As the Beaker culture left no written records, all theories regarding the language or languages they spoke remain conjectural. It has been suggested as a candidate for an early Indo-European culture, or as the origin of the Vasconic substrate.
James Mallory (2013) notes that the Beaker culture was associated with a hypothetical cluster of Indo-European dialects termed "North-West Indo-European", a cluster which includes the (predecessors of) Celtic, Italic, Germanic and Balto-Slavic branches.[43]
Earlier theories suggested a link to the hypothesised Italo-Celtic, or Proto-Celtic languages.[44]
no milk ror you
no alcohol for you
The beakers are suggested to have been designed for the consumption of alcohol, and the introduction of the substance to Europe may have fuelled the beakers' spread.[38] Beer and mead content have been identified from certain examples. However, not all Beakers were drinking cups. Some were used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores, others have some organic residues associated with food, and still others were employed as funerary urns.[39] They were used as status display amongst disparate elites.[citation needed]