
Europe before History by Kristian Kristiansen
The societies of the European Bronze Age produced elaborate artifacts and were drawn into a wide trade network extending over the whole of Europe, even though they were economically and politically undiversified. Kristian Kristansen attempts to explain this paradox using a world-systems analysis, and in particular tries to acount for the absence of state formation. He presents his case with a powerful marshalling of the evidence across the whole of Europe and over two millennia. The result is the most coherent overview of this period of European prehistory since the writings of Gordon Childe and Christopher Hawkes. A great strength of this book is the broad European perspective, which allows the author to address some of the larger questions that have been raised in the study of the Bronze Age. It captures the complexity of a prehistorical world at different levels of integration and interaction from local to global.
' … this book is a substantial advance in the quest for a socially informed history of the era before writing' The Times Higher Supplement
Kristian Kristiansen is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Gothenburg, Denmark and was previously Director of the Danish Archaeological Heritage Administration in the Ministry of the Environment. He has written widely on theoretical archaeology and the archaeology of Northern Europe. Michael Rowlands is professor of Anthropology at University College London, UK. He is a leading figure in the development of theoretical archaeology.
SKU | Unavailable |
ISBN 13 | 9780521784368 |
ISBN 10 | 0521784360 |
Title | Europe before History |
Author | Kristian Kristiansen |
Series | New Studies In Archaeology |
Condition | Unavailable |
Binding Type | Paperback |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Year published | 1999-12-02 |
Number of pages | 540 |
Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
Note | Unavailable |