Corded Ware (culture) is one of the pan-European archaeological phenomena that emerged at the end of the Neolithic and beginning of the Bronze Age. Due to its geographic extent, it has been studied in many European countries. Several prominent twentieth-century archaeologists, such as V. Gordon Childe, were fascinated by the large spatial extent of this supposedly uniform material culture and associated burial rite, and offered various explanations. In the context of Corded Ware research, hypotheses of large-scale migrations of warlike pastoralists, or diffusions of ideologies and technologies, were so influential that they remain unchallenged even in the relatively recent literature. Only recently have these interpretations been re-evaluated by rigorous scientific evidence and new theoretical studies (e.g. Kristiansen et al., Reference Kristiansen, Allentoft, Frei, Iversen, Johannsen, Kroonen, Pospieszny, Price, Rasmussen, Sjögren, Sikora and Willerslev2017; Sjögren et al., Reference Sjögren, Price and Kristiansen2016; Furholt, Reference Furholt2014). In this published doctoral thesis on Corded Ware coastal communities in the Netherlands, Sandra M. Beckerman provides such a re-evaluation within the framework of evidence-based archaeology.

The first chapter (‘How Can We Reconstruct Corded Ware Culture Chronology and Society’) illustrates how the Marxist ideas of Childe are still influential in current Corded Ware culture archaeology. Beckerman offers a comprehensive overview of past and current debates about large-scale migrations and diffusions. She discusses other important topics for the Corded Ware culture, such as its origins, related typo-chronologies, and absolute dates; relations to other archaeological phenomena (e.g. Bell Beakers), elites, or the use of alcoholic beverages. The end of this chapter presents a detailed explanation of her main research questions, which are divided into two groups—related to chronology and society respectively. Subsequently, Beckerman provides a short introduction to her dataset and explains the reasons for choosing ceramics as the main investigated material. Through the study of the lifecycle of pottery, she aims to reveal new information on the ‘technology, subsistence, economy, social organisation, religion, and ideology of the Corded Ware culture’ (p. 32). The review part of the chapter is of great value, providing a comprehensive picture about past and present debates that is accessible even to the non-specialist. Slightly confusing here is the use of the terms ‘culture’ and ‘society’: the two seem to be used interchangeably and jointly (‘Corded Ware culture’, ‘Corded Ware society’, ‘Corded Ware culture society’). The literature discussing these terms is very rich and adding precise definitions would have enhanced the clarity of the author's concepts. Nevertheless, this is a very common problem in the archaeological literature.

Chapter 2 (‘Neolithic Ceramics from Noord-Holland, the Netherlands’) introduces the studied ceramic material, originating from seven sites with different chronological positions and functions. In addition to a short general methodological overview, Beckerman explains her own methodology (with incorrect links to subchapters). She describes her approach to pottery technology, morphology, decoration, use, and inter- and intra-site analysis and regional comparison. As decoration is often the most discussed aspect among archaeologists specializing in ceramics, I expected the use of an elaborate descriptive system. While decoration techniques are quantified later on, and often mentioned throughout the book, decoration motifs seem to be slightly sidelined and it is not obvious from the publication how they were recorded and analysed. Most of the chapter provides results of pottery analysis from the individual sites. Comparison of all observed characteristics between different sites or their subdivisions is possible with the help of several tables. Current archaeological discourse favours more complex statistical analyses of large-scale datasets; thus I was slightly surprised that the evaluation of the dataset, comprising thousands of specimens, was accomplished through simple methods (descriptive statistics) and did not employ more complex statistical procedures. The subchapters dedicated to the individual sites also each include a section entitled ‘Use, Discard, and Spatial Patterning’. The use of pottery is studied through the presence of cooking residues, which reaches a striking forty-seven per cent in some ceramic assemblages and is characteristic for beakers. Maps illustrating the spatial patterning of ceramics within the sites are not present, and for this one must look to publications presenting specific sites (e.g. Smit et al., Reference Smit, Brinkkemper, Kleijne, Lauwerier and Theunissen2012). Discard is unfortunately only touched upon very briefly.

Beckerman sets the investigated sites in chronological and regional context in Chapter 3 (‘Regional and Supra-Regional Comparisons of Neolithic Ceramic Assemblages’). To enhance the understanding of continuity (and later on to test the hypotheses of immigration) she compares her Corded Ware assemblages with those from the preceding Trichterbecher and Vlaardingen sites. This is followed by comparisons with other Corded Ware sites in the region and internationally. By studying the Noord-Holland sites, Beckerman concludes, in concordance with other researchers (e.g. Furholt, Reference Furholt2004), that there is no single ‘A-horizon’ of Corded Ware culture; that is, no homogeneous horizon featuring just A-beakers, C-beakers, Strichbündel or F-amphorae, and short wave moulded vessels—which was previously thought to represent the first phase of Corded Ware culture across its whole spatial extent. Based on international comparisons, she also concludes that ceramic assemblages in this period consisted of two distinct parts. Supra-regional networks are reflected in the thin-walled shapes, whereas region-specific traditions are mirrored in the medium- and thick-walled pottery shapes. Through her detailed pottery analysis, Beckerman refutes previous hypotheses stating that the Vlaardingen and Corded Ware cultures should be taken as separate archaeological phenomena. Due to their very low occurrence, she also rejects the hypothesis that the short wave moulded vessels represent typical domestic ware.

The next three chapters (Ch. 4, ‘Corded Ware Culture Chronology’; Ch. 5, ‘Corded Ware Culture Society’; Ch. 6, ‘Conclusions’) are in my opinion the most interesting and valuable. The chronology chapter (Ch. 4) elaborately presents both the uni-linear and two-track chronological models—which suggest different processes in the transition from Corded Ware, through Bell Beakers, to the Early Bronze Age—and compares them with the available radiocarbon dates. After testing the chronological schemes proposed thus far, Beckerman states that radiocarbon dates do not confirm the relative chronology based on characteristic beaker shapes and decorations, and she very strongly criticises the practice of using unstratified grave goods to build chronological sequences. A new chronology, based also on technological characteristics such as temper and wall thickness, is proposed. Beckerman divides Corded Ware culture in the Netherlands into two groups. One starts slightly earlier, but due to plateaus on the calibration curve their estimated date ranges partly overlap. She stresses not only the relevance of other aspects of ceramics than shape and decoration, such as technological traits, but also the need for a polythetic approach to pottery. This enables her to observe chronological patterns in local, regional, and supra-regional components of the produced and consumed pottery.

Chapter 5 (‘Corded Ware Culture Society’) takes into account several aspects of society in the third millennium bc. Beckerman again briefly discusses the state of the art and tests the most important hypotheses. She challenges the oft-stated hypothesis of strong individualization and organization into nuclear families. She argues that the archaeological record rather reflects a ‘close-knit network’ (p. 208) collaborating in landscape exploitation. She also refutes the hypothesis that, in contrast to previous periods, Corded Ware culture settlements became smaller (most recently proposed by Müller et al., Reference Müller, Seregély, Becker, Christensen, Fuchs, Kroll, Mischka and Schüssler2009). Strikingly, she did not find in the investigated material any indication of an individualistic and stratified society characterized by private property accumulation or constant struggles between social groups, as is postulated in most of the literature on the Corded Ware culture. This enhances the importance of analyses of the settlements, and of the fact that the burial record of the Corded Ware culture, as analysed in most studies, gives us a different (idealized) image of past society (Kolář, Reference Kolář, Furholt, Großmann and Szmyt2016). Thus, for a better understanding of past societies, complex investigations should be conducted, including all available archaeological sources. Beckerman's detailed research into pottery technology enables her to state that diffusion and small-scale migration of individuals or small groups are behind the cultural change that emerges with the Corded Ware culture. Corded Ware communities should thus have a strong local tradition and continuity, and the importance of supra-regional networks is expressed through the role of beakers in daily activities. Beckerman's evidence-based interpretation in fact undermines the postulated use of beakers for drinking alcoholic beverages. After analysing the occurrence of charred residues on pottery, she argues that fifty-six per cent of cord-decorated beakers were used for cooking (of well-processed meals such as emmer porridge with fat; pp. 219–20). This totally changes the contemporary view of beakers being closely connected to elite ritual drinking, already proposed by Childe (Reference Childe1925) and by Andrew Sherratt (Reference Sherratt and Sherratt1997). The hypothesis that these beakers symbolized power and martiality thus falls apart, and as Beckerman argues we should think about the beakers as items symbolizing supra-regional networks, whose significance was stressed and embodied through an important daily task: cooking. She concludes that such a concept is consistent with the model of the Corded Ware culture published by Furholt (Reference Furholt2014), where locally specific conditions led to regionally variable societies.

The final chapter (‘Conclusions’) brings the main results into comparison with the Marxist interpretations of Childe. After a short introduction to Marxist archaeology, Beckerman challenges Childe's social reconstructions. Aspects of discontinuity and uniformity in economic practices proposed previously should be abandoned, as there is evidence of regional variability (dependent on environmental conditions) and strong continuity in subsistence strategies with preceding periods. Childe's ideas on superstructure, involving increased violence, with leaders and elites defending large herds, are also questioned. Regions with well-preserved settlements provide no evidence of the increased importance of cattle herds and private property to be defended; moreover, they do not indicate social stratification or gender-based differences in social status. New findings on chronology are also in contrast with Childe's interpretations. Thus a regional mixture of traditions and supra-regional exchange is preferred by Beckerman, rather than violent conquest and mass migration of Corded Ware warriors. In her new narrative of Corded Ware culture, Beckerman offers the reader the image of an unstratified society rooted in local tradition, with its own subsistence strategies and pottery technology, which manifested its ideology of supra-regional networks through daily practices common for all community members. Migration, confirmed recently by aDNA analyses is in her view possible only on a small scale.

Summing up, despite minor methodological problems, I would definitely recommend this book to all prehistorians. Based on detailed, quantified analyses of settlement material, and through newly postulated interpretations of third millennium bc societies, Sandra Beckerman challenges the social concepts introduced by V. Gordon Childe that are still uncritically used by prehistoric archaeologists in many European regions. The book is theoretically complex but easily comprehensible, and I believe that it could also serve as a very effective introduction to the archaeology of the third millennium bc and to Marxist archaeology in general. Since it challenges the basic ideas of Childe, I expect this work to have wide international importance and the potential to change our views not only on Corded Ware culture, but also on the whole of European prehistory.