The Chalcolithic, the phase in prehistory when the important technical development of adding tin to copper to produce bronze had not yet taken place, is not a term generally used by British prehistorians and whether there is even a definable phase is debated. Is there a British Chalcolithic? brings together many leading authorities in 20 papers that address this question. Papers are grouped under several headings. Definitions, Issues and Debate considers whether appropriate criteria apply that define a distinctive period (c. 2450 - 2150 cal BC) in cultural, social, and temporal terms with particular emphasis on the role and status of metal artefacts and Beaker pottery. Continental Perspectives addresses various aspects of comparative regions of Europe where a Chalcolithic has been defined. Around Britain and Ireland presents a series of large-scale regional case studies where authors argue for and against the adoption of the term. The final section Economy, Landscapes and Monuments , looks at aspects of economy, land-use and burial tradition and provides a detailed consideration of the Stonehenge and Avebury landscapes during the period in question. The volume contains much detailed information on sites and artefacts, and comprehensive radiocarbon datasets that will be invaluable to scholars and students studying this enigmatic but pivotal episode of British Prehistory.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Contributors
• Abstract
• French Language Abstract
• German Language Abstract
• Acknowledgements
• Editors’ Preface.
• Foreword.
• 1. Case and Place for the British Chalcolithic
• 2. Drawing Boundaries and Building Models: investigating the concept of the ‘Chalcolithic frontier’ in north-west Europe
• 3. A Rumsfeld Reality Check: what we know, what we don’t know and what we don’t know we don’t know about the Chalcolithic in Britain and Ireland
• 4. Before 29Cu became Copper: tracing the recognition and invention of metalleity in Britain and Ireland during the 3rd millennium BC
• 5. The Importance of Being Insular: Britain and Ireland in their north-western European context during the 3rd millennium BC
• 6. Sense and Non-sense of the term ‘Chalcolithic’
• 7. Growth and Expansion: social, economic and ideological structures in the European Chalcolithic
• 8. Dutchmen on the Move? A discussion of the adoption of the Beaker package
• 9. Working Copper in the Chalcolithic: a long term perspective on the development of metallurgical knowledge in central Europe and the Carpathian Basin
• 10. Chronology, Corpses, Ceramics, Copper and Lithics
• 11. Is there a Scottish Chalcolithic?
• 12. A date with the Chalcolithic in Wales; a review of radiocarbon measurements for 2450–2100 cal BC
• 13. Searching for the Chalcolithic: continuity and change in the Irish Final Neolithic/Early Bronze Age
• 14. The Chalcolithic in Ireland: a chronological and cultural framework
• 15. The Beaker People Project: an interim report on the progress of the isotopic analysis of the organic skeletal material
• 16. The Regionality of Beakers and Bodies in the Chalcolithic of North-east Scotland
• 17. Stepping Out Together: men, women and their beakers in time and space
• 18. Chalcolithic Land-use, Animals and Economy – a Chronological Changing Point?
• 19. The Present Dead: the making of past and future landscapes in the British Chalcolithic
• 20. The Revenge of the Native: monuments, material culture, burial and other practices in the third quarter of the 3rd millennium BC in Wessex
• Index
• CD - 1. Case and Place for the British Chalcolithic
  • Appendix 1.1: Key Chalcolithic grave groups
  • Appendix 1.2: Selected radiocarbon dated ceremonial sites mentioned in the text
  • Bibliography for Appendices 1.1 and 1.2
• CD - 10. Chronology, Corpses, Ceramics, Copper and Lithics
  • Table 10.4 Radiocarbon measurements used in models and/or cited in the text, in laboratorynumber order
  • Figs 10.3a, 10.3b, 10.3c, 10.3d, 10.3e, 10.5b, 10.5c, 10.5d, 10.5e, 10.5f, 10.5g, 10.5h and 10.5i
  • Bibliography
• CD - 15. The Beaker People Project: an interim report on the progress of the isotopic analysis of the organic skeletal material
  • Table 15.1: List of individuals included in the Beaker People Project for isotope analysis
• CD - 16. The Regionality of Beakers and Bodies in the Chalcolithic of North-east Scotland
  • Appendix 16.2 (tables 16: Figures 16.9, 16.10, 16.11 and 16.12)
  • Bibliography
• CD - 17. Stepping Out Together: men, women and their beakers in time and space
  • Case studies
    • 1. Borrowstone Cists 1 & 2 (Figs 17.11 & 17.12)
    • 2. Borrowstone Cists 4, 5 & 6 (Fig. 17.13)
    • 3. Broomhend of Crichie cist 2 (Fig. 17.14)
    • 4. Broomhend of Crichie cist (Fig. 17.15)
    • Fig 17.16
    • 5. Garton Slack 163 (Fig. 17.17)
    • 6. Painsthorpe Wold 4 (Fig. 17.18)
    • 7. Huggate and Warter Wold 254 (Fig. 17.19)
    • Bibliography