Since the 19th century, the richly-equipped burials in Wessex and Armorica have been interpreted as the tombs of the elites of the time. However, this tells us little about the organization of early Bronze Age societies around the Channel. The chiefdom model, promoted by American anthropology and widely defended for the European Bronze Age has been criticised, especially about the nature of grave goods and their interest in identifying social status, tempering the ‘myth of the Bronze Age chief’. In such a way that between empty definitions and critical positions, the kind of societies in the early Bronze Age around the Channel is in question and requires a return to archaeological facts. For both regions, we analysed the social structure given by grave goods for two subsets (northern Finistère, Dorset) that suggest societies divided in several classes. Then, we investigated the distributions of barrows and social hierarchy within the landscape and their relation to the natural environment (topography, soil fertility) and manmade setting (settlements, ceremonial places, terrestrial & maritime networks). Review of houses and enclosures show that the former remain rare but do exist, while the latter are mainly known in northern France. However, field systems seem to develop on both sides from c.1950 cal BC. All results suggest well settled societies in structured and connected territories. Without providing a definitive model, we will try to deduce what kind of social organisations might match with the societies that scattered their barrows around the Channel.