Towards the end of the Neolithic (4000-2200 BC), some people in Britain began to be buried in individual graves rather than communal tombs. This change in burial practice appears to be connected to the introduction of a new ‘package’ of material culture from mainland Europe in around 2500 BC. Known today as Beaker culture, after the trade-mark ceramic vessels found in the graves, this culture seems to have brought ideas which placed more emphasis on the individual, wealth and display than established Neolithic culture did.

Most of these graves contained only a Beaker and perhaps a knife, but some have been found which contain far richer and more numerous grave goods. A well known example is the so-called ‘Amesbury Archer’ whose grave was discovered and excavated in Wiltshire in 2002. This man was buried around 2400-2200 BC with a huge number of objects, including three copper knives, a stone for metalworking, two sandstone wristguards, sixteen arrowheads, five Beaker pots, an antler tool, four boars' tusks and two small gold hair or ear ornaments.

Burials rich in grave goods, such as that of the ‘Amesbury Archer’, are the graves of high-status individuals. They reflect the importance placed on individual status and wealth which had developed since the late Neolithic period.