This book aims to present the concerns that gave birth to Prehistoric Archaeology as well as to define its content. The theories, periods, and material culture of prehistoric societies run through its pages. All these are synthesized under the prism of a study consistently oriented towards the exploration of the social and economic transformations of prehistoric society from the Paleolithic era to the era that served as the prelude to the emergence of the first historical civilizations in terms of mode of production and social structure, the mature Minoan and Mycenaean. Material culture serves as the means for a complete understanding of the economy, ideology, and structures of this society. [Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]