Beakers appear in Britain in about 2500BC, at the same time as the earliest metal objects. They had already been around for several 100 years on the continent. The last beakers date to about 1800 BC.

How did beakers get to Britain?

Early scholars thought that they were brought by invaders, but the first beakers probably arrived as a result of trading with people from the Netherlands. Then they were copied by people in Britain. The earliest beakers were special items and are only found in graves or ritual contexts, but soon they are found on domestic sites.

Who made the beakers?

Thin-sections of beaker pottery have shown that they are made of clay local to the sites on which they were found. When beakers were first studied, it was thought possible to date them by the decoration on them. But C 14 dates from a series of sites have shown that the different types of decoration occur throughout the Beaker period (the early Bronze Age). Perhaps the decoration was passed down through the family.

Bronze Age beaker from Okus Quarry, Wiltshire (AN1955.126)

Bronze Age beaker from Northamptonshire (AN1927.625)

How were beakers made?

Like all prehistoric pottery in Britain they were built up in a series of clay rings, each one carefully scraped up and joined to the next. Beaker clay had stones added to it, or broken-up old pots (grog), so that the pots did not explode when they were fired. This was probably in a bonfire with lots of air, as beakers are red in colour (in a closed kiln they would turn black).

What were beakers for?

The most probable use was as mugs for drinking from. Other pots, very similar to the ones made before in the Neolithic period, were used for cooking and storage (eg for food and clothes). Archaeologists have excavated beakers that contained meadowsweet pollen. This plant is still used to flavour beer and mead (an alcoholic drink made with honey), so the pots may have been put in the grave filled with alcohol for the dead person.

Decoration on Beakers

Beakers have all-over-decoration, or designs in panels. These are always geometric patterns, in lines. Sometimes the panels are outlined by incised lines.

Comb impression - made by pressing a toothed comb into the dried pot, using a wooden, stone or antler comb. Both square and round-toothed combs are known. The comb gave a short line of dots; a longer line could be made by using the comb again and again. Some beakers are combed all over. Single holes could also be made using a bone or wooden point.

Cord impression - using a twisted cord. Impressions vary from blurred (?woollen thread) to sharp (?sinew). Sometimes the cord was wrapped around itself (whipped cord) or around a sharp flint (barbed wire impression).

Finger nail decoration - the nail was pressed once into the wet clay to make a halfmoon or twice to make a leaf shape. Sometimes this was used to make a herringbone design.

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