Throughout the local Bronze and Iron Age, European and Mediterranean societies appear to have been involved in complex systems of exchange networks which invariably affected local customs and historical developments. Archaeological evidence suggests social and economic phenomena, cultural expressions and technological skills stemmed from multifaceted encounters between local traditions and external influences. Examples of cultural openness and transcultural hybridisation seem to be more of a norm than an exception.


The articles in the volume explore the dynamic relationship between regionally contextualised transformations and inter-regional exchange networks. Particular effort has been put in approaching the issue in a multi-disciplinary perspective. Continental Europe and the Mediterranean may be characterised by specific development and patterns of relations, but the authors draw attention to how those worlds were not alien to each other and illustrate how common interpretative tools can be successfully applied and a comprehensive approach including both zones adopted.

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Abstracts
• Preface
• Introduction: Transcultural interaction and local transformations in Europe and the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age
• 1. Theorising exchange and interaction during the Bronze Age
• 2. 'Peripheries versus core': The integration of secondary states into the World System of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East in the Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BC)
• 3. Aegean trade systems: Overview and observations on the Middle Bronze Age
• 4. The Minoans in the Southeastern Aegean? The evidence from the 'Serraglio' on Kos and its significance
• 5. Westernizing Aegean of LH III C
• 6. Malta, Sicily, Aeolian Islands and southern Italy during the Bronze Age: The meaning of a changing relationship
• 7. External role in the social transformation of nuragic society? A case study from Sàala, Eastern Sardinia, Middle Bronze to Early Iron Age
• 8. Metalwork, rituals and the making of elite identity in central Italy at the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition
• 9. Indigenous political dynamics and identity from a comparative perspective: Etruria and Latium vetus
• 10. Local and transcultural burial practices in Northern Europe in the Late Bronze Age: Face, house and face/door urns
• 11. Migration, innovation and meaning: Sword depositions on Lolland, 1600-1100 BC
• 12. Long and close distance trade and exchange beyond the Baltic Coast during the Early Iron Age
• 13. Ceramic technology and the materiality of Celtic graphitic pottery