This paper aims to clarify whether there is a link between the emergence of fahlore-copper use and the Eastern Bell Beaker group. It attempts to shed light on the question of whether Bell Beaker users in central Europe had specific metallurgical expertise. A large database of trace element analyses is compared statistically, because the elemental composition of copper artefacts is affected by production process and the structure of the ore – and a similar occurrence within artefacts reflects a similar metallurgy.