Mads Kahler Holst

The collapse of the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries AD plunges Europe into a crisis of unprecedented dimensions. Endless wars, bitter power struggles and wave after wave of desperate refugees devastate the continent and leave the Antique World in ruins. But when the dust settles, a new Europe is born. With great enthusiasm and passion, ten experts share their knowledge and give a compelling insight into an overlooked but absorbing chapter of European history – a time we call the Migration period. The starting point is in the eastern part of the continent, along the banks of the Danube in present-day Romania and Hungary. In the 4th and 5th centuries AD, this area is the setting for events that have given their name to the Migration period. It is here we meet the Huns, the Goths and later the Gepids: Three peoples who battle their way to power and who succeed in establishing new, transient realms and empires, while the influence of the Roman Empire crumbles and the power balance in Europe shifts dramatically. The reader is also initiated into developments in Scandinavian society at this time. New powerful realms are established here, too, under the influence of political developments further south. Out of Chaos is richly illustrated and is aimed at everyone who wants to discover more about the how the foundation stones for modern Europe were laid. The book is published in conjunction with Moesgaard Museum’s exhibition of the same name.

Romerrigets kollaps i 300- og 400-tallet kaster Europa ud i en krise af hidtil uset omfang. Endeløse krige, bitre magtkampe og strømme af desperate flygtninge hærger kontinentet og styrter antikkens verden i grus. Da støvet har lagt sig, er et nyt Europa født. Med ildhu og fortælleglæde kaster ti forskere lys over et overset, men ikke desto mindre fascinerende kapitel i Europas historie – en periode, vi kalder for folkevandringstiden. Ud af kaos begynder i den østlige del af kontinentet langs Donaus bredder i nutidens Rumænien og Ungarn. Området er skueplads for en række begivenheder, der har givet navn til perioden. Det er her vi møder hunnerne, goterne og senere gepiderne – tre folkeslag, der tilkæmper sig magt og lykkes med at danne nye, flygtige riger og imperier, mens Romerrigets indflydelse smuldrer. Bogen giver også læseren et indblik i samfundsudviklingen i Skandinavien, for også her opstod der nye stærke kongedømmer under påvirkning af den politiske udvikling længere sydpå. Ud af kaos er rigt illustreret og henvender sig til alle, der ønsker at blive klogere på, hvordan grundstenene til det Europa, vi kender i dag, blev lagt. Bogen er udgivet i forbindelse med Moesgaard Museums særudstilling af samme navn.

This volume contains an introduction to South Scandinavian Bronze Age barrows and a more detailed study of their architecture, ideas and practices. It also contains a presentation of the excavations (carried out between 1995 to 2003) of the large Early Bronze Age barrow Skelh, situated in the meadows on the banks of the River Kongeaen in SW Jutland (Denmark).

This book deals with the relationship between the material culture of humans, i.e. our technologies, arts and environments, and our mental worlds. Emphasising the close interdependence of mind and matter, the volume resonates with current developments within sociology, psychology and the cognitive sciences, yet it aims to supplement the focus on modern, predominantly Western societies and individuals with studies of different cultural contexts and processes in the evolutionary and historical past as well as the ethnographic present. With contributions from cognitive and social archaeology as well as anthropology, semiotics and the history of religion, the book combines well-illustrated case studies covering a wide chronological and geographic span - from Neolithic Europe to the present-day South Pacific - with incisive discussion of particular theoretical issues in the study of mind and material culture. This is an original contribution to the multidisciplinary debate on the uniquely human entanglement of complex material cultures and mental worlds.