‘Seascapes’ sets out to investigate the origins and dynamics of the ‘Bell Beaker’ phenomenon (2700 – 2000 BCE) through a major programme of radiocarbon dating and spatio-temporal modelling.
The Bell Beaker phenomenon has long been recognised as a material expression of a major spread of people and practices across Europe and the Mediterranean during the 3rd millennium BCE. The influx of new people and cultural traits, combined with a boom in seaborne exchange, meant for the first time the western and central Mediterranean became integrated into a large maritime cultural area, foreshadowing the emergence of major Mediterranean civilizations in the next millennium.
The aim of this project is to investigate the origins and large-scale dynamics of early maritime connectivity in the Mediterranean. This is through conducting the first large-scale radiocarbon dating programme of Mediterranean Bell Beakers, and chrono-spatial modelling of the dynamics of the origins and spread of these emerging maritime networks during the 3rd millennium BCE, using newly generated and compiled chronological, cultural, dietary and environmental evidence.
This project is funded by the AHRC (UK) and FWF (Austria).
Researchers
Dr Lucy Cramp, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol
Professor Maria Ivanova-Bieg and Dr Eve Derenne, Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Alex Bayliss, Scientific Dating, Historic England
Professor Mark Thomas, Adrian Timpson and Dr Tom Davy, Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London
For further details, please see the Seascapes website.