Handbook to Life in Prehistoric Europe

What we know of prehistoric Europe stems from archeological finds, ranging from cave paintings to the frozen body of a hunter exposed by a retreating glacier. This means that our knowledge is largely of the ordinary individual - the hunter-gatherer, farmer, or Metallurgist - rather than ofkings. In this intriguing book, Jane McIntosh gathers the results of recent archaeological discoveries and scholarly research, covering all aspects of life in prehistoric Europe: the geography of the continent, economy, settlement, trade, transport, industry and crafts, religion, death and burial,warfare, language, the arts, and more. Throughout, McIntosh stresses the lives lived by the majority, rather than the privileged elite (as is so often the case in recorded history). Not that evidence of the latter is lacking: exquisite jewelry, elaborately woven cloth, and finely wrought weaponstell us a great deal about the rulers of this lost world. Including more than 75 illustrations and maps, the Handbook to Life in Prehistoric Europe provides an accessible introduction to the 7000-year period that immediately preceded the Roman Empire.