How settlement data can counterbalance male warrior elite narratives of the Bronze Age: thoughts and suggestions for future research

Abstract

Northwest European Late Neolithic and Bronze Age societies are supposedly ruled by powerful elites who dominated critical resources and knowledge. The role of women in these societies and gender roles in general are hardly debated. I argue that this image of Late Neolithic and Bronze Age societies is distorted because the evidence for male elites is mainly based on burial evidence. In particular, from the moment onwards when weapons are presented as grave gifts to the ancestors, a neo-evolutionary interpretation of the grave goods strongly overrepresents men and their roles in society.

Moreover, if one studies settlement remains from the periods in question, hardly any evidence can be found

for these male elites. Rather, when critically analysing essential tasks in farming communities, it becomes clear that female tasks must have been just as important as male tasks. Therefore, I argue that we have to place a greater focus on settlement data and apply a more holistic approach to farming life in order to create a more balanced and diverse view of gender roles in Late Neolithic and Bronze Age societies.