Bell Beaker people in Britain: migration, mobility and diet

Parker Pearson, Mike; Chamberlain, Andrew; Jay, Mandy; Richards, Mike; Sheridan, Alison; Curtis, Neil; Evans, Jane; Gibson, Alex; Hutchison, Margaret; Mahoney, Patrick; Marshall, Peter; Montgomery, Janet; Needham, Stuart; O’Mahoney, Sandra; Pellegrini, Maura; Wilkin, Neil

doi:10.15184/aqy.2016.72

Bell Beaker people in Britain: migration, mobility and diet

Parker Pearson, Mike; Chamberlain, Andrew; Jay, Mandy; Richards, Mike; Sheridan, Alison; Curtis, Neil; Evans, Jane; Gibson, Alex; Hutchison, Margaret; Mahoney, Patrick; Marshall, Peter; Montgomery, Janet; Needham, Stuart; O’Mahoney, Sandra; Pellegrini, Maura; Wilkin, Neil

Authors

Mike Parker Pearson

Andrew Chamberlain

Mandy Jay

Mike Richards

Alison Sheridan

Neil Curtis

Jane Evans

Alex Gibson

Margaret Hutchison

Patrick Mahoney

Peter Marshall

Professor Janet Montgomery janet.montgomery@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Stuart Needham

Sandra O’Mahoney

Maura Pellegrini

Neil Wilkin

Abstract

The appearance of the distinctive ‘Beaker package’ marks an important horizon in British prehistory, but was it associated with immigrants to Britain or with indigenous converts? Analysis of the skeletal remains of 264 individuals from the British Chalcolithic–Early Bronze Age is revealing new information about the diet, migration and mobility of those buried with Beaker pottery and related material. Results indicate a considerable degree of mobility between childhood and death, but mostly within Britain rather than from Europe. Both migration and emulation appear to have had an important role in the adoption and spread of the Beaker package.

Citation

Parker Pearson, M., Chamberlain, A., Jay, M., Richards, M., Sheridan, A., Curtis, N., …Wilkin, N. (2016). Bell Beaker people in Britain: migration, mobility and diet. Antiquity, 90(351), 620-637. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.72

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jun 30, 2015
Online Publication Date	May 17, 2016
Publication Date	Jun 1, 2016
Deposit Date	Dec 2, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Dec 7, 2015
Journal	Antiquity
Print ISSN	0003-598X
Electronic ISSN	1745-1744
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	90
Issue	351
Pages	620-637
DOI	https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.72

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Copyright Statement
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 This paper has been published in a revised form, subsequent to editorial input by Cambridge University Press, in 'Antiquity' (90: 351 (2016) 620-637) http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=AQY