With a strong emphasis on data, the two volumes of this book demonstrate that mobility was essential to the European Bronze Age by exploring the shared cultural expression of Bronze Age societies in contrast to their simultaneous development of new local and regional characteristics. During this seminal époque, cultural and social formations of an entirely new kind and magnitude came to characterize Europe. The intense and dynamic relations between local and large-scale change processes coincided with increased mobility in different domains and forms, forging new identities and shaping the emergence of Europe as a distinct cultural zone. Through over fifty essays by leading Bronze Age scholars, the reader engages with cultural mobility and connectivity and the ways in which these forces affected and transformed human behaviour. The two volume set includes four parts; this volume contains parts 1 (Materiality and Construction of Identities) and 2 (Economic and Political Foundations of Interaction and Mobility).

AUTHOR
Paulina Suchowska-Ducke is a Mediterranean/Aegean archaeologist who, after completing her post-doc at Aarhus University as part of the “Forging Identities Project”, is now working as assistant professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland.After completing her PhD with the “Forging Identities Project” at Aarhus University, Samantha Scott Reiter is now employed by the DAI (German Archaeological Institute), as part of the “Vrable Project”.Helle Vandkilde is Professor of Archaeology at Aarhus University in Denmark and coordinator of the Marie Curie ITN project “Forging Identities” which hosted the conference behind these two BAR volumes.

REVIEW
’Det er imidlertid en klar styrke, at rigtig mange af artiklerne både har et stærkt og grundigt analyse-og datagrundlag-herunder mange naturvidenskabelige analyser samt et solidt teoretisk fundament. Det samspil er afgørende for at komme videre med nuancerede diskussioner om bronzealderens samfund-både forstået i en lokal landskabsmæssig forankring og som del af et større udvekslings- og kontaktnetværk.’ Lise Frost, Jutland Archaeological Society journal Kuml 2017

English translation: ’However, a clear strength is the fact that many of the articles include both well-structured data and rigorous and thorough analyses thereof. Moreover, these are supported by solid theoretical frameworks. The essential thing is that it helps to advance the state of research regarding Bronze Age society both in terms of local landscape as well as within the larger scale of development and contact networks.’ Lise Frost, Jutland Archaeological Society journal Kuml 2017