This paper discusses the degree of social complexity in southeastern Europe in the fifth millennium BC and presents previously unreported evidence from the tell societies of the Lower Danube. Based on the analysis of stone, flint, and copper axes of various types from Pietrele in southern Romania, I argue that social distinction, as deduced from the Varna cemetery, also can be identified in contemporary neighboring regions with poorer burial rituals. In these societies, some members distinguished themselves by their access and accumulation of prestigious items, with a special emphasis on axes, adzes, and shaft-hole axes. This socioeconomic constellation was ideal for the adoption of metallurgy, which was considerably developed for the production of prestigious axe heads. These, in turn, stimulated innovation in other crafts and materials. Distribution patterns, source-critical consideration, and new excavation results indicate that the social order visible in the cemetery of Varna was not limited to the western Black Sea coast but was shared by neighboring communities, where the social reality was masked in seemingly egalitarian funeral rites. Through this discussion, I also bring in recent evidence for early metallurgy in southwestern Asia.

中文翻译：

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“金属之王”的新研究：东南欧洲铜器时代的社会区分制度

本文讨论了公元前五千年在东南欧的社会复杂程度，并提出了来自下多瑙河告诉社会的以前未报道的证据。基于对罗马尼亚南部彼得雷勒的各种类型的石，火石和铜轴的分析，我认为，根据瓦尔纳公墓推论得出的社会区别，在具有较弱葬礼的当代邻国地区也可以确定。在这些社会中，一些成员以其出入和积累有名望的物品而著称，特别着重于轴，ad子和轴孔轴。这种社会经济格局非常适合采用冶金技术，而冶金技术在生产久负盛名的斧头方面已得到了很大发展。反过来，这些刺激了其他工艺和材料的创新。分布模式，对物源的考虑以及新的挖掘结果表明，瓦尔纳公墓中可见的社会秩序不仅限于黑海西部沿海地区，而是由邻近社区共享的，在这些社区中，社会现实被看似平等的葬礼仪式掩盖了。通过讨论，我还介绍了西南亚早期冶金的最新证据。