of different shapes (discoid, cylindrical), and there are different types of V- perforated buttons. All these ornaments are made of such different materials such as bones, ivory, hard and soft rocks, lignite, amber. There have even been found, in the Southeast Iberian peninsula, necklaces made of ostrich eggs. The ornaments are normally found in the tombs, and it is suggested that they were part of the wedding trousseau or of the clothes of the dead person.

Trade. The trade and circulation of objects and/or ideas have traditionally been two of the most favorite reasons among experts to explain the widespread Bell Beakers and their associated objects. The archaeological data suggest that during the 3rd millennium there occurred dramatic changes in the circulation networks. The new networks connected territories that had never been in contact before, and, therefore, new ideas and objects began to circulate. There is evidence of these new circulation networks in the fact that we find, in some areas, objects and materials that must have come from far away, because they are not characteristic of these particular areas. They are naturally scarce materials (gold), materials that are found only in very limited areas (obsidian), and exotic materials (ivory from Africa and amber from the Baltic). There is also evidence that there was a modernization of manufacturing techniques and that these techniques were very similar in all areas;

Bell Beaker 27

the proof is some modern tools, such as tools made of metals, and the Bell Beakers themselves, particularly the most ancient ones. All these data prove that the numerous characteristics that the different Bell Beaker communities have in common can be explained only by the existence of an intense commercial activity.

From a functionalist point of view, it is suggested that the circulation networks changed and became wider because the elite demanded some goods of prestige, with a special preference for the exotic goods, to reinforce their status. So the Bell Beakers and their associated products can be understood as symbols of prestige. The goods of prestige may have been exchanged through social rituals such as weddings, initiation ceremonies, and funerals or may have been part of a more complex exchange system, which would have been essential to communicate with other elite. It is suggested that, together with these goods of prestige, through the same ways, circulated other goods (metals, salt, foods, and other essential raw materials) and that these goods were also reserved for the most powerful men, their families, and some proteges. Metallic objects were very important in these commercial networks. Indeed, in western Europe, the Bell Beaker complex began together with the general spread of copper and gold as raw materials in the areas where they were previously unknown or little used. The Palmela arrowheads are an evident example of the importance of some metallic objects, because they were widespread: from South Portugal, where they come from, to the rest of the Iberian peninsula and to South France and even to the French region of Bretagne. However, some recent analytic studies are beginning to prove that some objects that are traditionally seen as essentials in terms of the circulation networks, as, for example, the early Bell Beakers, were locally produced and only a very small percentage circulated and always within limited areas of, at the most, a few dozens of kilometers long.

Division of Labor. The only activity that may have been done by specialists is the production of metallic objects. Despite the fact that we know that in some areas it was a local activity that demanded little specialized knowledge, in other areas the quantity and quality of metallic objects suggest that they were made by specialists, who would spend part of their time producing metallic objects. But there is evidence that there were other specialized activities, because in some burials they have been found trousseaus with so perfectly manufactured objects (lithic industry, tools for fishing) that we think that they must have been made by experts. However, it is not clear if these experts were individuals with a special flair for manual work or if they were individuals

28Bell Beaker

in charge of a particular activity, in a system based on the division of labor.

Differential Access or Control of Resources. Some elements suggest that during the Bell Beaker period there was a concentration of wealth in some privileged individuals, who obtained a high social status, along with their families too, thanks to their control of resources. Some of the elements that suggest this process are the introduction, in some areas, of individual burials, numerous differences between the remaining grave goods, and the fact that there are some fortified settlements. However, this process was not global because although in some areas there is enough evidence, in other areas it is not clear if this process ever occurred.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. The analysis of the different types of settlements, of the funerary rituals, and of the wide variety of material elements associated with the Bell Beaker cultures suggests that the groups that manufactured and used the Bell Beaker were organized in very different ways in different areas. They were organized as

(1)groups with a clear division of ranks, where there would be an elite that would have exclusive rights; (2) groups with no division of ranks, where all the individuals had the same access to resources and goods. In general terms, because of the small size of the Bell Beaker communities, it is suggested that exogamy would be a frequent option that would make it easier to create cooperation ties that would become essential in periods of scarcity of resources and that would facilitate the creation of circulation networks.

Political Organization. It seems that, at least in some areas, there was a significant increase of social disparity and, as a consequence, an increase in the number of communities with a stratified social structure and the beginning of leadership. However, in other areas, it seems that tribal structures remained, but it is possible that they were hierarchical in some way. There were different types of hierarchies, with different levels of division of work, but nowadays we cannot be sure of the exact level of division of labor.

Conflict. Despite the fact that the architecture of the Bell Beaker communities suggests a low number of conflicts, we cannot make generalizations. The fortified settlements built in easily defensible areas suggest that, at least in some areas, there were a significant number of conflicts. To understand the strength of the conflicts, we

have to find out what was the real size of the defensive buildings. The defensive buildings are usually composed of one or more walls made of stone or wooden palisades and, sometimes, with towers, bastions, or small forts. And the existence of burials with a high number of objects that seem military objects suggests that some groups were clan-structured military communities.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Ceremonies. In general terms, with the exception of the burials, we do not know if there were ritual or ceremonial centers associated with the Bell Beaker materials. But in Great Britain there are indeed remains of Bell Beaker pottery in many of the 900 cromlechs that archaeologists have discovered by now (such as: Old Keig, in Scotland; and Lough Gur, in Ireland). In the large ceremonial centers of Avebury and Stonehenge (Wessex), there is archaeological evidence that the Bell Beaker communities were very important in the building and modification of these centers. But we should also remember that, in these areas, there was a continuity in the ceremonies of the communities preceding the Bell Beaker. There are not enough ritual objects to make a proper theory about the ritual ceremonies of the Bell Beaker communities. Only in a few areas of Europe, such as Switzerland, North Italy, and the Iberian peninsula, have been found anthropomorphic objects (anthropomorphic stelae, eye idols) that seem to be related to the symbolic rituals of these communities, although we cannot still specify more details.

Death and Afterlife. Most of our information about the ideology of the Bell Beaker communities comes from graves and funerary rites. The common funerary rite of the Bell Beaker communities is the single burial. The most frequent rite is the inhumation of the body in a crouched position and in a single burial in a grave pit beneath a low barrow. The position of men was different from the position of women: Men were buried with their heads facing north and their bodies lying on their left side; and women with their heads facing south and their bodies lying on their right side; the bodies of both men and women faced east. The grave goods were also different depending on sex. And in some cases, it seems that the occupations of the buried individual were reflected in the grave goods. The funerary rites of the Bell Beaker communities were classified in central Europe in a very strict way, but, in the rest of Europe, there is more variability. For example, in Great Britain and in Ireland, the influence of the Bell Beaker rituals was mostly reflected in an increase in the number of single burials, as

an innovation from previous funerary rituals. But in these areas, the burials do not follow a uniform pattern in terms of the orientation of bodies, and there is a higher variability in the shape of graves (besides the typical single burial in a grave pit beneath a low barrow, there are wells, stone cists). In many cases, the burials do not have a trousseau. In Southeast France as well as in the Iberian peninsula, although there were single burials, the most common burial of the Bell Beaker communities was based on the reuse of previously built or previously used funerary structures: megalithic sepulchers and near caves. In the case of the burials in old sepulchers, it is very difficult to define which objects pertain to which individual and in which position the bodies were buried.