Abstract

The Beaker period in north-west Europe abounds with objects, burials, and monuments, but evidence of settlement and domestic life is often absent or less easily found. England is no exception. Despite the thousands of barrows with rich artefacts assemblages (eg, ‘Amesbury Archer’) and the numerous pits with non-domestic assemblages of placed items, evidence for houses and settlement are sparse despite the indication of increased agriculture and sedentism. This paper explores this problem on the chalklands of southern England which are rich in Beaker finds, and generally recognised as one of the best studied and well understood landscapes in Europe. From this study it is suggested that Beaker domestic sites are present, but are often in low-land positions on the chalk downs and have subsequently by buried by variable depths of hillwash, making them invisible to normal archaeological survey and reconnaissance.