Argaric society: death at home.

Argaric society: death at home. Argaric burial systems Argaric society was one of the most outstanding in prehistoricWestern Europe Western EuropeThe countries of western Europe, especially those that are allied with the United States and Canada in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (established 1949 and usually known as NATO). (2250/2200-1500 cal BC). It was distributed over theentire southeast Iberian peninsula Iberian Peninsula,c.230,400 sq mi (596,740 sq km), SW Europe, separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees. Comprising Spain and Portugal, it is washed on the N and W by the Atlantic Ocean and on the S and E by the Mediterranean Sea; the Strait of Gibraltar , reaching c. 49,000 sq. km (Lull1983) (FIGURE 1). [Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Argaric society buried its dead employing a single, double or, onoccasion, triple inhu mation burial system. Corpses were placed intodifferent types of funeral containers, covachas (small rock-cut chambertombs), pits, cists and urns. The covachas occasionally have slabs whichserve to seal them; the cists were built with calcareous calcareous/cal¡¤car¡¤e¡¤ous/ (kal-kar¡äe-us) pertaining to or containing lime; chalky. cal¡¤car¡¤e¡¤ousadj. , sandstone orslate slabs or with masonry walls covered with slabs of the samematerials; the urns are generally vessels in an upright position orlying on one side, covered with rounded stone slabs, and the pits wereeither entirely unlined or lined with small stones. All these forms ofburial require the digging of a pit usually located below the dwellings.The body of the deceased was carefully placed in a flexed, generallyprone or sitting position. Thanks to the AMS AMS - Andrew Message System laboratory at Oxford University, we are able toestablish chronologies for a number of the Argaric products found in thegraves, both cont ainers and grave goods In archaeology and anthropology grave goods are the items buried along with the body.They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods are a type of votive deposit. (Castro et al. 1993-4). Althoughfurther dating is necessary, the [sup.14]C dates offer an indication ofthe general trend. It would seem that the first type of burial in theArgaric world is the covacha, which was the preferred burial systembetween c. 2250 and 2000 cal BC and which lasted until c. 1700 cal BC.The cists appeared around c. 2000 cal BC and the urns c. 1950 cal BC.Both types continued in use until the end of Argaric times. The pitswere used between c. 2000 and 1650 cal BC. Chronological study of the grave goods suggests that the halberdswere deposited from the very beginning of the Argaric society andcertainly between 2000 and 1800 cal BC. In all the single human burialsanalysed the halberds were associated with adult males. We have noevidence that halberds were deposited after c. 1800 cal BC. On the otherhand, the axes, which like the halberds are found only in male graves,cannot be traced back beyond c. 1800 cal BC (FIGURE 2). [Figure 2 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The daggers appear at all times and in the graves of both sexes,but after c. 1800 cal BC they also appear in the graves of adolescentsand children (FIGURE 3). Awls have been found exclusively in femalegraves, with the only doubts concerning one tomb. This evidence wouldseem to suggest that the dagger/awl association marks out female gravegoods. Finally, short swords were in use by c. 2030 cal BC, prior to theproduction of long swords. [Figure 3 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With regard to the ceramic items found in burial contexts, thedates we have so far would seem to indicate that Form 5 was in usethroughout the entire Argaric period; Form 1 was being produced from c.2000 cal BC on; Form 6, which was in use in the early Argaric burials,can only be confirmed as having being in existence from c. 2000-1700 calBC; the earliest dates for Forms 2 and 4 are c. 1830 cal BC and theywere in use until the end of the Argaric; finally, the oldest Form 7 hasbeen dated to c. 1750 cal BC (FIGURE 4). [Figure 4 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The evidence set out above should serve to show the need fortypochronological studies, which would also be used to test ourhypotheses concerning funerary fu¡¤ner¡¤ar¡¤y?adj.Of or suitable for a funeral or burial.[Latin fner practices. These data in combination withpalaeoanthropological and spatial studies will help us to complete thechronology of items deposited in tombs, and the association of theseitems with either the sex, age or state-of-health of the dead. Beforeshowing all these aspects in the case of Argaric society, which will bethe subject of another paper, let us discuss the alternative approachesto the study of mortuary remains in general. Death at home One of the most unusual characteristics of Argaric society was thefact that the dead were buried under the floors of the dwellings,although there is some evidence of burials inside the walls or in openareas between buildings. This feature is only shared in the IberianPeninsula of the 2nd millennium cal BC with communities in thehinterland of El Argar El Argar is the name given to an ancient civilization that flourished from the town of Antas, Almer¨ªa, in the south-east of Spain between c. 1800 BCE and 1300 BCE.The El Argar civilization was characterized by its early adoption of bronze, which briefly allowed this tribe that were under its control. The previous collective graves of the 3rd millennium are usuallyinterpreted as burial units for different lineages (Chapman 1990). Thisinterpretation, which I share, would also seem to suggest thatindividuals took on social identity through being members of certainlines of descent, precisely because in death they returned to the unitthat gave them social significance. The Argaric would seem to represent a break, although we must becareful. What I am particularly keen to establish is whether kinshiprelations changed and whether, as I have suggested elsewhere (Lull1983), the Argaric nuclear family took the place of the earlier extendedfamily. I shall consciously move into the area of hypothesis (for ashort time only), which may be anathema to certain academic fields butwhich is entirely necessary if we are to set out the theoretical,non-axiomatic premises on which our study must be based. If we consider that the occupants of the tombs found below a roomat each Argaric settlement formed part of a kinship unit, then the housecould be seen as the collective receptacle which expresses the burialworld of a family. Whether this family was nuclear or extended in naturecan only be determined by an exhaustive study of kinship. If we set out from the basis that the Argaric household assumedresponsibility fo r the burial of its members, then the mechanisms ofsocial integration that lay at an earlier stage in the hands of thelines of descent have now passed to the different families. And whilethe lines of descent had not disappeared, responsibility for burial hasnow been transferred to another, more restricted sociological unit. Thiscould well suggest that the political representation of individuals hadpassed from the hands of lines of descent to families, given that theresponsibility for the burial (as far as location is concerned) now fellto the family and not to wider kinship-based relations. Nevertheless, since one effect of this was to reduce the capacityfor social integration which the traditional kinship-based mechanismsoffered, other institutions would have had to assume the responsibilityof ensuring the inter-family harmony. In Argaric society there wereassociative family units with their kinship links, which wereresponsible for the deposition of burials, and there were supra-domesticpolitical institutions charged with the task of ensuring inter-familyintegration. If the burials in each house reflected an isomorphism isomorphism(ī'səmôr`fĭzəm), of minerals, similarity of crystal structure between two or more distinct substances. Sodium nitrate and calcium sulfate are isomorphous, as are the sulfates of barium, strontium, and lead. in theirconstitutive constitutive/con¡¤sti¡¤tu¡¤tive/ (kon-stich¡äu-tiv) produced constantly or in fixed amounts, regardless of environmental conditions or demand. elements which was only broken by questions of age and sex,we would find tombs with grave goods of a social value in keeping withthe material conditions of the living unit. However, in practiceindividuals of different social categories could be found in the sameliving units. As a consequence, we suggest that the family wasresponsible for the burial but not for the quality of the grave goods.The fact that groups of individuals with different kinship and familyties shared a position on the social pyramid This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details.This article has been tagged since September 2007.A Social Pyramid is a model of social relationships. is an indication of theexistence of powerful institutions, and property systems which wereresponsible for the means of production Means Of Production is a compilation of Aim's early 12" and EP releases, recorded between 1995 and 1998. Track listing"Loop Dreams" – 5:30 "Diggin' Dizzy" – 5:33 "Let the Funk Ride" – 5:11 "Original Stuntmaster" – 6:33 and certain social products. Inother words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"put differently , we must turn to the Argaric state (Lull & Risch 1995). Kinship and residential relations In the Gatas Project (Castro et al. 1999a; 1999b), we have madead vances in two fields that until now had received scanty attention:kinship and residential relations. Jane Buikstra and Lisa Hoshowercarried out the first studies into the phenotypic variations of theArgaric population, based on metric observations carried out by Jacques(Siret & Siret 1890) and Kunter (1990). The objective was to definepatterns of residence and endogamy/exogamy. Once they observedsignificant differences between men and women (on the basis of metricosteological variables), they concluded that the sex exhibiting greatestmobility in the search for a mate would also exhibit a wider range ofmetric variability within its group than the other. Argaric men weresignificantly more heterogeneous (five times more) than the women and,consequently, they were more mobile in their post-marital residencepatterns. (This analysis is based on craniometric cra¡¤ni¡¤om¡¤e¡¤ter?n.An instrument or device used to measure the skull.crani¡¤o¡¤met data from differentsites and dates, which refer to the cumulative effect of variability inspatial and temporal dimensions.) This would seem to support the viewthat society was based on stable groupings of women. Matrilocality mat¡¤ri¡¤lo¡¤cal?adj. AnthropologyOf or relating to residence with a wife's kin group or clan.mat wasthus proposed as an early hypothesis. It was the Siret brothers who first put forward the hypothesis thatArgaric society was based on a structure close to the nuclear family(Siret & Siret 1890): we believe, therefore, that the double graves contain the skeletonsof two persons who lived united in life ... in the most solidlyconfirmed cases they were individuals of different sex, which allows usto recognize the man and woman who lived together. This suggestion, that there must have existed a form of `Argaricmarriage' on the basis of the redundant presence of both men andwomen in double graves, had never been borne out by means of anyreliable bone analysis to verify the sex of the two individuals.Recently, however, the situation has changed (Kunter 1990; Buikstra etal. 1990; Buikstra & Rihuete, work in progress). The new dataconfirm that the double graves contain the remains of individuals ofdifferent sex, with the exception of a minimal number, which contain twowomen. In no case has a man-man pairing been found. Therefore, it wouldseem that the hypothesis put forward by the Siret brothers was correct. Nevertheless, final empirical proof confirming that the individualsburied together in double graves had in fact lived together only beganto emerge in the wake of the first results of a radiocarbon datingprogramme of double graves carried out as part of the Gatas Project bythe AMS Laboratory at the University of Oxford. Until very recently, we only had six dates for double graves(Castro et al. 1993-94), but now the figure has increased to 10 and theycover five double graves. Surprisingly, in all of the cases the datesfor the individuals in each grave are at least two or more generationsapart (FIGURE 5). As a result, the fact of being buried together couldhave been more a reflection of kinship descent links than matrimonial mat¡¤ri¡¤mo¡¤ny?n. pl. mat¡¤ri¡¤mo¡¤niesThe act or state of being married; marriage.[Middle English, from Old French matrimoine, from Latin m ones. If this pattern of temporal distance continues to emerge in theresults of the dating work currently in progress, then the cohabitation A living arrangement in which an unmarried couple lives together in a long-term relationship that resembles a marriage.Couples cohabit, rather than marry, for a variety of reasons. They may want to test their compatibility before they commit to a legal union. hypothesis will have to be discarded and we will have to forget one ofthe arguments in favour of the existence of nuclear families. [Figure 5 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nevertheless, and as we await definitive evidence, we now havesufficient data to suggest another hypothe sis with regard to locationand kinship relations. Firstly, the pattern that most closely fits inwith the low level of female variability and higher male mobility isthat of matrilocality. Secondly, according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. the data available, thewoman was the first of the two individuals to be buried. Should thisprove to have been the overall trend, in addition to the evidence oftemporal distance between the two individuals, we could then begin tothink that it is kinship that governs the pattern of burial and thatthis kinship was passed down from mothers to sons and daughters(matrilineality). In addition, the fact that the women lived in onedwelling while the men circulated more widely would seem to suggest anorm of matrilocality. Of all the double graves dated, only one (Gatas 37, see FIGURE 5)was first occupied by a man. Moreover, in other doub le graves that havenot yet been dated, there are stratigraphic stra¡¤tig¡¤ra¡¤phy?n.The study of rock strata, especially the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rocks.strat indications that the firstoccupant was also a woman. Should this recurrence and proportion turnout to be a widespread pattern, then the matrilocal mat¡¤ri¡¤lo¡¤cal?adj. AnthropologyOf or relating to residence with a wife's kin group or clan.mat system must haveadmitted certain cases of avunculocality. If this were the situation,the male who was buried first could have been the mother's brother,that is, an individual who, although a man, played a female role in thetransmission of lineage and usually received important attributes inmatrilineal mat¡¤ri¡¤lin¡¤e¡¤aladj.Relating to, based on, or tracing ancestral descent through the maternal line. structures. It is hoped that DNA analysis DNA analysisAny technique used to analyze genes and DNA. See Chromosome walking, DNA fingerprinting, Footprint ing, In situ hybridization, Jeffries' probe, Jumping libraries, PCR, RFLP analysis, Southern blot hybridization. will determine the geneticrelationship between the buried individuals. Also, in order to establishmore firmly the mobility rates of men and women, we are awaiting theresults of the strontium strontium(strŏn`shēəm)[from Strontian, a Scottish town], a metallic chemical element; symbol Sr; at. no. 38; at. wt. 87.62; m.p. 769°C;; b.p. 1,384°C;; sp. gr. 2.6 at 20°C;; valence +2. isotope analysis Isotope analysis is the identification of isotopic signature, the distribution of certain stable isotopes and chemical elements within chemical compounds. This can be applied to a food web to make it possible to draw direct inferences regarding diet, trophic level, and subsistence. . This pattern of organization is usually found in communities basedon extended families, in which kinship affinities between womenstrengthen the co-operative ties of daily a ctivities. It is then a modelthat is the opposite of patrilocality pat¡¤ri¡¤lo¡¤cal?adj. AnthropologyOf or relating to residence with a husband's kin group or clan.pat that is closely bound up with theemergence of small nuclear families where the males competed for theresources of the paternal line of descent Noun 1. line of descent - the kinship relation between an individual and the individual's progenitorsfiliation, lineage, descentfamily relationship, kinship, relationship - (anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption . However, thematrilocal-avunculocal pattern of residence is not opposed to theexistence of societies with marked asymmetries. Political relations: social classes and the Argaric state When we proposed five social categories on the basis of grave goodassociations (Lull & Estevez 1986), we were aware that thesecategories would correspond to socio-economic groups. This belief arosefrom our premise that grave goods of minima l presence in contexts ofmaximum material recurrence constituted an index of the social value ofthe objects. If this pattern was considered to be a reflection of thevalue of the work invested in the objects, the categories could well beseen as indicating social classes. Therefore, it was necessary to movebeyond the burial contexts and determine whether the world of the livingreflected the same asymmetric relationship. The study of Gatas and other sites led to the definition of theArgaric state that was characterized by a social asymmetry which wasparticularly marked after 1750 cal BC. The arguments are varied innature and can be summarized as follows: 1 Centralization of crop surpluses In Fuente Alamo AlamoEighteenth-century mission in San Antonio, Texas, site of a historic siege of a small group of Texans by a Mexican army (1836) during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. and Gatas the quantity of grinding and storagetools is in excess of what was needed for the subsistence of eachsettlement's inhabitants (Chapman 1990; Risch 1995). This must beconsidered as centralization, because the food produce was concentratedin a number of dominant settlements which, ironically, had the leastarable land available within 2 km (Castro et al. 1998). The centralization of food is also linked to the fact that thesesettlements had abundant tools for cereal processing. In fact, there isno proof of centralization of the harvesting tools, but rather of themeans of processing it, which suggests some kind of administration andcontrol mechanism. In addition, there was a clear obligation to producecereals that, from 1750 cal BC on, took the form of extensivenon-irrigated barley monoculture mon¡¤o¡¤cul¡¤ture?n.1. The cultivation of a single crop on a farm or in a region or country.2. A single, homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension. , leading to a marked decrease in thevariety of diet (Ruiz et al. 1992; Castro et al. 1999b). Both the imposi tion of specific crop systems and the centralized`confiscation' of the agricultural produce indicate the obstaclesfaced by most of the population in gaining access to food. Further, thiscentralization also reflects an increase in production costs, since itdemanded movement of the produce to locations which were at somedistance from where it was harvested, which would have been unthinkablein self-managing communities. The same occurred in the case of the grinding implements proceedingfrom the lowlands, which, in contrast, were found concentrated in thehilltop settlements, sometimes even in a state of disuse dis¡¤use?n.The state of not being used or of being no longer in use.disuseNounthe state of being neglected or no longer used; neglectNoun 1. . In many of thedominant settlements, the milling work was increased due to the lack ofa distribution system which would have enabled them to make use ofbetter raw materials (e.g. volcanic rocks) than those available in thelocal terr itory. 2 Standardization of pottery and metal production Argaric artefacts are easily recognizable for their morphometriccharacteristics and, with a few exceptions (axes for example), they arehighly distinctive. Whereas the areas used for the production of pottery are stilldifficult to distinguish, there is evidence of a marked concentration offoundry areas in a limited number of settlements, as well as spacescontaining implements related to the maintenance of metal tools. Thepresence of metal sharpeners, mistakenly taken to be `archer'swristguards', and anvils in a number of upper-class male gravesseems to indicate that here too the division of labour had becomeanother basis for social inequality (Risch 1995). In the case of pottery, there was a pattern with relation to thecapacity of the vessels, which suggests that they had a system ofmeasures consisting of a constant factor of 4.2 for vessels with acapacity lower than 35 litres. At higher volumes, the vessels tended toincrease capacity by one and a half times up to a volume of around 53litres, after which they tripled the figure of 35 litres and held some105 litres (Colomer 1995). Both the quantities of the means of production and the basicproducts in storage would seem to indicate that the larger settlements,although less favourably located in terms of agricultural potential andprimary production, were at the head of a highly centralized system. Thesocial differences with regard to production and consumption and theharsh working conditions in these centres mean that we are not dealingwith `the people's granaries' but rather a system controlledby a dominant class. 3 Restricted movement of metal products and exclusive use of someof these products The centralization of metal production and the unequal distributionof metal objects in the graves suggests that the bulk of society hadvery restricted access to metal products. This situation differs greatlyfrom that found in the 3rd millenni um BC, when metalwork was awidespread activity. Metal objects have been found in all the Argaric sites, but in veryfew has there been any evidence of production. This contrasts with thewealth of metal resources found in the nearby outcrops, which lendssupport to the hypothesis that ores were exploited on a local basis(Montero mon¡¤te¡¤ro?n. pl. mon¡¤te¡¤rosA hunter's cap with side flaps.[Spanish, hunter, from monte, mountain, from Latin m 1994) in a continuation of previous traditions. Nevertheless,the ideas put forward by Gale et al. (1999) indicate that the rawmaterial was non-local. If that was the case, the fact that thisproduction was so specialized, centralized and dependant on rawmaterials from the furthest reaches of the Argaric territory, wouldaccount for unequal access to the metal end-products. Given that metalobjects are most often found in the graves of the dominant class, we cansafely venture to say that metal objects (including specialized weapons)were restri cted to this social elite. Furthermore, the fact that most of the scarce flint artefacts wereonly used in threshing and reaping, along with the presence of cut markson other materials (bone, shell and stone), suggests that metalimplements figured prominently among the tools used for everyday cuttingactivities. Therefore, the strict control over metal resources andproducts could well have been a decisive economic (the means ofproduction as property) and coercive (weapons as property) factor forthe development of an increasingly unequal society (Lull 1983). 4 Political territory: territorial limits and culturalimpermeability im¡¤per¡¤me¡¤a¡¤ble?adj.Impossible to permeate: an impermeable membrane; an impermeable border.im¡¤per The basis on which the Argaric was formed was an economic one andits features were found throughout a well-defined territory. However,this is also true of many other prehistoric formations that did notnecessarily have defined political territories. Tw o factors lay behindthe development of political frontiers in the case of the Argaric.First, society was quite impermeable impermeable/im¡¤per¡¤me¡¤a¡¤ble/ (-per¡äme-ah-b'l) not permitting passage, as of fluid. im¡¤per¡¤me¡¤a¡¤bleadj.Impossible to permeate; not permitting passage. to all outside influences. Thestandardization so clearly observable in its material products shows nosign of outside influence. In contrast, it is well known that Argaricmaterials were present in the border areas and in neighbouringterritories, and were used to impose superstructural norms on localpopulations. 5 Psychological coercion A number of coercive elements must also be added to the othermechanisms mentioned up to now. The first was a negation of subjectiveexpression,combined with the absence of ideological objects of socialintegration. This represents a clear break with the world of the 3rdmillennium cal BC. In contrast to the symbolic polymorphism polymorphism,of minerals, property of cr ystallizing in two or more distinct forms. Calcium carbonate is dimorphous (two forms), crystallizing as calcite or aragonite. Titanium dioxide is trimorphous; its three forms are brookite, anatase (or octahedrite), and rutile. of the linesof descent, we find in the Argaric an absence of symbols transcendingthe policy of the elite. I believe that we are faced with a society thathad not developed any system of religious metaphysics or any politicalemblems with the aim of spreading its way of life. Probably the dominantclass' power rested on the use of force alone and kinshiprelationships played little part in the established social order,although the ancestral filiation fil¡¤i¡¤a¡¤tion?n.1. a. The condition or fact of being the child of a certain parent.b. Law Judicial determination of paternity.2. A line of descent; derivation.3. a. and residential systems continued tofunction. Mico's interpretation (1993) suggests that such traditionallineage-based norms were not always fully respected, especially in thefinal phase. He observes that the gap in the demographic curves ofFuente Alamo and Gatas corresponding to adult males between 20 and 30years of age may have come about because they were buried in anothersettlement of greater political importance, El Argar, where thedemographic curve is exactly the opposite. This hypothesis suggests thatthis settlement was central, perhaps the capital of the whole territory. These general characteristics were also accompanied by other formsof asymmetry such as the absence of weapons in the grave goods of womenand the recognition in death of the women exclusively as a producer ofthe means of production (pottery, knife and awl awl:see drill. recurrence pattern), butnot as a reproducer. At the other extreme were the male members of thedominant class who, although liable to suffer from the same chronicillnesses as the rest of the population, always had higher lifeexpectations, reflecting a social inequality wit h regard to maintenanceactivities and care of individuals. Finally, we should also mention that at later stages of theArgaric, certain children were accorded grave goods including weaponsand that inheritance could even be institutionalized for the first-bornor other members of the dominant class. Still awaiting study is a body of fresh evidence which may eithersupport, vary or disprove disprove,v to refute or to prove false by affirmative evidence to the contrary. our hypotheses. I believe that we mustmaintain an open mind with regard to all hypotheses concerning socialstructure which emerge from the study of mortuary practices untilequally rigorous studies have been carried out in the settlements. Acknowledgements. I would like to express my thanks to mycolleagues of the Gatas Project for allowing me to provide some advanceinformation of their results. R. Chapman, R. Mico, R. Risch, C. Rihuete,T. Escoriza and Ma.E. Sanahuja offered valuable comments, although theresponsi bility for its content is mine alone. R. Chapman also revisedthe English translation. We are also indebted to A. Martinez, H. Schubart, C. Cacho and M.Cahen for allowing us to take samples for [sup.14]C dating from theirexcavations or from the collections kept in the Museums of Brussels andMadrid. We also thank the owners of the Duran/Vall-Llosera collection. References BUIKSTRA, J., P. CASTRO, R. CHAPMAN, P. GONZALEZ, L. HOSHOWER, V.LULL, M. PICAZO, R. RISCH & M.E. SANAHUJA. 1990. La necropolis necropolis:see cemetery. necropolis(Greek: “city of the dead”) Extensive and elaborate burial place serving an ancient city. The locations of these cemeteries varied. deGatas, Anuario Arqueologico de Andalucia: 261-76. CASTRO, P., R. CHAPMAN, S. GILI, V. LULL, R. MICO, C. RIHUETE, R.RISCH & M.E. SANAHUJA. 1993-4. Tiempos sociales de los contextosfunerarios argaricos, Anales de Prehistoria de la Universidad de Murcia9-10: 77-107. 1998. Aguas Project. Paleocl imatic reconstruction and the dynamicsof human settlement and land-use in the area of the middle Aguas(Almeria). Luxembourg: European Commission. 1999a. Proyecto Gatas 2. La dinamica arqueoecologica de laocupacion prehistorica. Sevilla: Junta de Andalucia. 1999b. Agricultural production and social change in the Bronze Ageof southeast Spain: the Gatas Project, Antiquity 73: 846-56. COLOMER, E. 1995. Practiques socials i la manufactura ceramica.Ph.D dissertation, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. CHAPMAN, R. 1990. Emerging complexity. The later prehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to ofsoutheast Spain, Iberia and the west Mediterranean.. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP) is a publisher g iven a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534, and one of the two privileged presses (the other being Oxford University Press). . GALE, N., Z. STOS-GALE & M.A. HUNT. 1999. Composicion elementalde los metales de la Edad del Bronce del Sudeste de Espana, in Castro etal. (ed.) 1999a. KUNTER, M. 1990. Menschliche Skelettreste aus Siedlungen der ElArgar-Kultur. Mainz am Rhein: Phillip von Zabern. Madrider Beitrage Band18. LULL, V. 1983. La `cultura' de El Argar. Madrid: Akal. LULL, V. & J. ESTEVEZ. 1986. Propuesta metodologica para elestudio de las necropolis argaricas, in Homenaje a Luis Siret: 441-52.Sevilla: Junta de Andalucia. LULL, V. & R. RISCH. 1995. El Estado Argarico, Verdolay 7:97-109. MICO, R. 1993. Pensamientos y practicas en las arqueologiascontemporaneas. Ph.D dissertation, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. MONTERO, I. 1994. El origen de la metalurgia en el surestepeninsular. Almeria: Instituto de Estudios Almerienses. RISCH, R. 1995. Recursos natu rales y sistemas de produccion en elSudeste de la Peninsula Iberica entre 3000 y 1000 ANE. Ph.Ddissertation, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. RUIZ, M., R. RISCH, P. GONZALEZ, P. CASTRO. V. LULL & R.CHAPMAN. 1992. Environmental exploitation and social structure inprehistoric southeast Spain, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 5(1):3-38. SIRET, H. & L. SIRET. 1890. Las primeras edades del metal en elsudeste de Espana. Barcelona. VICENTE LULL, Departamento Antropologia Social i Prehistoria,Facultat de Lletres, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra(Barcelona), Spain. montgat@arrakis.es Received 22 September 1999, accepted 10 December 1999, revised 21February 2000.