This final chapter explores major themes covered in the book (mobility, taxonomies, development of the State, memory, landscapes, histories, violence, gender, age, and power), and proposes a series of topics for future investigation.

This chapter reviews the archaeological record for the late third and early second millennium BCE, which was associated with increasing individualism, militarism, social inequality, and territoriality. It includes a discussion of Bell Beakers and the Balearic Islands, which were first occupied at this time.

This chapter discusses the archaeological evidence for the Upper Paleolithic and the first anatomical modern human of the Iberian Peninsula. It surveys the art (portable and rock art) found in the different regions.

The dissolution of the EBA towns gives way to the 500-year-long interim period, characterized by small villages in areas suited for agro-pastoral economic strategies and a prominent mortuary culture.

The Conclusion briefly recapitulates some of the unifying themes of the volume: the tension between connectivity and isolation, power and egalitarian principles, continuity and violent disruption.

The start of the EBA is marked by a simple Mediterranean village culture; it ends with the growth of 10- to 20-hectare mega-villages reflecting the social power garnered by village leaders and their ability to create surplus through cereal, vine and olive cultivation. It also marks a period of increasing interaction with pre-dynastic Egypt, culminating in the creation of the first Egyptian “colony” in the Levant.

The dissolution of the EBA towns gives way to the 500-year-long interim period, characterized by small villages in areas suited for agro-pastoral economic strategies and a prominent mortuary culture.

The movement of people and ideas from north to south and the renewal of trade with Egypt instigated a revival of settlement in the Levant, first along the coast and valleys, then in the highlands. Fortified ritual centers become foci of integrated polities with flourishing crafts, marking the high-water mark of second millennium Canaanite culture.

In Early Bronze II some of the central traits of Near Eastern urbanism were adopted across the southern Levant, including aggregations in fortified centers, the adoption of corporate governance, the creation of standardized commodities and the concentration of staple goods. It is followed by a far less balanced system (EB III), characterized by massive fortification, the disappearance of villages, and the arrival of “Khirbet Kerak” migrants.

In Early Bronze II some of the central traits of Near Eastern urbanism were adopted across the southern Levant, including aggregations in fortified centers, the adoption of corporate governance, the creation of standardized commodities and the concentration of staple goods. It is followed by a far less balanced system (EB III), characterized by massive fortification, the disappearance of villages, and the arrival of “Khirbet Kerak” migrants.