The earliest armed human sculptures have been widely considered to represent hierarchical social structures. Their ostentation of power through the display of weaponry would reveal a prominent military class, for which different origins have been proposed in Central and North European cultures. The discussion on the relationship between these images of Late European prehistory and the rise of the bell-beaker vessel has characterised the historiography of much of the 20th and 21st centuries.
A detailed study of the models of the symbolic developments of the Bell-Beaker culture is a necessary starting point for establishing new arguments in this discussion. The main focus of this research project has been to provide data on the time depth of these images, and also on the role of the figurines (Idols) covered with solar images from the early Neolithic to at least 2,200 cal B.C. Finally, to understand the continuity of these representations in the only ceramics of the Bell-Beaker culture in Europe with narrative decorations, those of the Ciempozuelos group.