The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Ideology, change and the European Early Bronze Age
Abstract
Shennan examines economic, political and ideological change in the development of a bronze industry and in the appearance of particularly rich graves at the end of the Neolithic and beginning of the Bronze Age in Europe. In Wessex, southeast Spain and Brittany there is evidence for the development first of a hierarchy legitimated by communal ritual, and later by the naturalisation of hierarchy in the material symbols associated with individuals, for example at burial. There was thus a change in the representation of social hierarchy. In central Europe, on the other hand, the growth of a hierarchy is associated directly with individual burial differentiation. The adoption of the latter mode of representation in western Europe was associated with the spread of Bell Beakers and the overall structure, which is characterised by continual change and search for material items of prestige, plays a part in the development of the Early Bronze Age metal industry. It is emphasised that both the local and interregional contexts need to be examined in the explanation of change. The end of the Neolithic and the beginning of the Bronze Age ( c . 2500–1500 BC) have long been seen as a period of significant change in European prehistory. This inference has been based on the marked changes visible in certain aspects of the archaeological record in many parts of Europe at this time, and also on the assumption implicit in the Three Age system that the transition from one age to another must be of considerable importance. Two aspects of the archaeological record have elicited particular attention, the appearance of bronze artefacts and that of burials containing relatively spectacular grave goods.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Finally, among the living, ritual was supplanted by prestige as a means of regulating society (Shennan 1982; Thorpe and Richards 1984).”
From Art (Pre)History: Ritual, Narrative and Visual Culture in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe (2020) · cites this paper as Shennan 1982
Citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Warrior's Beauty: The Masculine Body and Self-Identity in Bronze-Age Europe
Treherne, P. (1995) · Journal of European Archaeology · doi:10.1179/096576695800688269 · Cited by 343
“…the individual, played out most conspicuously in mortuary rituals involving the display and consumption of exotic ('prestige') goods and practices acquired through long-distance relations of emulation and exchange between ascendant groups (Shennan 1982a; 1982c; 1986b; 1993; Champion et al. 1984).”
InfluentialChiefdoms in Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Perspective
Earle, T. (1987) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.an.16.100187.001431 · Cited by 318
The Archaeology of Equality and Inequality
Paynter, R. (1989) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.an.18.100189.002101 · Cited by 231
Brück, J. (2004) · Journal of Social Archaeology · doi:10.1177/1469605304046417 · Cited by 193
“The change from communal to single burial is often argued to indicate the emergence of an ‘ideology of the individual’ (Clarke et al., 1985; Renfrew, 1974; Shennan, 1982).”
BackgroundRobb, J. (2010) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.2010.520856 · Cited by 180
Some political aspects of craft specialization
Peregrine, P. N. (1991) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.1991.9980155 · Cited by 139
Robb, J. (1998) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.27.1.329 · Cited by 115
Emergent Tribal Formations in the American Midcontinent
Bender, B. (1985) · American Antiquity · doi:10.2307/280633 · Cited by 113
Mapuche ceremonial landscape, social recruitment and resource rights
Dillehay, T. D. (1990) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.1990.9980142 · Cited by 114
Hodder, I. (1984) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00055940 · Cited by 106
“…structuralism of LeroiGourhan (1967), Deetz (1977) and Glassie (1975), the cognitive accounts of Kehoe (1973) or Muller (1977)~ the various materialist studies of ideology (Tilley, 1981; Rowlands, 1980; Shennan, 1982) or of archaeological interpretations as ideology (Meltzer, 1981 ; Leone, 1978).”
BackgroundDeath, identity and the body in neolithic Britain
Thomas, J. (2000) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.1111/1467-9655.00038 · Cited by 80
Time in the reproduction of mortuary practices
Mizoguchi, K. (1993) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.1993.9980239 · Cited by 81
Theory and Practice in Archaeology
Hodder, I. (2004) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203645307 · Cited by 78
People of Stone: Stelae, Personhood, and Society in Prehistoric Europe
Robb, J. (2009) · Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · doi:10.1007/s10816-009-9066-z · Cited by 71
Settlement and social change in central Europe, 3500?1500 BC
Shennan, S. J. (1993) · Journal of World Prehistory · doi:10.1007/bf00975449 · Cited by 69
Self-citationArchaeology’s Humanism and the Materiality of the Body
Thomas, J. (2002) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-0693-5_2 · Cited by 77
Death, exchange and reproduction in the British Bronze Age
Brück, J. (2006) · European Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.1177/1461957107077707 · Cited by 66
The narrative and rhetoric of material culture sequences
Hodder, I. (1993) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.1993.9980243 · Cited by 65
Rethinking the Great Divide: Long‐Term Structural History and the Temporality of Event
Harding, J. (2005) · Norwegian Archaeological Review · doi:10.1080/00293650510032707 · Cited by 51
“The logic of this argument is clearly observable in many accounts of prehistoric society, especially those that create structural histories for various slices of the Neolithic and early Bronze Age (e.g. Renfrew 1973, Shennan 1982, Thorpe & Richards 1984).”
BackgroundAnimate objects: a biography of prehistoric ‘axe-amulets’ in the central Mediterranean region
Skeates, R. (1995) · Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society · doi:10.1017/s0079497x00003108 · Cited by 50
Island identities: ritual, travel and the creation of difference in Neolithic Malta
Robb, J. (2001) · European Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.1179/eja.2001.4.2.175 · Cited by 49
“In many areas, particularly in mainland Europe, new social orders incorporated a heightened symbolic focus upon the public consumption of exotic goods by individuals (Shennan 1982; Sherratt 1994).”
Background12 What Do Things Want? Object Design as a Middle Range Theory of Material Culture
Robb, J. (2015) · Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association · doi:10.1111/apaa.12069 · Cited by 44
Dolfini, A. (2019) · Journal of Archaeological Research · doi:10.1007/s10814-019-09141-w · Cited by 43
“505 1 3 Journal of Archaeological Research (2020) 28:503–556 Working within (broadly defined) postprocessual frameworks, Shennan (1982), Thorpe and Richards (1984), and Braithwaite (1984) maintained that late Neolithic Europe underwent fundamental changes in the nature of social relations.”
BackgroundWomen, Death and Social Change in the British Bronze Age
Brück, J. (2009) · Norwegian Archaeological Review · doi:10.1080/00293650902907151 · Cited by 42
A Non-local Source of Irish Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Gold
Standish, C. D., Dhuime, B., Hawkesworth, C. J., & Pike, A. W. G. (2015) · Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society · doi:10.1017/ppr.2015.4 · Cited by 40
A Crisis of Identity: Late Classic Competition and Interaction on the Southeast Maya Periphery
Schortman, E., & Nakamura, S. (1991) · Latin American Antiquity · doi:10.2307/971781 · Cited by 36
“Interregional interaction, intersocietal elite-identity systems, and local political hierarchies are all closely related (the Hopewell [Braun 1986; Brose and Greber 1979], Chavin [Patterson 1971], and Bell Beaker interaction networks [Shennan 1982,1986] also exemplify this process).”
BackgroundLa novia vendida: orfebrería, herencia y agricultura en la Protohistoria de la Península Ibérica
Priego, M. R.-G. (1992) · SPAL Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Sevilla · doi:10.12795/spal.1992.i1.11 · Cited by 36
Shennan, S. J. (1986) · Journal of Anthropological Archaeology · doi:10.1016/0278-4165(86)90011-5 · Cited by 34
Self-citationLiangzhu – a late Neolithic jade-yielding culture in southeastern coastal China
Huang, T. (1992) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00081059 · Cited by 34
Social Hierarchy and Burial Treatments: A Comparative Assessment
Kamp, K. A. (1998) · Cross-Cultural Research · doi:10.1177/106939719803200103 · Cited by 31
Argonauts of the North Sea - a Social Maritime Archaeology for the 2nd Millennium BC
de Noort, R. V. (2006) · Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society · doi:10.1017/s0079497x00000852 · Cited by 32
“…is a degree of consensus on the importance of access to, and control of, exotic or ‘prestige goods’ in terms of underpinning status and prestige (eg Shennan 1982; 1988; Bradley 1984; Barrett 1994; Harding 2000), a concept initially based on structural Marxist and, more recently, neo-Marxist…”
Art (Pre)History: Ritual, Narrative and Visual Culture in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe
Robb, J. (2020) · Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · doi:10.1007/s10816-020-09471-w · Cited by 30
“Finally, among the living, ritual was supplanted by prestige as a means of regulating society (Shennan 1982; Thorpe and Richards 1984).”
BackgroundToward an interpretation of the role of ideology in the evolution of complex society in Egypt
Bard, K. A. (1992) · Journal of Anthropological Archaeology · doi:10.1016/0278-4165(92)90008-y · Cited by 29
Identity Politics: Personhood, Kinship, Gender and Power in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain
Fowler, C. (2005) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/0-306-48695-4_6 · Cited by 25
Transforming Identities – New Approaches to Bronze Age Deposition in Ireland
Becker, K. (2013) · Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society · doi:10.1017/ppr.2013.8 · Cited by 24
“NEW APPROACHES TO BA DEPOSITION IN IRELAND in burials are often thought to indicate social status (cf. Shennan 1982) and thus to directly reflect the identity of the person buried; recent debates (eg, Brück 2004) also highlight the agency of the mourners in the selection of burial goods.”
BackgroundA social prehistory of European languages
Robb, J. E. (1993) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00063766 · Cited by 25
Public displays and private values: A guide to buried wealth in Harappan archaeology
Rissman, P. C. (1988) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.1988.9980068 · Cited by 19
Lillios, K. T. (2014) · European Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.1179/1461957114y.0000000069 · Cited by 18
“Some have argued that new ways of envisioning the human body and changing notions of the individual and identity were linked to this transformation (Shennan, 1982; Brück, 2004).”
BackgroundEnfoques teóricos en Arqueología
Gonzalo, A. H. (1992) · SPAL Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Sevilla · doi:10.12795/spal.1992.i1.01 · Cited by 17
Quinn, C. P. (2014) · Journal of Anthropological Archaeology · doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2014.10.003 · Cited by 17
Trends in the Study of Later European Prehistory
Shennan, S. J. (1987) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.an.16.100187.002053 · Cited by 13
Self-citationArtefatos e vozes ativas: cultura material como discurso social
Beaudry, M. C., Cook, L. J., & Mrozowski, S. A. (2007) · Vestígios - Revista Latino-Americana de Arqueologia Histórica · doi:10.31239/vtg.v1i2.10731 · Cited by 13
Derevenski, J. S. (2002) · European Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.1177/14619571020050020301 · Cited by 12
Social change in the Later Neolithic of Central Europe
Starling, N. J. (1985) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00056568 · Cited by 12
Derevenski, J. S. (2002) · European Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.1179/eja.2002.5.2.191 · Cited by 16
“Many discussions of Beaker material revolve around questions of prestige and its relation to gender (e.g. Shennan 1982; Braithwaite 1984; Sherratt 1991; Barrett 1994; Case 1995; Brodie 1997).”
BackgroundEL MUNDO FUNERARIO CALCOLÍTICO DE LA REGIÓN DE MADRID
Almela, R. A. (2008) · Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid · doi:10.15366/cupauam2008.34.002 · Cited by 11
COMPLEX SOCIETIES IN COPPER AND BRONZE AGE IBERIA: A REAPPRAISAL
Díaz‐Andreu, M. (1995) · Oxford Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0092.1995.tb00054.x · Cited by 10
Ethnic dynamics during pre- and proto-history of Sicily
Tusa, S. (2000) · Journal of Cultural Heritage · doi:10.1016/s1296-2074(00)01067-0 · Cited by 9
Mortuary Behavior, Labor Organization, and Social Rank
Trinkaus, K. M. (1995) · Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology/Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology · doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-1310-4_3 · Cited by 9
Warrior graves reconsidered: metal, power and identity in Copper Age Italy
Dolfini, A. (2021) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438243.2021.2013307 · Cited by 9
Jirikowic, C. (1991) · North American Archaeologist · doi:10.2190/w61v-lnh2-0m60-wafg · Cited by 7
Ruíz-Gálvez, M., & Priego (1994) · Journal of European Archaeology · doi:10.1179/096576694800719229 · Cited by 6
Guerra, M. Á. R., Peña, R. G., Dauchez, G. M., et al. (2005) · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Cited by 6
Cabrera, G. M., González, F. R. M., Hernández, F. M. A., et al. (1991) · Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Granada · doi:10.30827/cpag.v16i0.1302 · Cited by 6
Interpretative trajectories toward understanding personhoods in prehistory
Budja, M. (2012) · Documenta Praehistorica · doi:10.4312/dp.39.10 · Cited by 5
“Many authors have argued that differences between burials in the quantity and character of the grave goods indicate that social position was based on the ability to acquire and display prestige goods (e.g., Shennan 1982; Bradley 1984; Thorpe, Richards 1984; Kristiansen 1998).”
BackgroundUnderstanding Past Peoples by Listening
Carr, C. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-44917-9_2 · Cited by 1
Priest-Kings or Puritans? Childe and Willing Subordination in the Indus
Coningham, R. A. E., & Manuel, M. (2009) · European Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.1177/1461957109339691 · Cited by 1
“…early 1980s that questioned whether deliberately deposited artefacts reflect social relations, but rather that there is potential for the manipulation of material culture by dominant groups who seek political legitimacy (Hodder 1982; Miller and Tilley 1984; Shanks and Tilley 1982; Shennan 1982;).”
BackgroundTransformaciones sociales en el Neolítico final de la Europa templada (4000-2000 a.C.)
Kristiansen, K. (1989) · Trabajos de Prehistoria · doi:10.3989/tp.1989.v46.i0.587 · Cited by 1
Fluid identities, shifting sands
Lelong, O., Booth, T., Evans, J., et al. (2018) · Scottish archaeological internet reports/Scottish archaeological internet report · doi:10.9750/issn.2056-7421.2018.75.1-70 · Cited by 1
Recent approaches to the archeological study of mortuary practices
Buikstra, J. E. (1987) · Reviews in Anthropology · doi:10.1080/00988157.1987.9977844 · Cited by 1
Fear of flying, or how to save your own paradigm
Zvelebil, M. (1992) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00039533 · Cited by 1
(1985) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00056544 · Cited by 1
Nuevos útiles perforados del interior de Galicia : una reflexión sobre el momento epimegalítico
Valcarce, R. F. (1992) · Espacio Tiempo y Forma Serie I Prehistoria y Arqueología · doi:10.5944/etfi.5.1992.4569
ENFOQUES TEORICOS EN ARQUEOLOGIA por
Gonzalo, A. H. (1992) · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja)
A SEMIOTIC AP ROACH ON INDONESIAN MEG ,LITHS STUDY
Sudar, T. (1999)
(1984) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00055927
černá, L. (2022) · Študijné zvesti Archeologického ústavu SAV · doi:10.31577/szausav.2022.69.13
Expanding the Theoretical: Processual and Post-processual Archaeologies 1960–1990
Murray, T. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-11846-2_10
Becoming post-Neolithic: Social Process and Transformation in Southern Italian Deathways
Thompson, J. E., Panella, S., Soncin, S., et al. (2026) · Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society · doi:10.1017/ppr.2026.10097
Cuesta, A. V. (2009) · Arqueoweb: Revista sobre Arqueología en Internet
Metadata
- Authors
- Shennan, S.
- Corresponding author
- Shennan, Stephen
- ORCID
- Shennan, Stephen
- Venue
- Symbolic and Structural Archaeology
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Published
- 1982-08-12
- Pages
- 155-161
- OpenAlex
- W2989776839
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 40.42
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- British Academy
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Archaeological and Geological Studies
- Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Keywords
- Early Bronze Age, Neolithic to Bronze Age transition, social hierarchy, ideology, grave goods, collective ritual, prestige goods, Bell Beaker, Wessex, Brittany, southeastern Spain, Central Europe, three-age system
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
