Dél-Skandinávia bronzkori társadalmának, az ún. északi bronzkornak vagy nordikus bronzkornak a nagyon rövid ismertetése a könyv összefoglalójából:

"A chiefdom level of society probably best defines much of the Bronze Age,which lasted from 1700 BC until 500 BC. The hallmarks of this period are tombs and hoards with lots of metal. The abundance of ceremonial and ritual objects found in the hoards speaks to the important role of belief systems and religions that remain rather unfamiliar to archaeology. Amber fueled the wealth of southern Scandinavia and the rise of the ruling elite in the Bronze Age. Amber and other materials went to Central Europe and the Aegean area in exchange for metal ingots, finished metal products, and other prestige goods. Remarkably, there are more Bronze Age swords in Denmark than in any other country in Europe. The wealth of society was concentrated in the hands of the elite magnates and chiefs who ruled this warrior society. There was competition for resources, wealth, and power that led to increased conflict and warfare, cross-cutting the integrating ties of trade in metals and other commodities. The martial tones that highlight the Bronze Age have their sources in the new metals and weapons.

The preservative powers of some of the larger Bronze Age barrows have provided an extraordinary insight into the life and death of these elites. Weapons, personal items, clothing, and food as well as human tissue have survived in waterlogged oak coffins in a number of these tombs. Both finished metal products and ingots came to southern Scandinavia. The ingots were cast into locally distinctive jewelry and weapons. Domesticated horses are present in some numbers in this period, probably

for military reasons.

Single farmsteads continue to characterize the settlement pattern of the majority of families. House size increased during the Bronze Age, reflecting a transformation in social and political relationships. The larger houses or halls were the residences of the elite. A settlement hierarchy with a large central farmstead surrounded by smaller farms may be emerging in the later Bronze Age."