For a century, Copper Age Iberia (c. 3200-2200 BCE) has been seen as a grand laboratory for discussions of early social complexity. And yet, most theories were, from an empirical view point, infra-determined, as evidence was limited and restricted to a few sites. This situation has changed, as the availability of high-quality scientific data for a broader spectrum of sites now provides opportunities for fresh theoretical approaches. We propose a new take on emergent Iberian Copper Age social organisation, based on elements of political economy and collective action. We use the Valencina Copper Age mega-site, located in south-western Spain, to postulate the crucial role played by monumentalised central places in early complex societies. This site, and others like it, operated as attractors of large contingents of people, probably in the thousands, for social congregations that extended the fabric of society along a distinctive Neolithic pattern. Monument-building, largely (but not only) in the form of megaliths and ditched enclosures, brought people together, creating and maintaining a sense of belonging and cooperation, while at the same time keeping in check top-down impulses for more authoritarian and centralised political organisation. In the Neolithic tradition, monuments appear to create identity tied to place among expanding corporate social groups. Copper Age social formations lived in a ‘monument-oriented’ mode of production of sorts, in which the establishment of place and associated monumentalism served both to encourage and ‘burn’ surplus that could otherwise be manipulated and controlled by aspiring leaders. As part of this process, distinctive female leadership emerged at Valencina as materialized by identities supported by sumptuary objects made on exotic raw materials and produced by specialists. The social world built around Valencina as a monumentalised central place came to a rather abrupt end c. 2300, after which a different social medium, the Bronze Age, was started.

中文翻译：

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瓦伦西纳：铜器时代的政体


一个世纪以来，铜器时代的伊比利亚（约公元前 3200-2200 年）一直被视为讨论早期社会复杂性的大实验室。然而，从实证的角度来看，大多数理论都是基础设施确定的，因为证据有限且仅限于少数地点。这种情况已经改变，因为更广泛的地点的高质量科学数据现在为新的理论方法提供了机会。我们提出了一种基于政治经济学和集体行动元素的新兴伊比利亚铜器时代社会组织的新视角。我们使用位于西班牙西南部的瓦伦西纳铜器时代巨型遗址来假设纪念性中心场所在早期复杂社会中发挥的关键作用。这个遗址和其他类似的遗址，吸引了大批人群，可能有数千人，为社会集会服务，沿着独特的新石器时代模式扩展了社会结构。纪念碑的建造，主要（但不限于）以巨石和废弃的围墙的形式，将人们聚集在一起，创造和维持一种归属感和合作感，同时控制自上而下的冲动，以实现更加专制和集中的政治组织。在新石器时代传统中，纪念碑似乎在不断扩大的企业社会群体中创造了与地方相关的身份。铜器时代的社会形态生活在一种“以纪念碑为导向”的生产模式中，在这种模式下，地方的建立和相关的纪念碑主义既有助于鼓励和“焚烧”剩余，否则这些剩余可能会被有抱负的领导人纵和控制。 作为这一过程的一部分，瓦伦西纳出现了独特的女性领导力，由由异国情调的原材料制成并由专家生产的奢华物品所支持的身份证明了这一点。围绕瓦伦西亚建立的作为纪念性中心场所的社交世界在 2300 年左右戛然而止，之后一种不同的社交媒体，青铜时代开始了。