Ebook: Neolithic versus Bronze Age Social Formations: A political economy approach

In book: Kristiansen K., Šmejda L., Turek J. (Eds.) Paradigm Found. Archaeological Theory Present, Past And Future. Essays in Honour of Evžen Neustupný. — Oxbow Books, 2015. — pp. 234-247."The thesis of our chapter is simply stated. Despite considerable quantitative continuity between the Neolithic and Bronze Age of Europe, which we do not deny, dramatic changes in the political economy resulted from developing prestige goods exchanges and commodity trade especially in metal that caused significant institutional (qualitative) restructuring to facilitate such regular trade. Using a comparative analysis, we can recognize that substantial variation existed both through time and across space in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Although sometimes creating an impression of similar organizational complexity, the reality was two sets of societies articulated to very different political economies and social formations, not least when taking into account the spatial dimensions of social organisation."