Was Genealogy a Powerful Cultural Construct in Prehistory?
Was Genealogy a Powerful Cultural Construct in Prehistory?

Summary/Abstract: The Early Bronze Age in the Balkan-Carpathian region includes, chronologically, the cultures from about the mid-fourth millennium BC to the end of the third millennium BC. The archaeological database is extremely rich and includes data on numerous settlements, burials, metal finds, and so on. This research discusses four angles: genealogy and homeostatic levelling; genealogy and cultural span; genealogy and wealth; and genealogy and social stratification. The archaeological data is ambiguous and the construction of cultural models mostly rests upon hypotheses which also rely on future precise excavations. The work shows that genealogy could be a factor in homeostatic levelling, and it may have had an impact on the development of the concept of wealth in prehistory and the development of peculiarities of social stratification in the various parts of the Balkan-Carpathian region. Future research may enrich or update the current state of insights into the anthropology and sociology of the Balkan-Carpathian region, one of the key regions in Eurasian prehistory for the development of human civilization.

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