Archaeologists know that the first socio-economic differences began to appear in the Bronze Age, judging by the findings of graves. As we have already mentioned, it was at this age that people became sedentary thanks to the improvement of agricultural technology. If earlier people depended on nature, being under the chronic threat of hunger and having to look for animals to hunt and constantly collect fruit, now, with cultivation, they have an almost unlimited source of food.
But not everyone was so lucky. There were those who had managed to plant their crops on very fertile land, and they also knew how to cultivate the land, with more advantages. Their surplus was exchanged for other goods with other lucky farmers or artisans, bringing them a wide range of goods that gave them strength.
Others were not so lucky and either starved or had to work on someone else’s land in exchange for some food. Those who had the most influence gained more influence in the village, and those who had the least became its servants.
In other cases, those who were unlucky fought for what they wanted with sophisticated strategies. War for control of resources is something that is very important in the Bronze Age, and so it is not surprising that weapons are sophisticated. These tools were not about hunting animals, but about defending and attacking other people, stealing their crops, turning them into slaves, or killing them to appropriate their land.
Whatever the case, inequalities worsened over time, forcing those who had more to eventually occupy positions of power in the city. As cultures spread and improved, becoming great civilizations such as China, Mesopotamia or Egypt, their rulers, whether they were kings, emperors or pharaohs, probably came from farmers who in the Bronze Age found fertile land or they knew how to make good weapons.
As we move into the Bronze Age, we see that the graves of the elite were more elaborate and full of roses. All kinds of bronze and gold jewelry, expensive fabrics, and very well-designed ornaments are some of the items we can find in the tombs of those who were certainly the leader of prehistoric settlements. They were certainly not egalitarian societies.