This study is concerned with the emergence and subsequent development of agricultural communities in south-east Spain. Using different scales of analysis and a wide range of data it focuses on regional variations in social, political and economic organization between the Early Neolithic and Argaric Bronze Age. Particular attention has been given to evaluating patterns of regional variation and the processes which underlie these patterns. A systematic survey (Chapter 4) provides much needed information about Neolithic-Bronze Age settlement in a regional context. Another important, and complimentary, part of this research is concerned with cultural development and variability at a larger scale. This second level of analysis (Chapter 5) is an examination of mortuary practices on an inter-regional scale and involves more than 2000 Copper Age and Bronze Age tombs. The conclusion (Chapter 6) is an attempt to place cultural developments in south-east Spain in a wider context. These discussions emphasize the dynamic relationship between ecological and cultural processes, and draw important distinctions between the growth of agricultural communities in the humid, as opposed to the semiarid, zones of south-east Spain. The contrast between these two zones is clearly reflected by differences in social ranking, prestige displays, economic intensification, and settlement evolution. More importantly, perhaps, the nature of ecological-cultural interaction from 6000-1000 b. c. in south-east Spain provides valuable information about the growth and variability of complex societies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:311060 |
| Date | January 1987 |
| Creators | Mathers, William Clayton |
| Publisher | University of Sheffield |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14458/ |
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