Way Of Life And Rationale For The Peasant Economy: Bronze Age Communities In The Northern Areas Of El Argar

El Argar is one of the most remarkable Bronze Age archaeological cultures of the Iberian Peninsula, due to the magnitude of some of its infrastructures and the quality of its g rave goods. This has led part of the research community to suggest that it may have been state-like in nature. However, not many studies reveal how this social development had to be grounded in the labour of peasant groups. Accordingly, this paper aims to more thoroughly analyse the rationale linked to the peas-ant economy and ways of life among the Argaric communities living in the northern areas of the El Argar social space. It also addresses the mechanisms used by the dominant groups to appropriate sur plus product and labour from these peasant communities, thereby taking the first steps towards the institutionalization of social inequalities.