Prehistory and Protohistory in the Occidental Mediterranean

The development of several cultural phenomena dating back to the Copper Age took place in Europe throughout the second and first millennia BC. It can be especially analysed within the archaeological record of western Mediterranean sites, where several cultures such as El Argar, Cogotas and Talayotic groups developed a similar chronological period. Despite sharing some common features, they all display strong differences, which materialise into clear identity frames for each archaeological group.

Despite megalithism having disappeared in the second millenium BC, it experienced a remarkable flourish in the Balearic Islands with the construction of navetas, dolmenic structures shaped like an upside-down boat for multiple burials. A similar phenomenon developed in Sardinia, where the megalithic tradition led to the construction of the so called 'tombe dei giganti'.

The end of the Bronze Age was characterised by all these cultural transformations, which can clearly be seen on the archaeological record. On the one hand, with the development of the Talayotic Culture in Mallorca and Menorca, although displaying a differentiated cultural identity between both islands. On the other hand, the Levantine area of the Iberian Peninsula, where both the central European and Mediterranean influences resulted in the apparition of new social identities during the first millennium BC.

The main aim of the monograph is to analyse and explore from scientific and archaeological perspectives all the mentioned cultural developments, focusing on its antecedents and substrate as well as its consequences.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1789258227
• ISBN13: 9781789258226
• Release Date: February 2023
• Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited
• Length: 336 Pages