This research focuses on prehistoric metallurgy and the key role it played for the human communities of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula (the present-day area of the Autonomous Region of Catalonia and the Principality of Andorra). The study covers the period from the first use of gold and copper during the Late Neolithic to the structured production of the Bronze Age. The role played by metallurgy in each prehistoric community and its relationship with the other elements involved in social life is explained. Questions such as the origin of this technology, its social value in relation to the other productions or the importance traditionally given to it in the development and consolidation of social asymmetries are dealt with in depth in the context of each archaeological group.