Scholars who will study the historiography of the European Neolithic, more particularly with regards to the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, will observe a progressive change in the core understanding of this period. For several decades the concept of 'culture' has been privileged and the adopted approach aimed to highlight the most significant markers likely to emphasise the character of a given culture and to stress its specificities, the foundations of its identity. In short, earlier research aimed primarily to highlight the differences between cultures by stressing the most distinctive features of each of them. The tendency was to differentiate, single out, and identify cultural boundaries. However, over the last few years this perspective has been universally challenged. Although regional originality and particularisms are still a focus of study, the research community is now interested in widely diffused markers, in medium-scale or large-scale circulation, and in interactions that make it possible to go beyond the traditional notion of 'archaeological culture'. The networks related to raw materials or finished products are currently leading us to re-think the history of Neolithic populations on a more general and more global scale. The aim is no longer to stress differences, but on the contrary to identify what links cultures together, what reaches beyond regionalism in order to try to uncover the underlying transcultural phenomena. From culturalism, we have moved on to its deconstruction. This is indeed a complete change in perspective. This new approach certainly owes a great deal to all kinds of methods, petrographic, metal, chemical and other analyses, combined with effective tools such as the GIS systems that provide a more accurate picture of the sources, exchanges or relays used by these groups. It is also true that behind the facts observed there are social organisations involving prospectors, extractors, craftsmen, distributors, sponsors, users, and recyclers. We therefore found it appropriate to organise a session on the theme 'Materials, productions, exchange networks and their impact on the societies of Neolithic Europe'. How is it possible to identify the circulation of materials or of finished objects in Neolithic Europe, as well as the social networks involved? Several approaches exist for the researcher, and the present volume provides some examples.

The Bell Beaker Culture in All its Forms contains the proceedings of the 22nd meeting of the 'Archeologie et Gobelets' Association which took place in Geneva, Switzerland in January 2021. The book is structured in three parts: Archaeological Material demonstrates how ceramics, lithics, wrist guards, and metal artifacts contribute to our understanding of the Bell Beaker Culture. Funerary Archaeology and Anthropology considers how the particular context of death and the human skeleton can be employed to gain information on Bell Beaker populations. The final section, Reconstructing Bell Beaker Society, builds upon archaeological evidence to discuss site interpretations as well as the wide-reaching topics of ritual, culture, and symbolism. With the publication of these proceedings, it is hoped that the conference interactions can facilitate future research and discussions on Bell Beaker societies and their roles within Neolithic Europe and beyond.

These thirteen papers, the preceedings of a conference held at the Cantonal Archaeological Museum in Sion, Switzerland, in 2001, examine the funerary rituals of late Neolithic and early Bronze Age Europe, focusing on the practices of the Beaker people. The extent of the Beaker phenomenon becomes clear in these archaeological papers which have a broad geographical range, examining burial sites in Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain and Ireland. Four papers in English, two in French, one in Italian and six in French; all have English and French abstracts.

Neolithic and Bronze Age Studies in Europe: from material culture to territories presents eight papers from the 2018 UISPP Congress. Topics include the neolithisation process in the Iberian Peninsula; faunal exploitation in early Neolithic Italy; the economic and symbolic role of animals in eastern Germany; Copper Age human remains in central Italy; animal figurines; spatula-idols; territories and schematic art in the Iberian Neolithic; and finally Bronze age hoards at a European scale. The diversity of the papers reflects contemporary approaches and questions in those periods.

The other ceramics found in Beaker burial contexts have the potential for telling us much about the true nature of the Beaker phenomenon. Particularly exciting is the prospect that an understanding of their context will indicate whether Beaker pottery is indicative of an invasion, or something more subtle. This exhaustive gazetteer describes over 100 French sites and establishes the distribution of different types of Beaker over France, and the different ceramic assemblages they are associated with. As a bibliographical survey, this work comes up against publications of a very uneven standard, but as a building block for future research this will be very useful.