Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Historical model of settling and spread of Bell Beakers Culture in the mediterranean France

  1. #1
    Veteran Member The Lawspeaker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Last Online
    11-05-2023 @ 04:45 AM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Celto-Germanic
    Ethnicity
    Dutch
    Ancestry
    Brabant, Holland, Guelders and some Hainaut.
    Country
    Netherlands
    Politics
    Norway Deal-NEXIT, Dutch Realm Atlanticist, Habsburg Legitimist
    Religion
    Sedevacantist
    Relationship Status
    Engaged
    Age
    36
    Gender
    Posts
    70,133
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 34,728
    Given: 61,129

    0 Not allowed!

    Default Historical model of settling and spread of Bell Beakers Culture in the mediterranean France

    © 2004

    Summary
    Here we present some elements of reflexion which are developped in a PhD thesis taken during March 2002 in Aix-en-Provence (Lemercier, 2002). This work concerned all the bell-beaker elements present in more than 300 sites in the South East of France wherein almost 1200 pots were discovered.This study permitted to confirm the existence of 4 stylistics assemblages and most of the chronology based upon the decorated ceramics that J. Guilaine proposed. The analysis of these assemblages, both in their context of dicovery and their location, allows to set a new interpretation of the settling and development of the bell-beaker culture in the mediterranean France and to question the nature of the phenomenon itself. The first bell-beaker settling, that match with the geometric dotted style, can be regarded as counters established along the mediterranean shore, the mouths of the main rivers and the rivers themselves.In these sites, the artifacts immediately appear mixed with elements of local cultures, nevertheless these settlements present particular geography and topography which make them unic among the local settlements. Their origin must be located in the south western area (iberic peninsula, maybe atlantic coast). Standardized pots are spread from these sites towards the inland populations. This first diffusion goes beyond the South East of France, following the Rhone river. The development of a regional stylistic group, called « rhodano-provençal » like the « pyrénéen » group, squares with a phase of acculturation of the local population under iberic influence. As this acculturation goes, new elements from the north east area appear, showing that the south east area has become a relay in an important road for communication and exchanges. The apparition of the « barbelé » style may be the result of the arrival of new people from Italy in the country. (at work). Both artifacts and sites data show that Bell Beaker culture should be considered, buring this first phase of apparition in the maditerranean and atlantic Europe, not as a simple diffusion of a fashion, a rite or even of objects, but as a cultural spread with its phases of exploration, settling and acculturation of the local populations. From the iberic origin (Portugal ?) of this first phenomenon to its spread until the far eastern parts of Europe, great lines of communication appear ; they will permit numerous multipolar exchanges of ideas, artifacts and populations.

    Framework and context of the study
    The South of France is one of the richest regions concerning Bell Beakers. We present a brief synthesis of it, under the direction of J. Guilaine, during the Congress of Riva del Garda (Guilaine et al. 2002). Since this day, the realisation of a PhD thesis concerning a large part of the South of France, the south-east corner, has permitted us to precise several aspects and to make new assumptions (Lemercier 2002). We have been able to record more than 300 sites in this area (Fig. 1), where almost 1200 Bell Beaker decorated vases were found.
    At the same time, the presence of easily identifiable distinct styles, whose definition is based on decorative patterns, the existence of closed sets, the large part of domestic sites, and an increasing knowledge of the chrono-cultural context shall enable us to propose a spatial and temporal scheme of appearance and development of the Bell Beakers in this area and, furthermore, to draw informations about the origin and the nature of the phenomenon itself, as we expected at the beginning of this work (lemercier 1998).



    Fig. 1 : Bell Beaker settlements and burials in the South-East of France (O. Lemercier)


    1. The reports
    1.1 The Bell Beaker styles in the south-east of France
    The decorated ceramics of Style 1 (corded, linear spotted, international and mixed decorations) are present not as entire dish sets but as few standardised items (beakers) which fit into the criteria defined by L. Salanova (SALANOVA 2000). They are not associated with a specific domestic ceramic and, most of time, they appear in the local contexts of the Final Neolithic, such as settlements and graves. We still do not know where they were produced, as we are waiting for more abundant analysis. The raw material they were made of may be from this area, but the way they were realised squares with specific technical traditions. The « new » items associated with this style are scarce and of metallic ware. Last important fact : the ceramics that belong to style 1 appear also among assemblages where style 2 prevails.

    The ceramics of style 2 (geometric spotted decorations “pointillé géométrique”) show a variety of decorative patterns, with few atlantic standard, and numerous morphologies, marked by the abundance of low shapes. A fine undecorated but specific ceramic is present. Few sites provide the ceramics of style 2, they are essentially located in the left bank of the low Rhône valley. There, these pots are associated with remains that can be linked to the local Fontbouisse and Rhône-Ouvèze groups. The domestic ceramic belongs to the local tradition, Rhône-Ouvèze or Fontbouisse, but some Bell Beaker characteristics can be distinguished. We can observe some transfers of techniques between the Bell Beaker productions, locally made, and the Rhône-Ouvèze ones, even some cases of stylistic mixity among the decorated ceramics. There are other elements that can be considered as specific, such as metallic items, jewels and, maybe, a lithic tool-kit. The sites often have a particular topography. Some houses were discovered and the whole domestic and agro-pastoral activities were recognised. There are few graves, all collective and most of time located in caves.

    The ceramics of style 3 (incised, incised-and-stamped and complex spotted decorations of the « rhodano-provençal » group defined by J. Courtin (COURTIN 1967, 1974) show many morphologies, the low shapes being very important. The decorations are very diverse too. We can observe some decorations imitating the barbed wire pattern. These decorated potteries are associated with many undecorated ceramics, among them a specific domestic ware ; together they constitute the entire vessel kit. Many types of jewels and metallic items and the lithic industry are specifics for Bell Beaker. These assemblages are present in a lot of sites in the entire area of study. In most of this region the sites are homogeneous and no association with elements of local styles can be observed. Nevertheless, in the “département” of the Gard and in some sites along the Rhône there are artifacts of the Fontbouisse tradition associated with Bell Beakers. Concerning the sites of the style 3, the types of settling and architectures vary from a district to another. All the activities are present, some sites may even have been complementary. The graves are abundant and various, but still the dolmens and the caves were more often used.
    The decorated ceramics of style 4 (incised decorations and barbed wire pattern) are marked at the same time by the Bell Beaker tradition and specificities concerning the morphologies and the technique of decoration itself. They are associated with a domestic ceramic and specific elements such as scarce bronze items. The contexts are almost homogeneous, but we often discover some vases of style 4 associated with rhodano-provençal assemblages or in rhodano-provençal sites. Among the various kinds of settlings, the sites in the heights are the more abundant. Sometimes they are associated with enclosures that may be regarded as fortifications. There are less sites than for the other styles and we do not find them all around the area of study, as we are used to do with the rhodano-provençal Bell Beakers. The graves are mostly collective deposits in caves, but there are some individual ones.

    1.2 A domestic Bell Beaker : a Bell Beaker culture
    Another important observation concerning these assemblages is the obvious domestic characteristic of the Bell Beakers in the south-east of France.
    Both the number and the quota of the habitations among the recorded sites is very important. Even if all the non-funeral sites cannot be considered as strictly domestic sites, they represent more than two thirds of the recorded sites, contrary to what is known for the other areas.
    Thus we can assume that the Bell Beaker culture is not a funeral phenomenon, even if there are Bell Beaker elements in the graves, in almost a hundred graves (Lemercier et al. to be published).
    Moreover, the domestic sites where Bell Beaker elements are found can be specific or pure, namely free from any element of the local final Neolithic.
    In these sites, whose domestic architecture must be regarded as culturally invested as in the local groups of the final Neolithic, all the activities of handcraft (pottery, tool-kit making …) and subsistence (agriculture or at least grain stocking, rearing and hunting) are present.
    Finally, the Bell Beaker is a « normal » material culture.
    All these remarks are valid for the sets of styles 2, 3 and 4. The style 1, that includes some elements of the standard, cannot be considered as a material culture in the general sense, but as a « facing » in the assemblages of the local final Neolithic.



    Fig. 2 : Chronology of the fourth and third millenium BC archaeological groups in the South-East mediterranean France (O. Lemercier)


    1.3 Bell Beakers and local cultures
    The relationships between the Bell Beaker and the local cultures of the final Neolithic are recognised in certain assemblages, at least for the styles 1 and 2 and in few cases for style 3. For all those cases in the south-east of France, the local cultures are the Fontbouisse group and mostly the Rhône-Ouvèze group in Provence, which is the result of the main influence of the Fontbouisse group over the local Couronnien group.
    Contrary to what we once thought during this study, no association between Couronnien and Bell Beaker elements could be proved or considered as valid.
    As we have described yet, there are two types of associations. Either it is a simple « facing » the presence of standardised Bell Beaker vases (style 1) among complete and specific assemblages of local groups, either a mixed set which even presents technical shifts and cases of stylistic mixity (style 2).
    In fact, one could think that the Bell Beaker culture did not appear in a world totally with no population (Fig. 2).
    With the Bell Beaker phenomenon, we are lucky we can observe the different phases of a main change in the material culture, what we cannot do for the other transitional phases of the Neolithic.


    2. Implications and interpretations
    2.1 The chronological articulation of the styles
    The general succession of the two main styles is obvious :
    A first set is composed by elements linked to the styles widely spread in Europe (styles 1 and 2). They are associated with elements of the local cultures of the final Neolithic. The second set consists of the specific regional elements of the rhodano-provençal group and the barbed wire group, which are generally independent.

    Within these sets the succession of the different styles is difficult to establish. The analysis of the contexts of discovery and the associations of remains does not enable us to determinate if, in this area, the style 1, with elements of the standard, is anterior to the style 2, with geometric spotted decorations. Analysing the styles 3 and 4 in the same way, we find out they are, in part at least, contemporary. The barbed wire style is the only one whose dates constitute an actual chronological phase during the Bell Beaker phenomenon.


    Fig. 3 : Historical Model of settling and sread of Bell Beakers phenomenon and culture in the South-East of France (O. Lemercier)

    2.2. The origin of the Bell Beaker elements present in the south-east of France
    Here we question ourselves about the origins of the Bell Beaker elements, about the constitution of the different assemblages : is it the result of a local evolution or of some distinct inflows ?
    If we look for elements of comparison out of the area of study, we find (Fig. 3) :


    1. For the early phase (style 1 and 2) : the presence of identical elements in western Languedoc and beyond, the Iberic Peninsula until the atlantic coast. The style 2 (spotted geometric decorations) present a particular repartition that follows the mediterranean coastway and concentrates at the mouths of the rivers and along them, but avoids the inlands, contrary to certain isolated elements of style 1.
    2. For the rhodano-provençal Bell Beakers : once more we turn west towards the Pyrénéen group and the iberic groups for comparisons. At the same time, the presence of northern elements can be assumed, but it must have been a secondary influence.
    3. I have not made further researches for the barbed wire group. The subject is studied nowadays in several specific ways (Vital et al. 1999 ; Lemercier to be published). Still, we can remark that the origin of these elements may be partly Bell Beaker. However, some morphological features remind us the Bell Beakers of central Italy, but the decorative patterns look like elements from north eastern Italy and Slovenia, yet their precise chronological place is to be established.


    Whereas the potential geographical origins of the different elements remain imprecise, we can conclude there were several inflows, both successive and from distinct origins. Among these inflows the Iberic Peninsula plays a great role, as the western Languedoc.

    2.3 A spatial and temporal scheme and its interpretation
    We still find it difficult to date the apparition of the Bell Beaker culture in the south-east of France, though there is an hypothetical date : the middle of the third millennium B.C. Its origins is western, we could not discover any actual characteristic from the northern areas. The Rhône axis is important , but only for south-north direction at first.
    Two hypothesises can be proposed :
    The first hypothesis is the chronological succession of the styles1 and 2. The vases of the standard would fit into a very little important first spread, some contacts preceding the settling of actual sites where we can find items of style 2 (geometric spotted decorations).
    This would square with the scheme proposed by J. Guilaine (GUILAINE 1967, 1976). Yet another hypothesis, a functional one, would propose a strict synchronism of the styles 1 and 2, which was observed in some sites.
    With this point of view, the isolated vases of style 1 would be the result of the diffusion of standardised beakers from the settling of the styles 1 and 2 towards the inlands. This diffusion would have produced « counters », established close to the indigenous people, along the routes of communication. This hypothesis seems to be the most satisfying one to explain the assemblages we can observe.
    The diffusion of the geometric spotted style is concentrated in the Mediterranean coast, in the mouths of the rivers and along the main rivers, but it continues beyond the south-east of France, following the Rhône (Fig. 4).



    Fig. 4 : Historical Model of settling and sread of Bell Beakers phenomenon and culture in the South-East of France (O. Lemercier)

    The second hypothesis concerns the development of the rhodano-provençal Bell Beaker : it would be the result of the acculturation of the local cultures. The possible comparisons show that repeated contacts must unite the south-east of France and the Iberic Peninsula during this period. As some elements show the influence of northern and eastern areas, the south-east of France seems to have become a kind of relay on an important route of communication and exchange which spread goes beyond this region towards north. At this time, Bell Beakers reach the borders of the area and may displace all the local cultures.
    For the barbed wire group, the frequency of the reoccupation of the rhodano-provençal settlements and the presence of imitation of the barbed wire pattern in assemblages of the style 3 indicate a phase of partial synchrony. However, the dates show that the barbed wire group is to be distinguished of the Bell Beaker culture and continues after the change of millennium.


    Synthesis and interrogation
    In this area, the Bell Beaker phenomenon is constituted by a succession of historical events, it is neither a fashion or a simple diffusion of objects and their use. The analysis of the remains and the sites has shown that human groups actually moved. The distribution of the sites and their nature itself recall the protohistoric models proposed for the Greek settling in the same area. These models can be summed up like this : explorations, contacts, settlings, diffusions and acculturation/assimilation.
    If this model squares perfectly with the archaeological of the South of France, it may be not valid for the areas close to the Iberic Peninsula, the atlantic coast and the lands along the Rhône. Yet, the ways the populations reacted to these contacts and settlings may have been different and may have generated various situations.
    Within the South of France there are important differences from a district to another, for example the group of Fontbouisse seems to have strongly resisted in the eastern Languedoc, where the Bell Beakers arrives later than in Provence.
    Nevertheless, one of the most important facts is the opening of main routes of communication and exchange through Europe, across the mediterranean South of France and the Rhône valley and beyond the Alps, that created the conditions for the development of the Bronze Age. From this point of view, the development of the barbed wire group in the South of France, with its probable italic origin, remains anecdotal. At the same time, a new movement from the east and the north going through the Rhône valley marks the actual appearance of the early Bronze Age.

    Whatever the application of these ideas on the archaeological data, the questions they provoke are abundant and important.
    Where is the actual origin of the Bell Beakers we can trace until the Iberic Peninsula (confirmed by radiocarbon dating) ? And above all, why did this expansion follow two directions : along the Atlantic coast and the northern Mediterranean coast ? The situation in Portugal in the middle of the third millennium, with the exacerbation of the characteristics of the final Neolithic (extreme density of sites, fortifications and building of monuments, social and individual markers) may constitute the only one answer to these two questions.
    Finally, these few remarks do not suffice to explain the function and the appeal of the Bell Beakers towards the local populations from the Bell Beaker settlings, sometimes far in the inlands. This diffusion must have a sense that the quality of making and decoration of these vases, or their novelty, does not permit to justify and make us think of an ideological dimension (Strahm 1997).




    Wake up and smell the coffee.


  2. #2
    Senior Member Kadu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    11-19-2014 @ 09:30 PM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Romance
    Ethnicity
    Portuguese
    Ancestry
    Gallaecia
    Country
    Portugal
    Gender
    Posts
    872
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 45
    Given: 4

    0 Not allowed!

    Default

    Nice article!
    It finally aknowledges the fact that the Bell Beaker culture is a cluster of cultures who shared the same type of pottery but with different origins.
    It's clearly not only an offshoot of the Corded Ware culture.

  3. #3
    Junior Member Crimson Guard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Last Online
    01-16-2010 @ 01:17 PM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Italic
    Ethnicity
    Siciliano-American
    Ancestry
    Sicily, the largest Island in the Mediterranean Sea.
    Country
    United States
    Taxonomy
    Alpine-Mediterranean
    Religion
    Roman Catholic
    Gender
    Posts
    81
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 3
    Given: 0

    0 Not allowed!

    Default

    Was an interesting piece from "Sicily Before History: An Archaeological Survey from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age" by Robert Leighton

    "The Beaker connection"



    There is stronger evidence for westward contacts in the mid-3rd millennium BC, Sicilian beakers mark the southerneastern limit in distribution of these distinctive vessels, which are widespread in northern and central Europe, Iberia and north-central Italy between about 2800 and 2000 BC. They first appear in LCA Malpasso-San Ippolito contexts, as in the Chiusazza cave, perhaps just before 2500 BC, although many of the old finds are not closely dated. More recent discovers show coexistence with local painted wares of the Naro style and with an EBA Castelleccio phase, at Manfria for example, probably prior to 2000 BC.

    The distributions of Sicilian beakers is conspicuously biased towards northwestern zones, although further research in eastern areas might yet modify the imbalance. Nevertheless, this distribution, encompassing the Tyrrhenian(but rarely the Adriatic)side of Italy, Sardinia, the Belearics and the Mediterranean shores of France, Spain and Morocco. It has often been supposed that Sicilian beakers serive from Spanish types, although there is no sure evidence that they represent actual imports, and since North Italian finds have multiplied in recent years and a central European origin for the form now seems likely. It could be that the beakers spread across the southern Mediterranean through local contacts between neighboring regions, but the lack of comparative material in northeastern Sicily, Calabria or Tunisia, if not merely due to lack of research, argues for more direct long-range maritime links. Typological comparisons are of limited help view of the wide diffusion of different types, but there are associated elements in Sicily , including footed bowels, also found in southern Cagliari and Palermo regions.

    Whether beakers imply movements of people, trade or even more diluted forms of indirect contact, is an old problem. In northern Italy,where beaker assemblages, including coarse pottery( the begleitkeramik), are sometimes distinguishable from indigenous contexts, the case for a population influx has been strengthened. Further south, there are concentration of beakers in metal rich areas, such as southern Sardinia or Tuscany, which has encouraged the idea of trade directed at areas endowed with valuable raw materials. There are no such obvious resources in western Sicily, although the putative crucible from Villafrati hints at a link between beakers and metal-working Sicily. It is noteworthy too that Sicilian beakers occur as single elements in local assemblages. Their shape and decoration was sometimes copied in a local idiom and influenced the zonal painted patterns of Naro and Partanna wares and local incised ware(of Moarda style). Some fine painted beakers are undoubtedly local products. If the vessel itself was adopted as a prestigious item, connection with fashionable diffusion of an alcoholic drink(perhaps a kind of fruity hydromel), as is sometimes maintained, then its appearance in Sicily couldn be seen as a result of long-distance trade that also included prestigious materials, such as jade-ite axes, amber and metal goods.

    However, the arrival of settlers cannot be ruled out, nor would it be incompatible with trading contacts. The association of beakers with Belice tombs, which have Sardinia counterparts, is one possible indication of a population influx. A further dimension to the question, through inconclusive, is represented by skeletal remains. Studies of the cephalic index(lenght-breath ratio) of skuls suggest that, prior to this time, dolicocephalic(long-headed)types were typical in Sicily. Individuals buried in the Chiusilla and Villafrati caves were primarily dolicocephalic, but also accompanied by Brachycephalics(rounded) forms in Late Copper Age, while the sample from a tomb at Stretto, associated with Naro ware, shows that brachycephalic forms were predominant(70%). These rather small and roughly dated Copper Age samples also include many variants or hybrid forms. A similar patter occurs in Sardinia, suggesting that both islands had a population of somewhat variable physical types at this time. On average, they were probably slightly shorter than their continental counterparts. However no scientific consensus regarding the significance of brachycephalization, which sometimes thought to result from changes in lifestyle or stress. Although some authorities believe that a link with migratory movements is possible, it cannot at present be associated automatically wot te arrival of 'Beaker folk'/

    Among 20 or so skulls found in a Copper Age rock-cut tomb at Stretto was one of a brachycephalic adult male who had a large bone disc(9.2 x 7.5cm) removed from the right parietal zone. This is the first evidence from Sicily for trepanation, performed in this case on a living individual, who had survived for about a year afterwards. The cutting was probably achieved over several hours or possibly stages over several days by a practiced hand, who must have known how to stem an abundant flow of blood and avoid damaging the brain-covering membrane(dura mater), which would have quickly led to death. Whatever the reasons for trepanning-often surmised to have been a cure for tumors, headaches, insanity, or some aspect of a cult-it occurred sporadically throughout Europe and in Italy from the middle Neolithic until the Bronze Age, although it was more common during the 3rd millennium BC in western Mediterranean regions, especially in Sardinia.

    Here's the skull:


Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •