Session: #615

Content:

In the Copper Age and until the end of the Bronze Age (ca. 4000-500 BCE), very different settlement patterns and dynamics can be observed in Europe. We can identify various settlement types ranging from farmsteads, hamlets or village-like structures up to fortified settlements and the so-called mega-sites in different regions at the same time. The developments of house layouts differ on a temporal scale and even within individual settlements, likely in response to economic activities, but possibly also by socio-political organizational structures. Additionally, for some regions we can recognise a connection between changes in house and settlement structures to climatic events. Yet, a more extensive evaluation of the interplay between different factors – particularly climatic events – on supra-regional and internal settlement patterns is missing. To deepen this discussion, we ask the following questions: How did people live together and organise themselves in the European Copper and Bronze Ages? Where, when, and how can we possibly identify particular settlement patterns, considering possible problems in determining contemporaneity? Is there a correlation between house or settlement structures and changing climatic conditions or are recognized patterns related to other factors like settlement size, site location, network integration, economy (e.g. subsistence strategies, metal production, etc.)? Are certain spatio-temporal differences detectable? Our focus is not limited to one area, but to the whole of Europe, in order to gather and discuss an overview of the research regarding these issues. With this session, we would like to bring together different studies on settlement structures and climate of the Copper and Bronze Ages. Contributions are invited from archaeology (including its sub-disciplines) and climate science, as well as environmental science, ecology, and demographic studies.

Session: #615

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