The objective of this specific programme is to delve into the processes of change through which local groups became complex societies and the archaic states of Western Mediterranean protohistory were formed. Among its more concrete objectives, we can mention the analysis of the emergence of social inequality, competition for resources, demographic pressure, forms of territorial control and socio-political hierarchisation, through the study of diverse settlements and burial sites. Another of the objectives is the analysis of the contacts between cultures, both from the point of view of the influences and the resistance to change and cultural hybridisation in the Iberian world, Mediterranean Gaul and the Numidian civilisation, not only in the formative moments of these cultures, but also in the Romanisation period.
The programme is currently manifested in various projects in the Iberian world and North Africa. In Iberia the research is particularly focused on the areas of Ilercavonia, Cossetania and Ilergetia. The aim is to increase our knowledge of the structure and hierarchisation of the population and territory and the social structure and economy of these populations, as well as their evolution between the Early Iberian period and Romanisation. In North Africa, the research focuses on the Numidian-Roman town of Althiburos (Tunisia), with the aim of improving our understanding of the characteristics and diachronic development of the town during the first millennium BC. The objective is to document the processes of demographic growth, the technology of agricultural production and interaction with the Phoenician-Punic colonial world and the role this played in the sociocultural changes.
Consult the different associated projects:
