Prehistoric Europe

A full-colour examination of 50 fascinating and important archaeological discoveries from prehistoric Europe.

Countless archaeological sites and artefacts related to the diverse prehistoric peoples who occupied the landscapes of Europe thousands of years ago have been unearthed, either by archaeologists or by individuals who stumbled across them by chance. Prehistoric Europe examines a small but carefully chosen selection of sites and artefacts from among this abundance of archaeological evidence. Each discovery is remarkable and provides fascinating insights into Europe’s distant past and its long-lost prehistoric societies.

These 50 discoveries cover approximately sixty thousand years of European prehistory, beginning in the Middle Palaeolithic ('Old Stone Age'), the time of our enigmatic ancient cousins, the Neanderthals, and ending in the Iron Age, the time of 'Celtic' society, marking the last chapter in the remarkable story of prehistoric Europe. Between the Middle Palaeolithic and the Iron Age, discoveries span the Mesolithic ('Middle Stone Age'), Neolithic ('New Stone Age'), Chalcolithic ('Copper Age'), and Bronze Age Europe.

The Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age mark the time of Europe’s final hunter-gatherer societies, its first farming communities, and the emergence of metalworking, respectively.