Bronzization is a collection of state-of-the-art articles which integrate new insights from the many advances in research on the subject into a new and up-to-date vision of the Bronze Age as a Europeanised or even globalised period. Though written by different authors, the papers form a cohesive whole, discussing new data and critically reflecting on old data in a new way. In so doing, they revise current understanding of the crucial prehistoric process of bronzization and bronzification in line with a holistic view of the new scientific advances the past decades have brought about.
The investigations of bronzization within the book show that it can take many forms and can be examined from many different perspectives. From the British Isles to Central Europe and from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, Bronzization highlights case studies and examples which show how Europe was united in its unique representation of local differences and that that unity was highly dependent upon long-distance relationships of varying characters. The book includes contributions from the world’s foremost Bronze Age researchers who give concrete examples by which to compare local practices and global processes. While such connections have been hypothesised in the past, it is only now, at the current state of scientific research, that we can draw the first transnational insights into the globalised Bronze Age in this way. Furthermore, the book weaves in discussions linking the theoretical concept of bronzization with the latest scientific investigations on Bronze Age mobility. The unique range of authors, from natural scientists to classical archaeologists, mirrors the depth and breadth of variations from the Bronze Age world, allowing the reader to experience globalised research on the Bronze Age as a globalised period in and of itself.
