Ulrike Sommer, "The Appropriation or the Destruction of Memory? Bell Beaker ‘Re-Use’ of Older Sites", in: Reinhard Bernbeck, Kerstin P. Hofmann and Ulrike Sommer (Eds.), Between Memory Sites and Memory Networks. New Archaeological and Historical Perspectives, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2017, 33–70

Abstract

In Western and West-Central Europe, it is common to find sherds of Bell-Beakers in the uppermost layers of megalithic monuments, sometimes accompanied by bones of a corresponding age. This ‘re-use’ is not restricted to burial-context. Henges and Stone circles cancontain so-called ‘coves’ from the Bell Beaker period. This points to a changed use of the structure. The most famous example is Stonehenge. I interpret this as a deliberate attempt by a new elite to erase power-mechanisms of previous generations. The effort put into these acts shows that these structures were perceived as a real threat to the new order. This casestudy illustrates the difficulty of distinguishing between different ways of using the past,between the use and the intended destruction of memories.

Published In

Reinhard Bernbeck, Kerstin P. Hofmann and Ulrike Sommer (Eds.), Between Memory Sites and Memory Networks. New Archaeological and Historical Perspectives, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2017