ABSTRACT
The Early Bronze Age of southern England1 is one of the most intensively researched areas in British archaeology. Yet, evidence for Early Bronze Age settlements is peculiarly lacking. Very few settlements have ever been discovered and their absence from the archaeological record is one of the classic problems of British Bronze Age studies (Childe 1940: 98; Simpson 1971: 131). In this chapter, I argue that the apparent invisibility of settlements in this period is not a feature of the archaeological record but results from our own engagement with the data. It is a product of contemporary expectations, values and perceptions and of the way in which Early Bronze Age sites have been categorized. I consider how a critique of current conceptual frameworks may provide fresh insights into this question and I propose an alternative model that may enhance our understanding of the data.
