The relationship between residence, gender and mobility is central to the study of early social complexity. And yet, until recently, it was deemed as archaeologically intractable. The recent combination of strontium data and genomics with other methods has opened up entirely new possibilities for the archaeological study of human mobility, but these advances are not without problems. Theoretical framing, empirical accuracy and data interpretation remain controversial. In this paper we address the relationship between residence patterns, gender and mobility among early complex societies, combining both ethnographic and archaeological evidence. Our approach focuses on Chalcolithic Iberia, a period in which the stage for emerging social complexity was set. The possible existence of male-centered residential patterns and their possible connection with conflict, social complexity and gender inequalities is examined. The available data on strontium isotopes suggest women were more frequently buried in places different from those where they grew up, which can be linked to bilocality biased to patrilocality, especially in the so called ‘mega-sites’. While preliminary, this body of evidence opens up fresh lines of enquiry for the study of early complex societies, highlights the benefits of combining different kinds of evidence, and underlines the centrality of gender in the social analysis.

居住地、性别和流动性之间的关系是研究早期社会复杂性的核心。然而，直到最近，它还被认为在考古学上是难以解决的。最近锶数据和基因组学与其他方法的结合为人类活动的考古研究开辟了全新的可能性，但这些进展并非没有问题。理论框架、经验准确性和数据解释仍然存在争议。在本文中，我们结合了民族志和考古学证据，探讨了早期复杂社会中居住模式、性别和流动性之间的关系。我们的方法侧重于铜石时代的伊比利亚，这是一个为新兴社会复杂性奠定基础的时期。研究了以男性为中心的居住模式的可能存在及其与冲突、社会复杂性和性别不平等的可能联系。有关锶同位素的可用数据表明，女性更频繁地被埋葬在与她们长大的地方不同的地方，这可能与偏向于父权的两地性有关，尤其是在所谓的“巨型地点”。虽然是初步的，但这些证据为早期复杂社会的研究开辟了新的探究路线，突出了结合不同类型证据的好处，并强调了性别在社会分析中的中心地位。这可能与偏向于父权的两地性有关，尤其是在所谓的“巨型地点”中。虽然是初步的，但这些证据为早期复杂社会的研究开辟了新的探究路线，突出了结合不同类型证据的好处，并强调了性别在社会分析中的中心地位。这可能与偏向于父权的两地性有关，尤其是在所谓的“巨型地点”中。虽然是初步的，但这些证据为早期复杂社会的研究开辟了新的探究路线，突出了结合不同类型证据的好处，并强调了性别在社会分析中的中心地位。