Found a few kilometres from Stonehenge, the graves of the Amesbury Archer and the Boscombe Bowmen date to the 24th century BC and are two of the earliest Bell Beaker graves in Britain. The Boscombe Bowmen is a collective burial and the Amesbury Archer is a single burial but isotope analyses suggest that both were the graves of incomers to Wessex. The objects placed in both graves have strong continental connections and the metalworking tool found in the grave of the Amesbury Archer may explain why his mourners afforded him one of the most well-furnished burials yet found in Europe. This excavation report contains a series of wide-ranging studies and scientific analyses by an array of experts and a discussion of the graves within their British and continental European contexts.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Plates
• List of Tables
• Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Summary
• Foreign language summaries
• Résumé
• Résumen
• PART I
  • Chapter 1. Introduction
    • Discovery
    • Organisation of report
    • Chronology and terminology: ‘Beaker’ or ‘Bell Beaker’?
  • Chapter 2. Grave 25000: the Boscombe Bowmen
    • Discovery, by Bob Clarke, A.P. Fitzpatrick, Colin Kirby,
      • David Norcott, and R.H. Seager Smith
      • Features adjacent to the grave
      • Examination methods: grave 25000
      • The grave
      • Burials
      • Objects from the grave
    • Human remains, by Jacqueline I. McKinley
      • Methods
      • Results
    • Isotope studies, by J.A. Evans and C.A. Chenery
  • Chapter 3. Finds from the Grave of the Boscombe Bowmen
    • Flint, by Phil Harding
      • Objects found in grave 25000
      • Discussion
    • Pottery, by Alistair J. Barclay
      • Methods
      • Fabrics
      • Forms
      • Beakers
      • Organic residue analysis, by Lucija Š and Richard P. Evershed
    • Antler pendant
      • Discussion
    • Boar's tusk
    • Animal bone, by Jenny Bredenberg
• PART II
  • Chapter 4. Graves 1236 and 1289: the Amesbury Archer and ‘Companion’
    • Discovery
    • Grave 1236: the ‘Companion’
      • The grave
      • The burial
      • Objects from the grave
    • Grave 1289: the Amesbury Archer, by Niels Daglass, A.P. Fitzpatrick, and David Norcott
      • The grave
      • The burial
      • Objects from the grave
    • Human remains (graves 1236 and 1289), by Jacqueline I. McKinley
      • Results
      • Isotope analyses, by C.A. Chenery and J.A. Evans
  • Chapter 5. Finds from the grave of the Amesbury Archer
    • Flint, by Phil Harding
      • Finds recorded with the skeleton (1291)
      • Finds from the fill of the grave (1290)
      • Raw material
      • Technology
      • Arrowheads
      • Groups
      • Discussion
    • Bracers, by Fiona Roe
      • Description
      • Comparisons with British and Irish bracers
      • Comparison with continental bracers
      • Geological considerations
      • Archaeological considerations
      • Discussion
      • Conclusions
      • Geological analysis of the bracers, by Rob Ixer and Peter Webb
    • ‘Cushion’ stone, by Stuart Needham
      • Condition
      • Morphology
      • The ‘cusion’ stone and metalworking
      • Examination of the ‘cushion’ stone, by Mike Cowell and Andrew Middleton
    • Iron pyrite
    • Shale belt ring, by Alison Sheridan and Mary Davis
      • Discussion
    • Copper dagger and knives, by Stuart Needham
      • Copper dagger ON 6613
      • Copper knife ON 6598
      • Copper knife ON 6620
      • Discussion
      • Scientific examination and analysis of the copper dagger and knives, by Mike Cowell, Caroline Cartwright, and Susan La Niece
    • Gold basket-shaped ornaments from graves (Amesbury Archer) and 1236, by Stuart Needham
      • The Amesbury Archer
      • The ‘Companion's’ basket-shaped ornaments
      • Basket-shaped ornaments and primary Beaker goldwork
      • Examination and analysis of the gold ornaments and comparative primary Beaker goldwork, by Susan La Niece
    • Pottery, by Rosamund M.J. Cleal
      • Methods
      • ON 6590: All-Over-Comb Beaker
      • ON 6596: All-Over-Cord Beaker
      • ON 6597: Comb-decorated Beaker
      • ON 6609: All-Over-Cord (Plaited Cord) Beaker
      • ON 6610: All-Over-Cord (Plaited Cord) Beaker
      • Pot histories – ‘life’ before the grave
      • Discussion
      • Petrology of the Beakers, by David Williams
      • Organic residue analysis, by Anna J. Muckherjee, Richard P. Evershed, and Alex M. Gibson
    • Antler objects
      • Pin
      • Spatula, by Phil Harding
      • Other objects
    • Boars’ tusks, by A.P. Fitzpatrick, Stephanie Knight, and Pippa Smith
    • Oyster shell, by Sarah F. Wyles
• PART III
  • Chapter 6. Chronology and the Radiocarbon Dating Programme, by Alistair J Barclay and Peter Marshall, with T.F.G. Higham
    • Radiocarbon results and calibration
    • Results and models
    • Chronology of the burials and wider implications
  • Chapter 7. A Summary of the Strontium and Oxygen Isotope Evidence for the Origins of Bell Beaker Individuals found near Stonehenge, by C.A. Chenery and J.A. Evans
    • Background to isotopic analysis of human remains
    • Sample preparation
    • Oxygen isotope analysis
      • Silver phosphate method
      • Results
  • Chapter 8. The Local and European settings
    • The Bell Beaker Network
  • Chapter 9. Bell Beaker Mortuary Rites in Wessex
    • Bell Beaker burials
    • Bell Beaker barrows
    • Wooden chambers in graves
      • Barrows
      • Flat graves
      • The addition and removal of human remains
  • Chapter 10. The Journeys of the Boscombe Bowmen
    • Britain and Ireland
    • Continental Europe
    • Conclusions
  • Chapter 11. The Construction of Social Identities
    • Warrior status
    • Ascribed status
    • Bell Beaker metalworkers
      • Stone tools
      • Groups of stone tools
      • Boars’ tusks
    • Bell Beaker flintworkers?
      • Other crafts
    • The status of metalworkers
      • Überaustattung in Bell Beaker graves
  • Chapter 12. The Journeys of the Amesbury Archer and the ‘Companion’
    • The River Rhine or Rhône?
  • Chapter 13. Conclusions
    • To Ireland
    • To Scotland
• Bibliography
• Index