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.
Author(s): Desmond Collins (ed.)
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell Company
Year: 1976
Language: English
Pages: 368
City: New York
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