clipped from: www.physorg.com   
Archaeologist Magnus Artursson at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, demonstrates in his thesis that societies during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age had a significantly more varied and complex structure than was previously thought. This power structure was based on social networks rather than on permanently established institutions. Society was organised into small and medium-sized chiefdoms that were typically involved in ongoing struggles for dominance between various powerful families.
Based on a discussion of previously-known and newly-discovered settlement material, the author of this thesis examines the development of society during the Late Neolithic and (2300 - 500 BC) from a community history perspective. Artursson also makes comparisons of the nature of grave and sacrificial material in order to create a more detailed picture of how societies looked and changed over time.