Anthony Harding - Bronze Age Lives

Anthony Harding

Bronze Age Lives

Mnchner Vorlesungen zu Antiken Welten

Volume

Anthony Harding

ISBN 9783110705706

e-ISBN (PDF) 9783110705805

e-ISBN (EPUB) 9783110705867

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

2021 Anthony Harding, published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston // The book is published with open access at www.degruyter.com.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This book is the written version of a series of lectures delivered in Munich in the academic year 201516 to members of the Mnchner Zentrum fr Antike Welten (MZAW) when I was Gastprofessor fr Kulturgeschichte des Altertums in Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt Mnchen. The lectures have been turned into a written text rather than a spoken lecture, with bibliography, and have been significantly updated something that was essential given the huge amount of published material that has emerged in the last few years and continues to emerge, in particular the highly novel and important developments in archaeogenetics. In November 2015, when the first lecture was given, there were only a couple of relevant papers available dealing with the genetic origin of Bronze Age people; since then, three or four papers a year have appeared, shedding light on the whole area in ways that were scarcely imaginable a decade ago.

The book is a series of reflections on the lives of different aspects of the Bronze Age archaeology of Europe. The examples used are inevitably a personal choice which makes no claim to completeness or systematic coverage. They reflect personal interests, which I hope may be interesting for a wider audience such as was present at the original lectures. There, the audience consisted mainly of staff and students of the MZAW and more particularly of the Graduate School Distant Worlds. These organisations cover a wide range of disciplines covering multiple aspects of the ancient world, from classical philology to New Testament studies, from prehistoric archaeology to Roman law, from Egyptology to Byzantine art and Sinology. While everyone had an interest in the ancient world in some manner, the specifics of Bronze Age archaeology were of course mostly unfamiliar to them; hence an approach which sought to provide interesting elements that could find a resonance for scholars from these widely differing disciplines.

It is a pleasure to be able to offer my deep thanks to a number of people who invited me to Munich and make my stay profitable and enjoyable. Prof. Dr Carola Metzner-Nebelsick was the initiator of the invitation, which was subsequently issued by Prof. Dr Walther Sallaberger. By the time of my arrival, the Chairman (Sprecher) of the MZAW was Prof. Dr Friedhelm Hartenstein, whose kindness and helpfulness I acknowledge with gratitude. In day to day matters, however, I offer special thanks to Dr Caroline Veit and Anna Waldschtz, MA, for their care of me during my stay. Others who helped in various ways were Emer. Prof. Dr Michael Roaf, Prof. Dr Friedhelm Hoffmann, Prof. Dr Susanne Gdde, Dr Caroline von Nicolai, and all the (then) Masters and doctoral students of my seminar classes, among whom I would particularly mention Leo Geisweid, Fabian Heil and Anahita Mittertrainer.

Above all, though, it was Carola Metzner-Nebelsick who made my stay, and that of my wife, particularly pleasant and fruitful. Although usually overburdened with her own work, she always found time to talk to me over a pot of tea, as well as, together with her husband Louis, to indulge us in the comforts of her flat. Our gratitude to both of them is immense.

In the revision and preparation of this book, I have benefited enormously from the critical eyes of Dr Matthew Knight (now Edinburgh) and Dr Peter Leeming (Exeter). Dr Gundula Lidke (Greifswald/Berlin) twice critically reviewed my section on the Tollense valley sites and made many helpful suggestions, most of them incorporated into the final text; she is not responsible for my interpretation of the dating evidence. For the provision of advice, articles and illustrations I thank (in alphabetical order) Dr Helmut Becker, Professor Richard Bevins, Professor Karin Frei, Professor Dennis Harding, Dr Bernhard Heeb, Dr Ken Massy, Dr Kristina Mihovili, Roger Miket, Dr Dalia Pokutta, Professor Jo Sofaer, Prof. Dr Philipp Stockhammer, Emer. Prof. Dr Biba Teran, Dr Inga Ulln, and Dr Magdolna Vicze.

In the preparation of the book for publication, I thank Anett Rehner and the team from De Gruyter for their speedy and professional work.