Background to Dutch Beakers. A critical review of the Dutch model

In book: Fokkens H., Nicolis F. (eds). Background to Beakers. Inquiries into regional cultural backgrounds of the Bell Beaker complex. — Leiden: Sidestone Press, 2012. — pp. 9-35. For the last 35 years the Dutch Model has dominated the discussions about origin of the Bell Beaker. Since there appeared to have been a continuous development of Single Grave Beakers into Bell Beakers, and since settlements with Bell Beakers were present in the Netherlands, the Rhine-Meuse delta is seen as one of the regions where the Bell Beaker developed. In this paper the Dutch model is critically analysed against the background of older regional traditions of the Vlaardingen Culture and the Single Grave Culture. Especially settlement contexts are brought forward as important areas of new research. The settlement data do in fact not support the Dutch Model, and it is argumented that the 14 C-evidence for the model is absent as well. One of the conclusions is that in order to understand the Beaker phenomenon better, we should stop focussing on typology and burial data. In stead I propose a programme of looking into the regional backgrounds in which Beakers were first adopted, and in the way this transformed those regional traditions. Background to Beakers is the result of an inspiring session at the yearly conference of European Association of Archaeologists in The Hague in September 2010. The conference brought together thirteen speakers on the subject Beakers in Transition. Together we explored the background to the Bell Beaker complex in different regions, departing from the idea that migration is not the comprehensive solution to the adoption of Bell Beakers. Therefore we asked the participants to discuss how in their region Beakers were incorporated in existing cultural complexes, as one of the manners to understand the processes of innovation that were undoubtedly part of the Beaker complex. In this book eight of the speakers have contributed papers, resulting in a diverse and interesting approach to Beakers. We can see how scholars in Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Poland, Switzerland, France, Morocco even, struggle with the same problems, but have different solutions everywhere. The book reads as an inspiration for new approaches and for a discussion of cultural backgrounds instead of searching for the oldest Beaker. The authors are all established scholars in the field of Bronze Age research. Of the editors Harry Fokkens is a professor of European Prehistory at Leiden University and well known for his research in the Low Countries and in a broader European context. He published several books on settlement research, amongst others Bronze Age settlements in the Low Countries (Oxbow 2008, with S. Arnoldussen). Franco Nicolis is the Director of the Heritage Office of the autonomous Province of Trento and published many articles and books on Bell Beakers. He was the organiser of the conference Bell Beakers today (Riva del Garda 1998) and published a two volume book on the conference (2001). Background to Beakers is the result of an inspiring session at the yearly conference of European Association of Archaeologists in The Hague in September 2010. The conference brought together thirteen speakers on the subject Beakers in Transition. Together we explored the background to the Bell beaker complex in different regions, departing from the idea that migration is not the comprehensive solution to the adoption of bell Beakers. Therefore we asked the participants to discuss how in their region Beakers were incorporated in existing cultural complexes, as one of the manners to understand the processes of innovation that were undoubtedly part of the Beaker complex. In this book eight of the speakers have contributed papers, resulting in a diverse and interesting approach to Beakers. We can see how scholars in Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Poland, Switzerland, France, Morocco even, struggle with the same problems, but have different solutions everywhere. The book reads as an inspiration for new approaches and for a discussion of cultural backgrounds in stead of searching for the oldest Beaker. The authors are all established scholars in the field of Bronze Age research. Background To Dutch Beakers : A Critical Review Of The Dutch Model / Harry Fokkens -- No Longer North Of The Beakers : Modeling An Interpretative Platform For Third Millennium Fransformations In Norway / Christopher Prescot -- Exploring Agency Behid The Beaker Phenomenon : The Navigotaor's Tale / Robert Van De Noort -- The End Of The Neolithic In Western Switzerland : Peopling Dynamics Through Nonmetric Dental Study / Jocelyne Desideri, Martine Piguet, Robin Furestier, Florence Cattin, And Marie Besse -- The Beaker Transition In Mediterranean France / Olivier Lemercier -- Bell Beakers And The Cultural Milieu Of North European Plain / Janusz Czebreszuk And Marzena Szmyt -- The Bell Beaker Phenomenon : Meanings Of Regional Transmission / Katarzyna Mikołajczak And Radosław Szczodrowski -- Origin Of The Bell Beaker Phenomenon : The Moroccan Connection / Jan Turek. Edited By Harry Fokkens & Franco Nicolis. Papers Originally Presented At A Session Of The September 2010 Yearly Conference Of The European Association Of Archaeologists Held In The Hague. Includes Bibliographical References.