6 - Centrefield: recent models of intensification and cultural change in south-east Spain

Summary

In chapter 5 I have evaluated the current evidence for subsistence and intensification of production by third- and second-millennium be cultures in south-east Spain. In spite of differences of opinion as to the form and scale of such intensification, models have been proposed to account for its causes and consequences. Such models relate intensification to five other variables: system scale, technological innovation, complexity, interaction and integration. As we have seen in chapter 1, such variables have been argued to be of importance in the emergence of complex cultures in the Aegean Bronze Age and elsewhere. How important were such variables, and their interaction one with another, in south-east Spain?

In the course of the next four chapters, I will try to answer this question by evaluating five models of the causes and consequences of intensification in south-east Spain. In part, this evaluation process is concerned with theoretical arguments, which place emphasis on the form and scale of the variables under discussion. Equally important is the degree to which we can give meaning to these variables in the archaeological record. Models are of little use if they are theoretically acceptable, but empirically impotent. As indicated in chapter 1, we look to find predictions in the model as to the form, scale and relationship (causal? temporal?) between variables. Ultimately we have to recognise that no single model is right or wrong, but that theoretical and empirical arguments highlight their individual strengths and weaknesses, and their potential for future research.