The question of proto-urban sites in Later Prehistoric Europe

Many sites in prehistoric Europe consist of densely occupied settlements, sometimes with potentially large populations. The question is whether or not these show incipient urbanism (proto-urbanism). This article looks at four cultural phenomena where this might be claimed: the mega-sites of the Trypillia culture in Ukraine and Moldova, the palatial centres of Bronze Age Crete and mainland Greece, tells in Hungary, and Late Bronze Age forts in various parts of Europe. While some of these certainly show complex social organization and (in the case of Aegean palace sites) administrative and religious elements, in temperate Europe there is little or nothing on which to base an assertion that the sites were urban in nature.