The Bell Beaker complex is defined, above all, by a ceramic style widespread across Europe during the 3rd millennium BC. In contrast to the preceding period, it represents an entity distinguished from other archaeological manifestations by its material culture, funeral practices and mode of diffusion. Its particularly vast geographic distribution has provoked different interpretations: a unique population invading Europe, the long-distance exchange of prestige goods, and the absence of a Bell Beaker population with only the diffusion of its cultural components.