The Beaker People

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2024

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Beaker People were a Bronze Age culture that revolutionised prehistoric Britain. They were responsible for introducing Bronze Age technology into the British Isles for the first time, and also completely replaced the island’s earlier inhabitants. Identified by their distinctive style of pottery they quite literally changed the faced of British settlement and genetics forever. But how much do we know about them? And what archeological traces have they left behind?

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes talks to Dr. Alison Sheridan to learn the mysterious story of the 'Beaker People'. Alison explains what recent DNA research has revealed about the nature of their arrival into the British Isles and how significant an impact they had on Britain’s Bronze Age past.

This episode was produced by Joseph Knight and edited by Aidan Lonergan.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Namash Karam, my name is Meath. I'm a tour leader with Explore. Come, follow me for a breakfast, you will never forget.
0:07.0	Namaste!
0:08.0	Because you are going to make an incredible Masala Dosa under the watchful eye of my mom.
0:15.0	What about them?
0:16.0	Each home adds their special touches.
0:19.0	But not everyone gets to join in a traditional family meal.
0:22.0	You will, if you explore. Everyone gets to join in a traditional family meal.
0:22.5	You will, if you explore.
0:24.8	For global adventures, search explore.
0:26.9	UK and don't just travel, explore. The Beaker people. It's the name of a very mysterious prehistoric people who radically transformed the population of Britain some 4,000 years ago.
0:51.0	Arriving from the European continent, they brought their own style of distinctive
0:54.8	pottery, hence beaker people, and introduced Bronze Age technology and ideas to Britain.
1:00.7	It was the dawn of the Bronze Age.
1:03.0	So who exactly were these people?
1:05.0	What was the nature of their arrival into Britain?
1:07.0	Was it peaceful?
1:08.0	Was it violent?
1:09.0	And how did they transform both the Stone Age landscape and the population.
1:14.0	Well this is a topic that much ink has been spilled on for years.
1:17.7	So to explain what we know, I invited on to the show one of the topic's leading experts, Dr Allison Sheridan, who I've worked with in the past
1:25.6	for a documentary series on history hit, all about prehistoric Scotland.
1:30.4	It was great to catch up with Allison again and I really do hope you enjoy.
	...

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