THINK SOCIAL! – HILLFORTS BEYOND CENTRALITY AND ELITES
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-01-07

The Bronze Age is widely perceived as a time of economic change. With the transition from stone tools to their metal counterparts comes a wave of changes within the social sphere. But apart from theorizing on the emergence of an “elite” archaeological engagement with the structure of society itself is mostly conducted in piecemeal fashion. Most studies that tackle the subject focusing on graves and limit themselves therefore to a simple distinction between object ensembles that we perceive today as “rich” or “poor”. The inner structure of these societies remain nebulous. This paper argues that we can use Hillforts as a proxy to gain a glance at the extend of social organization in Bronze Age Europe. Hillforts are a monumental expression of the societies that created them. Their study beyond their military function and the attribution of centrality can yield imprints of the social structures that were in place during their construction. The presentation is based on research from a joint LOEWE project that connects sociology and archaeology. It will try to utilize Hillforts as a focal point to apply theory and methods that decent from socio geography. Alongside it will address topics like (proto)-urbanization, flows of goods, planning, resilience and identity.


Author(s): Linde, Lennart (Goethe University Frankfurt)