The Oxford Illustrated Prehistory of Europe
by Barry Cunliffe (Editor)
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Description
When a melting Swiss glacier recently revealed the body of a hunter millenia old, the world sat up and took notice. Here, in his well-preserved arrows, tools, and leather garments (not to mention his own remains) was a rare glimpse of life in prehistoric Europe, and it captured the public imagination. Elsewhere more obvious remnants of the pre-classical past have long been objects of fascination: the megaliths of northwestern Europe, the palaces of Crete, the mysterious cave paintings of show more France. Now archeologist Barry Cunliffe and a team of distinguished experts shed light on this astonishing, long-silent world in a comprehensive and lavishly illustrated account. Ranging from the earliest settlements through the emergence of Minoan civilization to the barbarian world at the end of the Roman Empire, The Oxford Illustrated Prehistory of Europe provides a fascinating look at how successive cultures adapted to the landscape of Europe. In synthesizing the diverse findings of archeology, the authors capture the sweeping movements of peoples, the spread of agriculture, the growth of metal working, and the rise and fall of cultures. They provide intriguing insight on the Minoan and the Mycenean past underlying classical Greek history, and on the disasters that destroyed Minoan civilization. They explore the increasingly sophisticated societies of northern Europe, revealing surprisingly far-reaching trade between different areas. The peoples of Bronze Age Denmark, for instance, sent amber to Germany in return for scarce metal, while new technologies spread widely across the continent. The book continues through the end of the Roman Empire, exploring the barbarian world beyond Rome's northern frontier. 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 (many in full color), this book provides the most complete account available of the prehistory of European civilization. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
aulsmith If you're interested in prehistoric European religion and find this book too much, try the book by Hutton. It's well-written and doesn't overwhelm you with data before drawing conclusions.
br77rino The First Farmers by Whiddle, is a part of the Cunliffe text, and is extensively referenced in Brian Fafan's The Long Summer.
Member Reviews
Too much detail for my general interest. Probably better as a text book or as a reference book when investigating particular questions.
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Books in the Bibliography of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber & Wengrow
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Books in the Bibliography of The Mind in the Cave by David Lewis-Williams
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Author Information
Barry Cunliffe, a professor of European archaeology at the University of Oxford, is the author of several books on the Romans and on Celtic and Iron Age Europe. He lives in Oxford, England. (Publisher Fact Sheets) Sir Barrington Windsor "Barry" Cunliffe is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the show more University of Oxford. Cunliffe was born on December 10, 1939. He became a professor at an early age and became involved in the excavation of the Fishbourne Roman Palace in Sussex. Cunliffe was knighted on June 17, 2006. Some of his publications include: Fishbourne: A Roman Palace and Its Garden; The Celtic World; Facing the Ocean: The Atlantic and Its Peoples, 8000 BC to AD 1500; The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek: The Man Who Discovered Britain; and Britain Begins. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1994
- Important places
- Europe
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 423
- Popularity
- 73,149
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.04)
- Languages
- Chinese, English, German
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
