What is Beaker culture?
[[File:Beaker culture.png|thumb|The brown areas show where the beaker culture was]] The '''Bell-Beaker culture''' (or '''Beaker culture''', '''Beaker people''' or '''Beaker folk''') is the name of a [[culture|cultural phenomenon]] which occurred in large parts of [[Western Europe]], roughly between 2800 BC and 2200 BC (in [[Great Britain]] until about 1900 BC). Today, it is unclear whether this can be seen as a culture. [[Paul Reinecke]] was the first to use the word ''Glockenbecher'' (bell-shaped cup) in German, around 1900.<ref>[[German language|German]]: '''Glockenbecherkultur''', ''Culture that used bell-shaped cups''</ref> Other [[historian]]s from [[Italy]] and [[Czechoslovakia]] had used similar terms before. [[Gordon Childe]] thought that the people were [[missionaries]], who also had the knowledge how to make [[copper]]. They spread from the [[Iberian peninsula]] on the ''edges'' of Europe with the oceans. The typical items linked to the movement were prestige items reserved to the upper class, according to [[Steven Shennan]]. [[Christian Strahm]] talk about a ''Glockenbecherphänomen'' (bell-shaped cup phenomenon), to avoid the word ''culture''. [[File:Beakerculture.jpg|thumb|typical objects found in graves of the Beaker culture]] People of the movement were buried in a special way: Often stone chests were used. In the western part of the culture, burials in [[megalith]]ic tombs and [[cave]]s are common - the [[burial]] rites are often adapted to local customs. People where buried in an [[embryo]]nic position: * Women had their head facing south, their feet facing north, extremities to the right * Men's heads faced north, feet south; extremities faced left. This means that both looked east, when buried. Today, little is known about the settlements used by the culture. The only places where settlements/remains of settlements that were done at approximately the same time were found is in [[Knowth]] in Ireland, and one in [[Switzerland]]. Another culture that might have influenced the Beaker culture