Kinship and gender in Bronze Age Argaric society

This chapter explores kinship and gender in the Early Bronze Age society of El Argar (2200–1550 cal BCE) in southeast Iberia, with a focus on the site of La Almoloya (Murcia, Spain). Our interdisciplinary approach combines archaeological and archaeogenetic analyses, using recent genetic statistical tools. Before analyzing the data, we review the concepts of ‘kinship’ and ‘family’, challenging the Modern-era view of heteronormative patriarchal structures as ‘natural’, and provide a historiographical overview of past hypotheses on Argaric kinship. Results suggest that Argaric communities were open and shaped by high mobility—mainly female—and social alliances—often expressed in double burials. While patrilocality is attested at La Almoloya—now further supported by the detection of new 3rd-degree genetic relationships—other kinship structures likely coexisted. Expanding the DNA sample both geographically and chronologically is crucial for verifying whether these conclusions, drawn primarily from a single site, hold more broadly. This would deepen our understanding of the social transformations that occurred in southeast Iberia during the El Argar period.