[EN] This paper argues that the emergence of social complexity in La Mancha during the Bronze Age has to be understood as a multiple process, which involves not only survey and excavation but also geographical and economic analyses and intraregional (core-periphery) interaction. During the last few decades, explanations of the emergence of complex social organization in the Bronze Age of La Mancha have been related to current anthropological theories, following shifting academic fashions. These interpretations range from the first evolutionist works linking La Mancha with the South-east of Iberia at the beginning of this century, to research in the 1980s, where two main theoretical approaches, Functionalism and Historical Materialism, have converged. The aim of this paper is to discuss these interpretations and to introduce the results of a recent project that deals with the development of the settlement pattern during the Bronze Age in norwestern La Mancha. I will try to analyze how the archaeological data has been used by a number scholars to justify the aplication of some theoretical approaches.

[ES] Este art?culo asume que el estudio del origen de la complejidad social en La Mancha ha de ser analizado no s?lo como un proceso que incluye la excavaci?n y estudio de yacimientos arqueol?gicos sino tambi?n el entorno geogr?fico y la distribuci?n y explotaci?n de recursos. Durante las ?ltimas d?cadas, el estudio del desarrollo social en la zona ha estado influido por diferentes corrientes interpretativas que van desde el Evolucionismo al Materialismo Hist?rico. Este art?culo pretende contrastar los diferentes trabajos efectuados en la zona a la luz de los resultados de un proyecto de investigaci?n desarrollado a principios de la d?cada de los 90 en el sector noroeste de La Mancha.