The fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of what we call the Middle Ages was a period of tremendous change and upheaval in Europe and Byzantium. Focusing on these pivotal five centuries in European history, this wide-ranging study features essays by an international team of distinguished scholars. Their essays survey the most significant aspects of the transition from late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages: the later Roman empire, the barbarian successor states, estates and property, wealth and treasure, production and distribution, death and burial rites, cult and worship, and the transmission of ideas. The essays are accompanied by six shorter chapters based on related exhibitions in museums throughout Europe during 1997, with themes ranging from Roman villas to Scandinavian gold brooches, Byzantine burial practices to medieval Dutch hoards. Handsomely illustrated in both color and black and white, the book also contains a helpful glossary and gazetteer of principal place names.