The World Encyclopedia of Archaeology: The World's Most Significant Sites and Cultural Treasures [Hardcover]

This profusely illustrated guide presents the history of archaeology, defines its subfields, and considers some of its challenges. (Science News 20070922)

Lavishly illustrated in full-color throughout, the volume belies its modest price and could be mistaken for a coffee-table book were the informational aspects of the work less impressive.... As an introduction to the archaeological discoveries of the last few centuries, there is little here to be faulted, particularly at this price. Recommended for high school, public, and college libraries. (Amanda Sprochi, University of Missouri Library Library Journal )

A must read for anyone interested in archaeology... Historical and modern photos, as well as detailed maps, make perfect ccomplements to the text. (DIG 20080301)

The color photographs are well chosen and of high quality. The inclusion of maps for each individual site and timelines for the most complex civilizations add to the usefulness the work. Sidebars are both interesting and relevant. Langauage and presentation will make this volume useful to libraries serving middle school studenets and abov. Because of the general nature of the work, it will be most useful for middlde and secondary schools as well as public libraries. (Mark T. Bay Choice 2008)

More than 550 archivval and color images, 20 regional maps, and 150 locator maps, as well as time lines make the past ages live.... The book is very readable as well as a useful reference tool. It can be browsed or studied, and it would engge the informal student as well as the serious reader.... Rich, colorful photographs and artwork are found on every page.... Strongly recommended for public libraries needing just one basic resource. (Patricia Hogan Booklist 20080515)

Dr. Aedeen Cremin is an archaeologist and a visiting Fellow at the Australian National University at Canberra. She is the general editor of Historic Environment, the author of The Celts in Europe and the co-author of Australia's Age of Iron.

Foreword

In archaeology; every day brings new discoveries. Archaeologists are constantly "rewriting history," building upon a body of reliable knowledge to retell the human story in its amazing diversity; This tale continually unfolds with new and intriguing twists, some of which are published here for the first time.

This book reflects what archaeology does best: it gives a voice to the people without written history, be it the tragic young Inca girls sacrificed in the capacocha, or the anonymous craftsmen who glazed the bricks of Susa in Iran. We can learn about and feel with our fellow humans in everyday activities to which we can all relate. It is fun to work through the book by theme -- the environment, clothing, food, architecture, religion -- or by time: what was happening around the world during the mid-winter solstice 4,000 years ago?

The answer is here before your very eyes. This is the first great lesson of archaeology: history is out there, you need only look for it and you will certainly find it. The past is not gone; it is here, and now. The second great lesson is that the human past is our shared story -- it belongs to us all and we all have a duty of care, a duty to cherish the information and antiquities that archaeologists have worked so hard to record, analyze, and conserve.

More than 40 archaeologists, historians, and cultural anthropologists from around the world have contributed to this book, all of them active in their fields-guaranteeing that the information is as up to date as it can be. The great mysteries of the world -- the Easter Island statues, the Nazca Lines, Stonehenge, the pyramids of Mexico -- are not demystified; on the contrary, they are put into their context, which makes them seem even more remarkable.

Dr. Aedeen Cremin