Beaker (archaeology)

For other uses, seeBeaker (disambiguation).

Inarchaeology, abeaker is a small round ceramic or metalcup, a drinking vessel shaped to be held in the hands. It has no handle or spout, and generally no spreading foot (base).

9-10th century beaker fromIran. Blown and relief-cut glass. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Term

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“Typical”bell-beakers at Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Berlin.

Archaeologists identify several different types including theinverted-bell beaker, thebutt beaker, theclaw beaker, and therough-cast beaker.

When used alone “beaker” usually refers to the typical form of pottery cups calledinverted-bell beakers associated with the EuropeanBell Beaker culture of the lateNeolithic and earlyBronze Age.

Bell beakers

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Theinverted-bell beaker orbell-beaker was first defined as a find-type byLord Abercromby in the early twentieth century and comes in three distinct forms, the (typical)bell beaker, and the rarer short-necked beaker, and long-necked beaker. There are many variations on these basic types, with inter-grades between them. Bell-beakers have been found from North Africa to southern Scotland and from Portugal to the far east of Europe, but are particularly common in theRhine valley and the coasts of theNorth Sea.

Typical bell-beaker from Atting, now at Gäubodenmuseum Straubing, Bavaria.
Short-neck bell-beaker from cova de la Recambra, now at Museu Arqueològic de Gandia.
Long-neck bell-beaker, at Steinsburgmuseum.

“Typical” bell beakers appear to be the earliest type and are often covered with decoration made from impressing twisted cord into the unfired clay. When the decoration covers the whole vessel they are known asall-over corded (AOC) beakers. Where comb designs are used, perhaps along with cord impressions they are calledall-over ornamented (AOO) beakers. Some have a looped handle on one side or a white coloured material pressed into the decoration, contrasting with the usual orange or brown ceramic.

The traditional archeological interpretation is that the original, typical bell-beaker shape was replaced by the short-necked form, which in turn was replaced by long-necked bell-beakers. However, work by Humphrey Case^{[citation needed]} in the 1990s suggests that all three styles were used contemporaneously, with different shapes used for different purposes.