West Kennet Long Barrow Beaker

Details

The original of this stunning beaker was discovered in a Neolithic barrow on a prominent chalk ridge near Silbury Hill, Wiltshire. 

The chamber where this Bronze Age beaker was discovered was classified by archaeologists as a chambered long barrow and contained the remains of at least 46 people. 

However, as the use of the chamber appears to have ended at the start of the Bronze Age, it is a bit of a mystery as to why a Bronze Age beaker might have been deposited in a Neolithic burial chamber.  

It is believed that the beaker might have been left as a tribute when the Beaker people of the Bronze Age filled the chamber and the passageway with soil and stones, which would have been more in line with their own burial rituals.  

One thing is for sure the Beaker is a particularly fine example and was clearly made with great care and attention.  

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'Pre-order' items are made to order, and we will dispatch them as soon as we have handcrafted them for you; this usually takes 90 days, but international orders can take a little longer.

 Context

Around 2500 BCE, Britain saw the first use of metal in the form of Gold and Copper, and alongside these new materials came pottery beakers. Often considered to mark the end of the Neolithic and the beginning of the Bronze Age, it was a time of great change, with some research studies claiming that a vast proportion of Britons were replaced by a wave of migrants from Europe. In terms of pottery, this change resulted in a bloom of creativity where potters showed off their skills by creating highly decorated pottery forms.  

Materials

Smoke fired Terracotta

Dimensions

Height 170 mm, diameter 180 mm

Production

As with all my Museum Quality Replicas, this pot has been made, as the original would have been, entirely by hand from natural clay and using replicas of the types of tools that the Bronze Age makers would have used.  In keeping with the original pot, the decoration has been applied using a hand-twisted cord made from natural bark fibres, in this case, Lime Bark Bast.

Firing

It has been fired to emulate the ancient firing conditions. The original pot would have been fired in an open wood fire, in close contact with the fuel, a process that leaves its mark on the clay as variations in the surface colour. However the very low temperatures achieved in open firings, also results in pots that are relatively weak, so this pot has been fired to a somewhat higher temperature to strengthen it, in a special firing process that allows me to achieve an authentic appearance to the pot.

Health & Safety

This is a Museum Quality Replica and is not intended for use as a drinking vessel, if you require replica pots for actual use with food of beverages, please ask before purchasing.

Postage

All items are sent using a second-class postal service; if you wish to have an item sent first-class, please contact us for a quote. Many Thanks