Marxist perspectives on social organization in the central European Early Bronze Age

Following the rise of the so-called ‘New Archaeology’, there was a marked increase in the number of archaeological studies attempting to understand social organization, and explain social change, in prehistory. Various theoretical approaches have been used, but the one which is considered here is the Marxist perspective. This standpoint has been used in the analysis of a wide range of social forms, from Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers (Gilman 1984) to late prehispanic Mesoamerican civilizations (Gledhill 1984). Marxist models have also been used in studies of social organization in the European Early Bronze Age (for example Otto 1955, Gilman 1981).