The Oxford Illustrated History of Prehistoric Europe

by Cunliffe, Barry

• ISBN13: 9780192854414
• ISBN10: 0192854410
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-24
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Ranging from the earliest settlements through the emergence of Minoan civilization to the barbarian world at the end of the Roman Empire, this extraordinary volume provides a fascinating look at how successive cultures adapted to the landscape of Europe. In synthesizing the diverse findings of archeology, Barry Cunliffe and a team of distinguished experts capture the sweeping movements of peoples, the spread of agriculture, the growth of metal working, and the rise and fall of cultures, blending superb detail with ornate illustrations. For centuries, we knew little of the European civilizations that preceded classical Greece or arose outside of the Roman Empire, beyond ancient myths and the writings of Roman observers. Now the most recent discoveries of archeology have been synthesized into one exciting volume. Featuring hundreds of stunning photographs, this book provides the most complete account available of the prehistory of European civilization.

Author Biography

Barry Cunliffe is Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford. The author of over 40 books, including The Ancient Celts, published by Oxford University Press, he has served as President of the Council for British Archaeology and the Society of Antiquaries, and is currently a member of the Ancient Monuments Board of English Heritage.

Table of Contents

List of Colour Plates	vii
List of Maps	xi
Acknowledgements	xii
Introduction	1	(4)
Barry Cunliffe
The Peopling of Europe, 700,000-40,000 Years before the Present	5	(37)
Clive Gamble
The Upper Palaeolithic Revolution	42	(37)
Paul Mellars
The Mesolithic Age	79	(57)
Steven J. Mithen
The First Farmers	136	(31)
Alasdair Whittle
The Transformation of Early Agrarian Europe: The Later Neolithic and Copper Ages, 4500-2500 BC	167	(35)
Andrew Sherratt
The Palace Civilizations of Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece, 2000-1200 BC	202	(42)
K. A. Wardle
The Emergence of Elites: Earlier Bronze Age Europe, 2500-1300 BC	244	(33)
Andrew Sherratt
The Collapse of Aegean Civilization at the End of the Late Bronze Age	277	(27)
Mervyn Popham
Reformation in Barbarian Europe, 1300-600 BC	304	(32)
Anthony Harding
Iron Age Societies in Western Europe and Beyond, 800-140 BC	336	(37)
Barry Cunliffe
Thracians, Scythians, and Dacians, 800 BC-AD 300	373	(38)
Timothy Taylor
The Impact of Rome on Barbarian Society, 140 BC-AD 300	411	(36)
Barry Cunliffe
Barbarian Europe, AD 300-700	447	(36)
Malcolm Todd
Further Reading	483	(14)
Chronological Tables	497	(10)
Acknowledgement of Sources	507	(4)
Index	511