This book was written to present a general survey of the prehistory of Denmark as it has emergedafter the past decade of research. Up to the 1960s Danish archaeology was dominated by a handful of distinguished scholars: Sophus Müller, Johannes Brøndsted, Gudmund Hatt, P.V. Glob,and C.J.Becker. Moreover the discipline was strongly influenced by conti nental modes of thought, and the chronological problems were still the main focus of research. However, in Denmark as in other European countries, the 1960s became a period of change. A wave of new theories did away with the old diffusionistic framework. Many scholars spoke of a crisis in the profession. But as elsewhere in the west, the 1960s also marked the beginning of a rich productivity in the field, and today we can speak of at least three contrasting theoretical perspectives in Danish archaeology: positivist, marxist and structuralist. Each one of themhasbeen able to open up fruitful perspectives for future research. These changes first developed afterthe publication of the last major survey of Danish archaeology to be translated for readers outside Denmark, Johannes Brøndsted’s Nordische Vorzeit from 1960–3. It therefore seemed quite clear that both students and teachers in other countries would have need of a general introduction to theperspectives recently opened in Danish archaeology. It is this need which the present book see ks to meet. To be sure, many of the conclusions are preliminary, because detailed, systematic andup-todate studies are still required in many fields. Despite this lack, I have written the present boo k in the hope of providing a synthesis of the 10,000 years of Danish prehistory up to theearlystate formation of the Viking period. This wo rk could not have been written without theinspiration of many discussions with colleag ues in Denmark and abroad, too numerous to be me ntioned here. However, I owe special thanks to Professor Olaf Olsen, State Antiquary and Director of the National Museum of Denmark, who in 1975 encouraged me to write this book; to Professor J. Desmond Clark, University of California, Berkeley, who extended his generous hospitality to me during a stay in Berkeley in 1980; to Professor John Coles, University of Cambridge, who willingly offered advice in the preparation of this English edition; and finally to the Danish Research Council for the Humanities, which supported this project financially. I also wish to thank my wife, Barbara Bluestone, who did the translation and without whose endless patience, support and linguistic help this work could not have been completed.

Widely acknowledged as the essential reference work for this period, this volume brings together more than 700 articles written by 150 top scholars that cover the people, places, activities, and creations of the Anglo-Saxons.

"Эпоха викингов стала главным потрясением для Европы в конце раннего Средневековья. Однако "внезапное" начало походов скандинавов на Запад в дейстительности не было таким уж спонтанным – ему предшествовал длительный и чрезвычайно интересный период культурной истории Северной Европы. Так называемый римский железный век и вендельский период породили яркое художественное ремесло, самобытный эпос, сформировали во многом уникальную скандинавскую мифологическую систему. Именно в эту эпоху возник феномен культуры, ставший визитной карточкой Скандинавии, – морской поход викингов. Книга, в которой анализируется фаза бурного подъема цивилизации Северной Европы, адресована не только специалистам-историкам, культурологам, археологам и религиоведам, но и всем читателям, интересующимся проблемами прошлого Европейского континента."