Description: The societies of the European Bronze Age produced elaborate artifacts and were drawn into a wide trade network extending over the whole of Europe, yet they were economically and politically undiversified. Kristian Kristiansen attempts to explain this paradox using a world-systems analysis, and provides a rich body of evidence to support his case. The result is a coherent overview of this period of European prehistory that addresses some of the larger questions raised in the study of the period.
Brief description: Kristian Kristiansen is a pre-eminent archaeologist. He is Professor of Archaeology in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and a prolific author. His main research interests are in the European Bronze Age, archaeological theory and archaeological heritage.
Review Quotes: "Students will welcome this book about the Iron Age of Europe and the way it uniquely incorporates chapters on the Late Bronze Age urnfield cultures, which in many ways foreshadow developments in the Iron Age." Choice