Graves and Funerary Rituals during the late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age in Europe (2700 - 2000 BC)

One of the most interesting and intriguing of the cultural complexes is that of the Bell Beaker Complex, particularly in the light of its wide geographic extent and its incorporation within a great variety of cultural sub-groups. During the third millennium before our era, the inhabitants of Europe adopted a different style of ceramic vase. There would be nothing exceptional in this change of ceramic style during recent prehistoric times, were it not for the fact that it is to be found across the whole of Europe as well as in North Africa. It is this aspect which makes it such a particular cultural complex, as had previously been that of the Corded Ware. The only common ceramic objects are the beakers with an S profile, decorated with alternating bands of decoration, made by applying the impression with a shell, a comb or a fish bone. Many archaeologists have studied the subject, whilst others are still doing so, undertaking type studies within a region, thematic analyses of a single element or taking a technological approach. The publication of the papers coming out of the meetings of the Archéologie et gobelets Association are usually published in the BAR (British Archaeological reports) international series, since the publishing delays are relatively short and their international distribution facilitates their accessibility to researchers. The 2001 meeting in Sion was in two parts; one made up of scientific meetings organised at the Cantonal Archaeological Museum and the other made up of visits to archaeological sites and museum collections. If we are able to publish the acts in this volume, the visits can only live on in our memories.