Bell-Beaker Folk For Monday Mystery...!

There are many things about our past we don't understand or really know anything about. This story from listverse is about one of them.

It seems to me that the more I study and research the past searching for answers, the more questions I end up having, ya know? Ever happen to you?

The Origins Of The Bell-Beaker Folk

Photo credit: Thomas Ihle

Although they sound like something to do with the Muppets, the Bell-Beaker folk were one of the most important cultures in ancient Europe. Wherever they turned up, copper weapons, bronze jewelry, advanced archery equipment, and their iconic drinking vessels would appear not long afterward. They were harbingers of the Bronze Age. In ancient Britain, they even redesigned Stonehenge. Yet we have no idea where they came from.

It’s like they just appeared out of thin air. Although we can trace aspects of their culture back through the ages, they tend to crop up in places where it doesn’t make any sense for them to be. This has led many to speculate that they were less a single culture than a cross-cultural phenomenon—kind of like if people in the future dig up iPhones in China and conclude US invaders brought them.

But that doesn’t explain why Beaker folk buried in Germany all have DNA similar to modern Spaniards and Portuguese. Where did they come from, and why did they suddenly decide to spread across Europe? We’ll probably never know

I'll never understand how an entire civilization can just show up and no amount of research can define where they came from. Almost makes you believe in alien visitors, doesn't it?

Coffee in the kitchen again this morning. Rain is here once more!