An appraisal of social inequalities in Central Iberia (c. 5300-1600 CAL BC)

The present paper is an overview of the available evidence for socioeconomic and political inequalities in Central Iberia, from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. It focuses on mortuary practices, labour investments, craft production and settlement organization, disentangling the keys of prehist...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Díaz del Río, Pedro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2006
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/9738
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/9738
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Central Iberia
Neolithic
Copper age
Early Bronze Age
Mortuary Practices
Labor Force
Surplus
Reproduction
Descripción
Sumario:The present paper is an overview of the available evidence for socioeconomic and political inequalities in Central Iberia, from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. It focuses on mortuary practices, labour investments, craft production and settlement organization, disentangling the keys of prehistoric political economy. Following the evidence, I argue that the existence of permanent social inequalities would have been limited by three factors: a limited amount of surplus, the failure of small scale groups to increase the amount of labour force, and most important of all, the absolute absence of means of accumulation of value.