Atlantic Complex

  General Description   The Early Bronze Age on the Atlantic seaboard of Western Europe lasted from around 1800 to 1300 BCE. ^[1] Several technological and social changes marked this period, taking place in an area expanding over what is now the south of England, west and central France, and Flanders, ^[2] but also Portugal and Spain. ^[3] Metals were used to craft new types of weapons and ornaments, beginning with copper and then bronze axes, used for working wood and individual defence, ^[4] and culminating in more complex forms of weaponry like swords, daggers and halberds. ^[5] However, most of the artefacts characterizing this period were items of personal jewellery such as torcs, anklets, and pins. ^[6] The trade of these materials formed a vast European network of exchange. ^[6]
Population and political organization
Over the course of the Early Bronze Age, several trends originating in the Beaker period were reinforced: political integration was one of them. Two tiers of social hierarchy can be inferred from burial patterns. While most of these differences were tied to individual achievements over one’s lifetime, social status could also be inherited. Indeed, children have been found in elite burials containing prestigious items, contrasting with the much simpler tombs of commoners. ^[6]
The construction of fortified settlements intensified, following a two-tiered settlement hierarchy. Simple hamlets corresponded to one or more extended families. Elsewhere, small fortified towns were built on raised areas of land and surrounded by walls and ditches. ^[7]

[1]: (Peregrine 2001, 412) Peregrine, P. N. 2001. Western European Earlier Bronze Age. In Peregrine, P.N. and M. Ember (eds) Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Volume 4: Europe, pp.412-414. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XHZC4QMJ.

[2]: (Mordant 2013, 573) Mordant, Claude. 2013. The Bronze Age in France. In Fokkens, H. and A. Harding (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age, pp. 571-593. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QX9UG55P.

[3]: (Otte 2008, 276) Otte, Marcel. 2008. La protohistoire, 2è édition. Bruxelles: de Boeck. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2PQEDZ2I.

[4]: (Ghesquière in Macigny et al. 2005, 23) Cyril Marcigny, Cécile Colonna, Emmanuel Ghesquière, Guy Verron (eds) 2005. La Normandie à l’aube de l’Histoire. Les découvertes archéologiques de l’âge du Bronze 2300-800 av. J.C. Somogy, Paris. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3ZA57Q27

[5]: (Ghesquière in Macigny et al 2005, 23) Marcigny, Cyril, Cécile Colonna, Emmanuel Ghesquière, and Guy Verron. 2005. La Normandie à L’aube de L’histoire : Les Découvertes Archéologiques de L’âge Du Bronze 2300-800 Av. J.-C. Paris: Somogy éd. d’art. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3ZA57Q27.

[6]: (Peregrine 2001, 413) Peregrine, P. N. 2001. Western European Earlier Bronze Age. In Peregrine, P.N. and M. Ember (eds) Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Volume 4: Europe, pp.412-414. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XHZC4QMJ.

[7]: (Peregrine 2001, 412-413) Peregrine, P. N. 2001. Western European Earlier Bronze Age. In Peregrine, P.N. and M. Ember (eds) Encyclopedia of Prehistory. Volume 4: Europe, pp.412-414. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/XHZC4QMJ.