Durkheimian division of labour in fifth millennium BC metallurgically competent societies of southeastern Europe

This article addresses the social organization of fifth-millennium BC metallurgically capable Kodžadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI and intra-Carpathian Bodrogkeresztúr communities. It articulates a conceptual framework for interpreting human aspects of Chalcolithic copper metallurgy in experimental archaeology, recent information from archaeogenetics and human stable-isotope dietary values, as well as archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological information, and the political anthropology of rank, to address the increased division of labour and community organization. The approach can be contrasted with views that associate the Chalcolithic in southeastern Europe with stratification and coercive power. Kodžadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI and intra-Carpathian Bodrogkeresztúr communities were distinctive for diversity rather than stratification.