Historical model of settling and spread of the Bell Beaker culture in Mediterranean France

In book: Czebreszuk J. (Ed.) Similar but Different. Bell Beakers in Europe. — Leiden: Sidestone Press, 2014. — pp. 193-203. 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 wrer 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-provencal” like the „pyreneen” 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 „barbele” 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. This book deals with a cultural phenomenon, known as the Bell Beaker culture, that during the 3rd millennium B.C. was present throughout Western and Central Europe. This development played an important role in the formation of the Bronze Age at the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC.0This book consists of 10 chapters – in each a specific issue is discussed connected with Bell Beakers. The chapters are divided into three parts concerning consecutively: general problems, issues of the so-called common ware and the character of the Bell Beakers in particular places in Europe. The reader can become acquainted with interpretations of the whole phenomenon, based on inter-regional similarities – the works of H. Case, M. Vander Linden, L. Salanova, and R. Furestier. The second part consist of the chapters by Ch. Strahm, M. Besse and V. Leonini that focus on the matter of the so-called common ware: some ceramic vessels, which are not part of the ‘beaker set’, but accompany it in many regions. That is one of the Bell Beakers’ analytical problems, which is still argued about. The three last chapters show the specific features of some regional centers, where Bell Beakers developed, the attention was focused on the Bell Beakers’ localities’. These are the works of A Gibson (Britain), O. Lemercier (Mediterranean France) and L. Sarti (central Italy) The book "Similar but Different. Bell Beakers in Europe" deals with a cultural phenomenon, known as the Bell Beaker culture, that during the 3rd millennium B.C. was present throughout Western and Central Europe. This development played an important role in the formation of the Bronze Age at the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC.