The Origins of Europe: Four New Studies in Archaeology and History

Description

With contributions by Desmond Collins, Ruth Whitehouse, Martin Henig and David Whitehouse. 'The Origins of Europe' focuses on the forces that shaped the development of European civilization from the emergence of man until approximately A.D. 1200. While thoroughly discussing the new findings in his area of specialization and how these and other factors affected Europe, each of the four authors has kept technical terms and concepts to a minimum. In addition, long and involved explanations have been avoided, making this book easily accessible to readers new to archaeological writing. The four studies deal with early man, later prehistory, the classical world, and medieval Europe. Most of the evidence used in the first two sections of the book was recovered from the ground by archaeologists and anthropologists. In the last two sections historical records were available. However, since the authors are archaeologists rather than historians, full use was made of archaeological evidence as well as documents of the periods. 45 photographs, 39 line drawings, 16 maps, and 16 tables amply illustrate the text. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7 INTRODUCTION 17 Part I. EARLY MAN / Desmond Collins 19 Chapter 1. Human Origins 21 2. Early Hunters in Europe 52 3. Later Hunters in Europe 88 Part II. LATER PREHISTORY / Ruth Whitehouse 127 Introduction 129 Chapter 4. The Origins of Farming 130 5. Early Farming Communities in Europe 143 6. The Urban Revolution in Western Asia 169 7. Economic and Social Development in Europe 181 Part III. ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE CLASSICAL MIND / Martin Henig 217 Introduction 219 Chapter 8. The Growth of the Ancient World 222 9. The Character of Ancient Ideals 230 10. Material Evidence 236 11. Roman Britain 252 Part IV. MEDIEVAL EUROPE FROM THE FIFTH TO THE TWELFTH CENTURY / David Whitehouse 281 Chapter 12. The Transformation of Europe 283 13. The End of the 'Dark Ages' 298 14. Towns and Trade 306 15. The Impact of the North 316 BIBLIOGRAPHY 334 INDEX 34O