Editing Halland (section)

===Early history===
The [[Bronze Age]] was probably a period of relative prosperity in Halland. This is shown in the number of new settlements and the numerous archaeological remains. Over 1,100 tumuli and grave mounds have been found.

The [[Late Bronze Age collapse|end of the Bronze Age]] witnessed an [[Overconsumption (economics)|over-consumption of resources]]. Large areas were deforested. This might have been a result of a high demand for charcoal in smelting [[gold]] or [[bronze]] among the local elites.

The worsening climate at the beginning of the [[Iron Age]] meant that the local elites no longer could obtain [[bronze]] to the same extent as before. As a result, the social structures collapsed.

The early Iron Age social structures seem to have been relatively [[egalitarianism|egalitarian]], but from around 200 AD there was a trend in which [[village]]s formed larger communities and small [[Petty kingdom|kingdom]]s. This is likely to have been a distant influence from the growing [[Roman Empire]]. During the 5th and 6th century large free-standing farms were created; they grew larger as time passed. An example of such a farm can be found in [[Slöinge]].

It was not just the social structure that changed, so too did the [[Settlement (structural)|settlement structure]]. New villages were formed, while old ones were abandoned. The new centers that were formed became the kernel from which new areas were settled during [[medieval]] times.