Background to Archaeology

A concise, clearly written introduction to the early past of Britain and Europe from the beginnings up to the twelfth century AD, which presents archaeological research in a readily understandable form. Written, and originally published in 1973, for readers with no specialist knowledge or the subject, a major virtue of this book is the way in which it brings into focus all the separate strands of evidence to present a coherent narrative development. The account starts with a brief survey of human evolution and a consideration of the evidence of tool-making in the Old Stone Age. It goes on to describe the origins and spread of farming and the subsequent development of metallurgy and full urban civilization and the contribution made by the urban civilization of Rome to the development of Europe. It looks at the Migration Period through to the reestablishment of urban culture in northern Europe concluding with a brief description of conditions in the twelfth century.