The Late Bronze Age (1700–900 BC) represents an extremely dynamic period for Mediterranean Europe. Here, we provide a comparative survey of the archaeological record of over half a millennium within the entire northern littoral of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Iberia, incorporating archaeological, archaeometric, and bioarchaeological evidence. The picture that emerges, while certainly fragmented and not displaying a unique trajectory, reveals a number of broad trends in aspects as different as social organization, trade, transcultural phenomena, and human mobility. The contribution of such trends to the processes that caused the end of the Bronze Age is also examined. Taken together, they illustrate how networks of interaction, ranging from the short to the long range, became a defining aspect of the “Middle Sea” during this time, influencing the lives of the communities that inhabited its northern shore. They also highlight the importance of research that crosses modern boundaries for gaining a better understanding of broad comparable dynamics.

青铜时代晚期（公元前 1700-900 年）代表了地中海欧洲极其活跃的时期。在这里，我们对整个地中海北部沿海地区（从希腊到伊比利亚）超过半个千年的考古记录进行了比较调查，并结合了考古、考古学和生物考古学证据。出现的图景虽然肯定是支离破碎的，没有显示出独特的轨迹，但揭示了社会组织、贸易、跨文化现象和人类流动等不同方面的许多广泛趋势。还研究了这些趋势对导致青铜时代结束的过程的贡献。综上所述，它们说明了从短程到长程的互动网络如何成为这一时期“中海”的一个决定性方面，影响居住在其北岸的社区的生活。他们还强调了跨越现代界限的研究对于更好地了解广泛的可比动态的重要性。