Regional development and interaction in south-east Spain (6000-1000 b.c.).

This study is concerned with the emergence and subsequent development of
agricultural communities in south-east Spain. Using different scales of
analysis and a wide range of data it focuses on regional variations in
social, political and economic organization between the Early Neolithic
and Argaric Bronze Age. Particular attention has been given to evaluating
patterns of regional variation and the processes which underlie these
patterns. A systematic survey (Chapter 4) provides much needed information
about Neolithic-Bronze Age settlement in a regional context.
Another important, and complimentary, part of this research is concerned
with cultural development and variability at a larger scale. This
second level of analysis (Chapter 5) is an examination of mortuary
practices on an inter-regional scale and involves more than 2000 Copper
Age and Bronze Age tombs. The conclusion (Chapter 6) is an attempt to
place cultural developments in south-east Spain in a wider context.
These discussions emphasize the dynamic relationship between ecological
and cultural processes, and draw important distinctions between the
growth of agricultural communities in the humid, as opposed to the semiarid,
zones of south-east Spain. The contrast between these two zones
is clearly reflected by differences in social ranking, prestige displays,
economic intensification, and settlement evolution. More importantly,
perhaps, the nature of ecological-cultural interaction from 6000-1000
b. c. in south-east Spain provides valuable information about the growth
and variability of complex societies.