The communities developed sedentary settlements in the early phases of the Bronze Age, leaving traces of their existence in the form of sites that still mark the landscape today.
In these groups, which exploited the land and local resources more intensively than their predecessors, socioeconomic differences became increasingly evident and were often passed down from one generation to the next.
The internal dynamics of these societies, some of which even developed quasi-state policies, disintegrated at the end of this period, and the material elements and organisational structures that had characterised them gradually disappeared.
Beaker pottery, developed in Central and Western Europe, even reaching North Africa, during the transition between Chalcolithic period and the Bronze Age. Beaker vessels are often richly decorated and highlighted using a white-coloured filler.
Although the majority of best preserved containers come from burials, bell beakers did not just have a funerary use. They were also used in banquets, to hold drinks and food.
A new style of pottery known as Bell-Beaker ware made its way into the heart of the Late Chalcolithic societies. Bell-Beaker pottery joined the potter’s local traditions and signalled the advent of major cultural changes, such as the end of collective burials.
Photos: Füsun Kavrakoğlu, National Archaeological Museum, Madrid, 2026.
Decorated beakers and hemispherical bowls, Early Bronze Age, Madrid, Almeria, Province of Palencia.
Beaker pottery was a trend that developed, with regional variations, all across Central and Western Europe and North Africa, and is associated with the emergence of social hierarchies throughout Europe.
For the first time we find evidence of individuals being singled out in society, whose prominent status in life was marked after death by the use of individualised tombs, often filled with a rich assortment of grave goods.
Individual burials, primarily male, proliferated all across Europe. In such graves this pottery was often accompanied by other symbols of prestige and rank, such as metal and flint weapons or ornaments of gold and ivory.
Decorated beakers and a plain bowl. Early Bronze Age, from a cave in Segovia.
Sources
- National Archaeological Museum, pp. 38.
- Beaker Vessels from Ciempozuelos, Eduardo Galan, National Archaeological Museum, pp. 30.
- Information panels of National Archaeological Museum, Madrid.
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