Complex Society, Social Inequality, Prehistoric Archaeology Research Papers

In the last three decades, the Iberian Copper Age or Chalcolithic (ca. 3200–2200 cal B.C. ) has probably been the period that has generated more scientific controversy within southern Iberian Late Prehistory. The diversity of theoretical approaches applied, the wealth of problems under discussion, and the constant opposition of interpretations aimed at explaining the evergrowing
base of empirical evidence have bestowed the Iberian Copper Age with a scientifi c debate of broad epistemological implications and crucial repercussions for the understanding of third-millennium Western Europe.

By the last quarter of the fourth millennium, the farming societies that had been developing in southern Iberia since the mid-sixth millennium began to experience an extraordinary social expansion in the broadest sense. This expansion materialized through aspects such as: (1) demographic growth, evidenced by the increasing number of settlements—and settlement size—together with their formal diversifi cation; (2) the intensification of agricultural economy, based in part on the availability of a larger workforce and the introduction of technological innovations—seen as part of the secondary products revolution , de facto a “second neolithization”;
(3) the development of copper metallurgy—and let us keep in mind that the local-development hypothesis for Iberia is far from discarded; (4) the extension and intensifi cation of supraregional exchange networks that had already been operating since the Neolithic and that all the southern Iberian regions were part of—allowing for the trade of a wide range of products, including flint, metal, and certain rare rocks and exotic commodities such
as amber, green stones, ivory, and ostrich eggs; (5) the increase in specialized production, especially with respect to metallic and exotic artifacts, as well as, possibly, textiles; (6) the increasing complexity of social relation structures, with the appearance of previously nonexistent forms of hierarchy and a growing social inequality, which became materialized in increasingly complex and diverse burial practices; (7) the notable enrichment and increasing sophistication of plastic, graphic, and (in a more general sense) artistic expression in forms, themes, and techniques used.

Throughout the first half of the third millennium, this process of social expansion continued on a steady trajectory. However, toward 2200 cal B.C., and allowing for regional diversity, substantial discontinuities took place, causing either the intensification of some of the preceding trends or their inhibition/interruption. In any case, new forms of social organization were generated that, under the current conventional time periodization, are usually attributed to the Bronze Age (First Phase, ca. 2200–1600/1550 cal B.C. ).

The Iberian Copper Age, therefore, is a time characterized by the social consolidation of southern Iberian human communities through an enhanced economic and technological capacity with an increasingly elaborate culture. It is thus natural that since the very start of Iberian prehistoric research, the debate on this period has been intense, with special attention devoted to
the processes, causes, and relations behind the growing social complexity.

Social complexity has been, without a doubt, at the core of the discussion in the last thirty years, being constantly fed by new data and interpretations and reviewed by different theoretical perspectives. Brought about with the appearance of infl uential Anglo-American researchers, who brought with them the epistemological and theoretical approaches of the New Archaeology, the debate on Iberian Copper Age social complexity has gained an international dimension that is unknown in other areas of Iberian Late Prehistory.

In fact, in recent years, most research has striven to contribute data and arguments leading to a better understanding of the organization of Chalcolithic societies. Literature published regarding this period teems with heuristic devices such as “colonies,” “central places,” “chiefdoms,” “states,” and even “civilizations,” refl ecting the various models employed according
to whichever theoretical approaches were in style at each particular time.

To illustrate this, Pedro Díaz-del-Río recently pointed out that the site of Los Millares (Almería, Spain) has climbed all the steps of the neoevolutionary ladder—or should we say stairway?—having been considered, in this order, egalitarian, big-man, hierarchical, chiefdom, and state (Díaz-del-Río 2011: 40).

Within the context of this extensive debate, this chapter aims to critically analyze the most recent proposals that have described southern Iberian Chalcolithic societies as “states.” Given the limited extension available, this study will focus on our current understanding of settlements, a most significant record for analyzing social complexity. To this end, this chapter is
divided in two parts: first, the evolution of Chalcolithic settlement interpretation is briefl y discussed; then we examine, the specific site of Valencina de la Concepción (Seville, Spain) within the context of the lower Guadalquivir valley (southwest Spain).

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