The Copper Age Settlement of Valencina de la Concepcion (Seville, Spain): Demography, Metallurgy and Spatial Organization

This paper presents the results obtained from a review of the archaeological record available for the prehistoric site of Valencina de la Concepcion (Seville, Spain), one of the most important settlements of SW Iberia in the 3(rd) and 2(nd) millennia BC. Two main variables, namely demography and metallurgical production, are examined in the light of both conventional and spatial statistical methods (with particular emphasis on significance testing) with the aim of assessing the wider issue of social complexity. Among the various conclusions emerging from this empirical study, two stand out. Firstly, neither the correlation between the total extension of the settlement and the complexity of its internal organisation, nor the spatial delimitation between domestic/productive and funerary practices is as straightforward as previously claimed. Secondly, no simple, clear-cut statistical patterns are found in the spatial distribution of human remains or metal objects. These conclusions provide the basis for a critique of currently held interpretations of Valencina de la Concepcion as the political centre of an early state extending across the lower Guadalquivir valley.