This volume presents a selection of papers given at the General Session 5 (Metal Ages / Âges des métaux) of the XIX UISPP World Congress, originally planned to take place in early September 2020 in Meknes (Morocco), but postponed due to the outbreak of the worldwide Covid pandemic and eventually held as a virtual on-line event from 2 to 7 September 2021. Despite those challenging circumstances, and very much to the credit of the Meknes organizing committee, the Congress turned out to be a resounding success, with many scholars, particularly from African countries attending who would not previously have had an opportunity to participate in such a forum.

The eight papers provide a vivid and representative cross section of the wide range of subjects covered in this session and range from the Chalcolithic in Northwest Africa and Iberia to the Late Bronze Age in Ireland and the Iron Age in Central Europe. They include artefact as well as landscape studies and attempt to shed light on issues as diverse as the principles of chronology building, the role of alleged ‘defensive’ enclosures, pottery studies, use-wear analysis of Iron Age weaponry and the Hallstatt/La Tène transition in the eastern Alps.