Richard Rudgley traces the legacies of the Huns, Vandals and Goths, looking at both the migrant tribes, and the pre-existing tribes, to ask whether the "dark ages" represent a resurfacing of much older tribal lines. Sites in Austria show how sophisticated pre-Roman communities had become with evidence of stunning craftsmanship and sophisticated farming techniques which defy the image of a mindless rabble we have come to accept without challenge.