"Cultural coherence" and "prestige"--These seemingly opposite concepts actually have a close relationship to each other. Without collective societal values, there would be no ascribing of prestige. The contributions to this volume, which discuss ideas relating to cultural coherence and prestige, span different cultures and time periods--from European prehistory to the ancient Near East, from classical antiquity to ancient China. They draw on linguistic evidence, visual art, and literary and funerary texts, and they focus on different aspects of society, such as cults, festivals, prestige objects, and evidence of "Königsnahe" (closeness to rulers)
