Vas campaniforme (Ciempozuelos)

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The vessel is formed into a bell-shaped, hollow object created by hand and baked in a reducing atmosphere oven. The exterior surface has been browned and decorated with simple geometric patterns through incisions and impressions, forming three horizontal bands of stripes. The context in which the vessel was found remains unknown, although it likely comprised part of a toolkit. In fact, the piece was recovered along with other bell-shaped vessels between 1894 and 1895 during emergency excavations at Cuesta de la Reina (Ciempozuelos, Madrid). Despite challenges, the group has been dated to between 2700 and 1700 BC, a very broad timeline that encompasses the Calcolithic period through the Bronze Age. However, the discovery of a tomb from the same culture in Fuente Olmedo has allowed narrowing down the chronology of the Ciempozuelos group to between 2150 and 1650 BC. Bell-shaped vessels have been interpreted as prestigious items linked to banquet rituals in which the consumption of alcoholic beverages would play a central role.