Women, residential patterns and early social complexity. From theory to practice in Copper Age Iberia

Mobile craftspeople and orientalising transculturation in seventh-century BC Iberia

“…Frieman et al 2019; Reiter & Frei 2019; Ensor 2021). In Iberia, this avenue of enquiry is in its infancy, yet recent contributions on female mobility have broken new ground (Marín-Aguilera 2019; Cintas-Peña & García-Sanjuán 2022). Here, we aim to contribute to this debate from a distinctive perspective: in the absence of a mortuary record, we turn to household archaeology (Ensor 2013, 2021; Souvatzi 2017).…”

“…Such an interpretation of kinship and gendered mobility does not assume any heteronormative or ethnocentric premises. Here, we are following current scholarly opinion, embracing much-needed calls to avoid binary and stereotyped sex-based narratives (Ensor 2013, 2021; González-Ruibal 2014; Souvatzi 2017; Frieman et al 2019; Cintas-Peña & García-Sanjuán 2022). Instead of envisaging women as passive ‘pawns’, deprived of social agency within androcentric exogamous alliances, our interpretation recognises their crucial role in mastering crafts and social negotiation, ultimately leading to cultural hybridity.…”

“…Such occurrences match the ‘back-and-forth’ mobility pattern proposed by Reiter and Frei (2019: 460). Importantly, high-ranking women have been more likely to be involved in this sort of mobility than other groups (Reiter & Frei 2019; Cintas-Peña & García-Sanjuán 2022).…”

Re-thinking Chalcolithic landscapes in southeast Iberia: the case of the Middle Antas river (Almeria, Spain)

“…Inhabitants were able to procure materials, some rare, from far away (Rodríguez et al 2020;Jordão and Pimentel 2022;Murillo-Barroso 2022;Murillo-Barroso et al 2018), as evidenced by the crystal dagger and ivory sheath, the amber beads or the gold sheets found in the tomb of Montelirio (Murillo-Barroso et al 2015;Morgado et al 2016). Isotopic analyses also demonstrate significant human (Valera et al 2020;Cintas-Peña and García Sanjuán 2022;Díaz-del-Río et al 2022) and cattle (Žalait et al 2018) movement from beyond the immediate hinterland. The internal structure of most settlements is unclear, but it has been suggested that certain areas of the sites may be identified as specialised workshops (Nocete et al 2013;González Quintero et al 2018), a suggestion underlined by the high-quality items found there.…”

Statistical Proposals for a Formal Classification of Chalcolithic Stone Masonry Passage Graves with Circular Chamber in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula

“…The Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula has the distinction of encompassing both the eponymous site of Los Millares (Santa Fe de Mondújar, Almería), among the most celebrated fortifications of the European Copper Age (Molina and Cámara 2005), and one of the largest concentrations of megalithic tombs in Europe (Leisner and Leisner 1943;García et al 2022). Moreover, this region reveals the greatest density and the oldest Iberian cases of stone masonry passage graves with circular chambers, tombs that differ from orthostatic dolmens in terms of construction type and size (Leisner and Leisner 1943;Aranda et al 2021).…”