Conference "The blossoming of Europe in the 3rd millennium BC".

By Olivier Lemercier. During the 3rd millennium B.C., far beyond the first empires of the Near East and Egypt, Europe was dotted with villages and farms where farmers and stockbreeders carried on traditions that were already
age-old traditions. Such is the narrative conveyed by our school curricula.

And yet, behind these epinal images lies a complex world where ancient stone monuments are transformed, fortresses are built and precious materials are traded over long distances. Copper and gold metallurgy spread to weapons and finery.

Populations migrated across Europe, and material cultures changed ever more rapidly. In the middle of the millennium, small ceramic beakers appear, decorated with an S-shaped profile (bell-shaped upside down).

These campaniform beakers, unearthed in rich burials from Ireland to Sicily, from Poland to Morocco and from the Atlantic to Russia, reveal the spread of shared practices and ideas across the continent and beyond.

Olivier Lemercier has been Professor of "Archaeology of Recent Prehistory" at Paul Valéry University - Montpellier 3 since September 2016. His teaching focuses on Prehistory and the Neolithic. He is currently in charge of the Master's degree in Archaeology - Sciences for Archaeology and the Prehistory-Protohistory course at UPV.