Sobre la función y el significado de la Cerámica Campaniforme a la luz de los análisis de contenidos

Abstract

Traditionally, Bell Beakers have been thought to contain alcoholic beverages which were consumed in the course of male feasting ceremonies. Recent residue analyses have shed some light on the question of their function. However, whilst beer and mead have been identified from certain examples, not all Beakers were drinking cups. Some were used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores, others have some organic residues associated with food, and still others were employed as funerary urns. Yet, while the evidence points to a diversity of uses, it is argued that an ideological connection can be observed. Beakers were probably a special form of pottery with a ritual character, related to activities that imply some kind of transformation.