ABSTRACT
Metalworking and social complexity have traditionally been considered as related traits. It is often claimed that goldworking only developed in complex and politically centralised societies. There is a large body of literature which supports such a view for diverse regions, such as England and the Mediterranean (Renfrew
1972), Denmark (Kristiansen 1978), Borneo (Harrison and Stanley 1970), and lower Central America (Helms 1979; Roosevelt 1979; Snarskis 1984). Moreover, in some cases the emergence of social ranking is seen as resulting from the availability of valuable metal goods and the development of their production (see Renfrew 1986). In contrast, for other authors-notably Rowlands (1971)—ethnographic information does not support the hypothesis that metalworking necessarily correlates with social complexity, or that it played a significant role in the emergence of complex societies.
