Textile production and the introduction of wool and woolen textiles represented a great revolution in Bronze Age Europe at the dawn of the second millennium BC. The available contemporary written sources from the Mediterranean and Near East suggest that textile production had a strong impact on the cultural, social, and economic life. In most parts of continental Europe, however, archaeological material alone can help us understand the details relating to textile production and its wider importance to early societies. This book provides new insights on patterns of production, specialization, and consumption of textiles in Europe throughout the Bronze Age. Assembling a diverse array of studies on various aspect of the textile production and economy, the essays, specially written for this volume, provide a wide range of scientific data as well as archaeological evidence. They also show the great potential of examining early textile production through the use of innovative methodologies and diverse perspectives.

The book celebrates Professor Kristiansens's life and achievements with 88 papers by colleagues and friends from all over the world; they are divided into following sections: Beyond Academia; Landscape, Demography and Subsistence Economy; Rituals, Hoards and Wetlands; Rock Art; Graves and Burial Monuments; Materiality and Social Concerns; Technology and Craftsmanship; Travel and Transmission; Problemizing the Past; Practices of Archaeology and Heritage Studies.