中世「暗黒時代」観を考古学が正す Barbarians to Angels : The Dark Ages Reconsidered

Wells, Peter S.

WW Norton & Co（2008/08発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 256 p.／サイズ 24 illus.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780393060751
• DDC分類 940.12

基本説明

New in paperback. Hardcover was published in 2008. Peter S. Wells, one of the world's leading archaeologists, surveys the archaeological record to demonstrate that the Dark Ages were not dark at all.

Full Description

The barbarians who destroyed the glory that was Rome demolished civilization along with it, and for the next four centuries the peasants and artisans of Europe barely held on. Random violence, mass migration, disease, and starvation were the only way of life. This is the picture of the Dark Ages that most historians promote. But archaeology tells a different story. Peter S. Wells, one of the world's leading archaeologists, surveys the archaeological record to demonstrate that the Dark Ages were not dark at all. The kingdoms of Christendom that emerged starting in the ninth century sprang from a robust, previously little-known, European culture, albeit one that left behind few written texts. This recently recognized culture achieved heights in artistry, technology, craft production, commerce, and learning. Future assessments of the period between Rome and Charlemagne will need to incorporate this fresh new picture.