From the earliest farmers to the first urban centres: a socio-economic analysis of underground storage practices in north-eastern Iberia

Abstract

The evolution of storage features in prehistory has been linked to larger socio-economic and demographic changes. The investigation of such an evolution in the archaeological record, however, is restricted in scope, both geographically and chronologically. This article offers a comparative approach to understanding the development of Neolithic to Late Iron Age ( c. 5600–50 BC) farming communities in north-eastern Iberia, based on diachronic changes in the volume and shape of underground storage silos. Results indicate that variations in silo capacity and morphology correlate with archaeological evidence for long-term socio-economic changes within these prehistoric and protohistoric farming communities.