Bronzization is a collection of state-of-the-art articles which integrate the new insights from the many recent research advances on the subject into a new and up-to-date vision of the Bronze Age as a Europeanized 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 this crucial prehistoric process of bronzization and bronzification to be in line with a holistic view of the new scientific advances the past decades have brought about.

Bronzization was chosen as a title as the term was first coined by Prof. Helle Vandkilde (Aarhus University), and which is one which she has utilized in her tremendous contributions to Bronze Age research throughout the years. As such, she is also intended to be the direct honoree of the book.

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. This book includes contributions from the world’s foremost Bronze Age researchers who give concrete examples through which to compare local practices and global processes. While such connections have been hypothesized in the past, it is only now at the current state of scientific research that we can draw the first transnational insights into the globalized Bronze Age in this way. Furthermore, this 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 somewhat mirrors the depth and breadth of variations from the Bronze Age world, allowing the reader to experience globalized research on the Bronze Age as a globalized period in and of itself.

approx. 450 p., color throughout, 205 x 290 mm, 2025, ISBN 978-1-80327-921-3