Handbook To Life In Prehistoric Europe - Hardcover

Jane McIntosh studied archaeology at the University of Cambridge, where she earned her doctorate. She has dug extensively in India, Britain, and Cyprus. McIntosh is the author of The Practical Archaeologist from Facts On File. She is also a contributor to South Asian Archaeology and Timelines and the author of Eyewitness Archaeology and the CD-ROM Ancient Origins.

According to the introduction, the purpose of Handbook to Life in Prehistoric Europe is "to give some account of what is known or surmised about" the artifacts and monuments of prehistoric Europe and their makers--their industry and crafts, their settlements, their mythology and religion, their health and medicine, the food they ate, the warfare they practiced, and more. Coverage begins in 7,000 BCE, when agricultural communities began appearing in southeastern Europe, and follows the historical trail to 100 BCE, when most of Europe came under Roman hegemony.

The volume is organized in 11 topical chapters, beginning with "Geography of Ancient Europe," which is divided into subtopics on "The Mediterranean," "The Mountains," "Temperate Europe," "The Atlantic Facade and the North Sea," "The Far North," and "Environmental Change." Examples of the other 10 chapters include "The Development of Europe," "Economy," "Trade and Transport," and "Death and Burial." Black-and-white illustrations accompany some of the material, and each of the chapters ends with a list of references for each subtopic. Full bibliographic detail is not included there but in the bibliographical section near the end of the volume, along with a chronology and a list of relevant museums. Given the book's topical arrangement, the 29-page index is invaluable for finding specific information not revealed in the table of contents.

Handbook to Life in Prehistoric Europe is part of the nine-volume Handbook to Life set, which also includes Handbook to Life in the Aztec World (2005), Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan (2005), and Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe (2005), among others. It is recommended for academic and large public libraries where other volumes in the series have been popular. Jerry Carbone
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