Long distance exchange between the Eastern Mediterranean and Central and Northern Europe in the Bronze Age – social, political and religious background

In the culture history of ancient Europe questions pertaining to its diverse relationships to advanced civilisations in the Mediterranean sphere look back upon a long tradition. Varyingly different single finds and groups of finds have repeatedly provided the prospect and scope for investigating the character and extent of contacts and influences as well as the consequences for cultural developments north of the Alps. In discussions on the genesis and significance of the Bronze Age in central and northern Europe, the perceived linkages between the eastern Mediterranean and the Carpathian Basin and via the Danube River as far as areas north of the Alps have played an important role. Without question, the Danube River represented a crucial axis of communication ever since the Neolithic period and in following times. Recent interdisciplinary studies, however, have broadened the scope and shown that further important communication routes existed along the Ionian-Adriatic Sea to Upper Italy and beyond the Alps, and via the Rhône valley and the West Alps to the North. Thereby, impulses of varying economic nature could be discerned, which were consequential for many aspects of the cultural development of the Early and Middle Bronze Age in Central Europe.