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 end of the Bronze Age witnessed an 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 egalitarian, but from around 200 AD there was a trend in which villages formed larger communities and small kingdoms. 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 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.