Trade And Exchange In Prehistoric Europe

The papers presented at the April 1992 'Trade and Exchange' conference at the University of Bristol are now available in this volume. Contents include: Trade beyond the material (C. Renfrew); Exchange, foraging and local Hominid networks (C. Gamble); Neolithic quarries, the exchange of axes and social control in the southern Vosges (P. Petrequin, F. Jeudy and C. Jeunesse); Trade in Neolithic jadeite axes from the Alps (M. R. Bouard); The polished stone axe in earlier Neolithic Britain (M. Edmonds); Megalithic tombs and Megalithic art in Atlantic Europe (E. S. Twohig); The exchange of obsidian at Neolithic sites in Italy (A. J. Ammerman and C. Polglase); The origin of metal used for making weapons in Early and Middle Minoan Crete (Z. Stos-Gale); The circulation of amber in Prehistoric Europe (C. du Gardin); Europe and the Mediterranean in the Bronze Age (A. Harding); Displacement and Exchange in Archaeological Methodology (S. Needham); East-West Relations in the Paris Basin During the Late Bronze Age (P. Brun); Relations Between Brittany and Great Britain during the Bronze Age (J. Briard); Feasting in the Late Bronze Age (J. G. de Soto); Prehistoric Seafaring in the Channel (S. McGrail); Cheshire Cats, Mickey Mice, the New Europe and Ancient Celtic Art (J. V. S. Megaw and M. R. Megaw); Germans, Celts and Romans in the Late (pre-Roman) Iron Age (A. P. Fitzpatrick); Dependence and idependence in European Prehistory (A. Sherratt).

This book brings together a classic collection of Andrew Sherratt's work on the economic foundations of prehistoric Europe, which have put forward important new ideas about the development of farming, pastoralism, early technology and trade. In a series of contributions that have included wide-ranging syntheses and detailed local studies, he discusses their implications for the understanding of settlement-patterns, social structures, material culture, and less tangible aspects of prehistoric life such as the spread of languages and the use of narcotics.

Prehistoric Europe: Theory and Practice provides a comprehensive introduction to the range of critical contemporary thinking in the study of European prehistory. Presents essays by some of the most dynamic researchers and leading European scholars in the field today Ranges from the Neolithic period to the early stages of the Iron Age, and from Ireland and Scandinavia to the Urals and the Iberian Peninsula

Long before the advent of the global economy, foreign goods were transported, traded, and exchanged through myriad means, over short and long distances. Archaeological tools for identifying foreign objects, such as provenance studies, stylistic analyses, and economic documentary sources reveal non-local materials in historic and prehistoric assemblages. Trade and exchange represent more than mere production and consumption. Exchange of goods also led to an exchange of cultural and social experiences. Discoveries of the sources of alien objects surpass archaeological expectations of exchange and geographic distance, revealing important technological advances. With thirteen case studies from around the world, this comprehensive work provides a fresh perspective on material culture studies. Evidence of ongoing negotiation between individuals, villages, and nations provides insight into the impact of trade on the micro-, meso-, and macro-level. Covering a wide array of time periods and areas, this work will be of interest to archaeologists, anthropologists, and anyone working in cultural studies.

Trade before Civilization explores the role that long-distance exchange played in the establishment and/or maintenance of social complexity, and its role in the transformation of societies from egalitarian to non-egalitarian. Bringing together research by an international and methodologically diverse team of scholars, it analyses the relationship between long-distance trade and the rise of inequality. The volume illustrates how elites used exotic prestige goods to enhance and maintain their elevated social positions in society. Global in scope, it offers case studies of early societies and sites in Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Mesoamerica. Deploying a range of inter-disciplinary and cutting-edge theoretical approaches from a cross-cultural framework, the volume offers new insights and enhances our understanding of socio-political evolution. It will appeal to archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, conflict theorists, and ethnohistorians, as well as economists seeking to understand the nexus between imported luxury items and cultural evolution.

The study of European prehistory has been revolutionized in recent years by the rapid growth rate of archeological discovery, advances in dating methods and the application of scientific techniques to archaeological material and new archaeological aims and frameworks of interpretation. Whereas previous work concentrated on the recovery and description of material remains, the main focus is now on the reconstruction of prehistoric societies and the explanation of their development. This volume provides that elementary and comprehensive synthesis of the new discoveries and the new interpretations of European prehistory. After and introductory chapter on the geographical setting and the development of prehistoric studies in Europe, the text is divided chronologically into nine chapters. Each one describes, with numerous maps, plans and drawings, the relevant archaeological data, and proceeds to a discussion of the societies they represent. Particular attention is paid to the major themes of recent prehistoric research, especially subsistence economy, trade, settlement, technology and social organization.