The Rise of Bronze Age Society

Beginning with state formation and urbanization in the Near East c.3000 BC and ending in Central and Northern Europe c.1000–500 BC, the Bronze Age marks an heroic age of travels and transformations throughout Europe. In this 2005 book, Kristian Kristiansen and Thomas Larsson reconstruct the travel and transmission of knowledge that took place between the Near East, the Mediterranean and Europe. They explore how religious, political and social conceptions of Bronze Age people were informed by long-distance connections and alliances between local elites. The book integrates the hitherto separate research fields of European and Mediterranean (classical) archaeology and provides the reader with an alternative to the traditional approach of diffusionism. Examining data from across the region, the book presents an important new interpretation of social change in the Bronze Age, making it essential reading for students of archaeology, of anthropology and of the development of early European society.

• Offers a significant new interpretation of social development in the European Bronze Age
• Archaeological evidence and historical sources are explored by two leading experts in the field, Kristian Kristiansen and Thomas Larsson
• Integrates traditionally separate research fields of European and classical or Mediterranean archaeology