The question of proto-urban sites in Later Prehistoric Europe

Published in Origini n. XLII/2018. Rivista annuale del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità – “Sapienza” Università di Roma | Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche – Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations

Autore:

Anthony Harding

Editore:

Gangemi Editore

Anno:

2019

ISBN:

9788849244229

DRM:

Adobe (The downloaded file has the .acsm extension and is converted into the purchased format upon installation on your eReader)

€6.99

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Description

Many sites in prehistoric Europe consist of densely occupied settlements, sometimes with potentially large populations. The question is whether or not these show incipient urbanism (proto-urbanism). This article looks at four cultural phenomena where this might be claimed: the mega-sites of the Trypillia culture in Ukraine and Moldova, the palatial centres of Bronze Age Crete and mainland Greece, tells in Hungary, and Late Bronze Age forts in various parts of Europe. While some of these certainly show complex social organization and (in the case of Aegean palace sites) administrative and religious elements, in temperate Europe there is little or nothing on which to base an assertion that the sites were urban in nature.