The Bronze Age is one of the most important periods in the prehistory of Europe. Beginning around the mid-3rd millennium Be, its Legacy can be found in spectacular monuments and artifacts across the continent, from Wessex in Britain to Knossos and Mycenae in Greece, and Troy in Asia Minoi; extending to Maikop in the Caucasus. It was an age that saw the spread of a new technology - metallurgy - which was to have profound effects on the development of civilization in Europe. The use of bronze for tools and weapons was accompanied by other great transformations, such as specialized craftsmanship, a rise in exchange and trade, and increasing social stratification and political organization. Another innovation was the first appearance of writing in Europe - the Bronze Age thus also witnessed the birth of European history.

Gods' and Heroes of the European Bronze Age is published to accompany a major exhibition that includes more than 250 of the finest objects from sites in twenty-three European countries. Divided into themes such as Adventurers, Artisans and Travellers; The Heroes and their Palaces; Life and Death; and The World of the Gods, leading European scholars discuss such wide-ranging topics as the wondertully preserved 'Iee Man' found in the Alps, shipwrecks, architecture, art, religion, writing, Stonehenge, and Homer and the Trojan War. Here are the greatest achievements of Bronze Age artists, not only in bronze, but also in gold, silver, glass and faience, and amber and ivory; in the form of armour, swords and daggers, beautiful painted ceramics, Cycladic figurines, jewelry and horse trappings. What emerges is both a powerful sense of unity - seen in symbols such as the bull, sun and bird - but also strong local characteristics.

Foreword by the Secretary Ceneral of the Council

of Europe

Directors' Preface

In t rod uction

Cods and I Ieroes of the Bronze Age.

Europe at the Time of Ulysses

  Katie Demakopoulou, Christiane Eluere,

  Jorgen Jensen, Albrechl Jockenhovel,

  Jean-Pierre Mohen

Written Sources and Archaelogy:

I Iomer. Linear B Script and Archaeology

  Katie Demakopoulou, Christiane Eluere,

  Jorgen Jensen, Albrecht Jockenhorel.

  Jean-Pierre Mohen

CIIAPTER 1

Adventurers. Artisans and Travellers

 Editor: Jean-Pierre Mohen

Adventurers. Artisans and Travellers

  Jean-Pierre Mohen

Otzi - The Man in the Ice

  Walter Leitner .

Archaeometry and Research Methods

  Jean- Pierre Mohen

Interaction between the Carpathian Region

and the Eastern Mediterranean during

the mid-2nd Millenuium BC

  Faelar Furmanek

Two Skilled and Prestigious Inventions:

Metallurgy and the Goldsmith's Art

 Jean-Pierre Mohen

Shipwrecks in the Eastern Mediterranean

  Katie Demakopoulou

North-South Exchanges of Raw Materials

  Anthony F.Harding

Hoards and Adamie Shipwrecks

  Stuart Needham

The Journey as a Rite of hlitation

  Maria Luisa Ruiz-Galrez Priego

Crises in Western European Melal Supply During

the Late Bronze Age: From Bronze to Iron

  Lothar Sperber .

CtlAPTER 2

The tteroes and their Palaces

 Editor: Albrecht Jockenhovel

The Image of Bronze Age Man

  Albrecht Joekenhorel

Bronze Age Settlements and Territories on the

Iberian Peninsula: New Considerations

  Susana Oliveira Jorge

Tell Settlement in the Danube Region

  Tibor Kovacs