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

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 conceptions 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.