Bronze Age Iberia

In: Fokkens H., Harding A. (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of The European Bronze Age. — Oxford, 2013. — pp. 594-616.The Bronze Age in the Iberian Peninsula represents the period of time from c.2200 to 900 cal BC. In general terms its beginnings were marked by the onset of the crisis of the Copper Age societies of the Bell Beaker tradition, while its end coincided with the beginning of Phoenician colonial activity in the western Mediterranean. However, these two historical junctures did not affect every community in the same way and there was a considerable variety of forms of social organization during these approximately thirteen hundred years. More abundant and diverse archaeological evidence for the start of the Bronze Age has been found in the southern regions. Particularly outstanding is the El Argar group in the south-east of the peninsula, whose stratified sites and numerous funeral contexts have made it a fundamental chronocultural reference point and a source of constant interest for scholars.