For whom the bell tolls: Social hierarchy vs social integration in the Bell Beaker culture of southern France (third millennium BC)

Authors: Linden, M.V.

Journal: Cambridge Archaeological Journal

Volume: 16

Issue: 3

Pages: 317-332

ISSN: 0959-7743

DOI: 10.1017/S0959774306000199

Abstract:

The development of social hierarchy during the European Late Neolithic and Bronze Age is often taken for granted in the literature. The Bell Beaker culture has been given a primary role in this picture as it would correspond to the large-scale diffusion of prestige goods and associated individualistic values. On the basis of the trench Midi sequence, this article seeks to demonstrate that the prestige model rests upon a simplistic and abstract perception of the data. Rather than the climax of social competition, the Bell Beaker culture marks the building of new fluid social networks which allowed better circulation of knowledge and people. © 2006 McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Source: Scopus