The Beaker People

[EternalOptimist]

All of these threads on wine and beer and stuff, reminded me of my history lessons in junior school. We were doing some stuff on pre-history and the teacher started going on about this massive culture(4,000 bc) about which very little was known. The people were known as 'the beaker people' because of the clay pots that identified them. The problem was this, the area they covered was immense, and they seemed to coexist with the indiginous population.

The main theory was that they were traders and their pots carried whatever it was they were trading, wheat or barley or whatever. I always thought they were probably trading ale, I mean, that would get you a welcome anywhere wouldn't it ?

[ratewhore]

You just made that up didn't you?

[TheBigD]

You just made that up didn't you?

Maybe not

[swamp]

I've heard of the the beaker people. There's a 'barrow' on Hampstead Heath which is rumoured to be Bodicea's grave, or something to do with the beaker people because it looks east. That's all I know.

[Svalbaard]

I've heard of the the beaker people. There's a 'barrow' on Hampstead Heath which is rumoured to be Bodicea's grave, or something to do with the beaker people because it looks east. That's all I know.

Unlikely to be anything to do with Boadiceas bunch seeing as they were giving the Romans an ill fated kicking as recently as about 50-100 AD.

But re the Beakers... no he's not making it up. Tony Robinson and his Time Team did an excavation and reconstructed some ancient Beaker skelingtons using modern forensic and reconstruction techniques and ended up theorising that the average Beaken man may have looked like this :

http://thetimetube.com/wp-content/up...yle_beaker.gif

[dang65]

I've heard of the the beaker people. There's a 'barrow' on Hampstead Heath which is rumoured to be Bodicea's grave, or something to do with the beaker people because it looks east. That's all I know.

Well, you've certainly piqued my curiosity. Maybe if everyone else on the forum posts everything they know about the beaker people as well then we can piece together the whole itriguing story.

[ratewhore]

Ah yes, the beaker people. Forerunners of the Tupperware Tribe...

[EternalOptimist]

Ah yes, the beaker people. Forerunners of the Tupperware Tribe...

you stole my tupperware joke.
you absolute turd.

[dang65]

Unlikely to be anything to do with Boadicea's bunch seeing as they were giving the Romans an ill fated kicking as recently as about 50-100 AD.

I think we're supposed to call her "Boudica" now. This is one of those devices they use to ensure that old people become stupid and senile more quickly. We got taught "Boadicea" in school, and "Brontosaurus" for a big, long-necked dinosaur and then they changed them to "Boudica" and "Apatosaurus" and teach those to young people. It's a sort of rebranding scam run buy academics.

[expat]

You just made that up didn't you?

No, he didn't. They did get all over Europe. Well, at least their beakers did: archaeology has been defined as the study of ancient peoples' rubbish. The alcohol connection sounds probable: early use of alcohol cut down on intestinal infection and was a great advance for a civilisation.