In 1717, the notorious pirate Blackbeard captured a French slaving vessel off the coast of Martinique and made it his flagship, renaming it Queen Anne's Revenge. Over the next six months, the heavily armed ship and its crew captured all manner of riches from merchant ships sailing the Caribbean to the Carolinas. But in June 1718, with British authorities closing in, Blackbeard reportedly ran Queen Anne's Revenge aground just off the coast of what is now North Carolina's Fort Macon State Park. What went down with the ship remained hidden for centuries, as the legend of Blackbeard continued to swell in the public's imagination. When divers finally discovered the wreck in 1996, it was immediately heralded as a major find in both maritime archaeology and the history of piracy in the Atlantic. Now the story of Queen Anne's Revenge and its fearsome captain is revealed in full detail. Having played vital roles in the shipwreck's recovery and interpretation, Mark U. Wilde-Ramsing and Linda F. Carnes-McNaughton vividly reveal in words and images the ship's first use as a French privateer and slave ship, its capture and use by Blackbeard's armada, the circumstances of its sinking, and all that can be known about life as an eighteenth-century pirate based on a wealth of artifacts now raised from the ocean floor.

Homer's mythological tales of war and homecoming,the Iliad and the Odyssey, are widely considered to be two of the most influential works in the history of western literature. Yet their author, 'the greatest poet that ever lived' is something of a mystery. By the 6th century BCE, Homer had already become a mythical figure, and today debate continues as to whether he ever existed. In this Very Short Introduction Barbara Graziosi considers Homer's famous works, and their impact on readers throughout the centuries. She shows how the Iliad and the Odyssey benefit from a tradition of reading that spans well over two millennia, stemming from ancient scholars at the library of Alexandria, in the third and second centuries BCE, who wrote some of the first commentaries on the Homeric epics. Summaries of these scholars' notes made their way into the margins of Byzantine manuscripts; from Byzantium the annotated manuscripts travelled to Italy; and the ancient notes finally appeared in the first printed editions of Homer, eventually influencing our interpretation of Homer's work today. Along the way, Homer's works have inspired artists, writers, philosophers, musicians, playwrights, and film-makers. Exploring the main literary, historical, cultural, and archaeological issues at the heart of Homer's narratives, Graziosi analyses the enduring appeal of Homer and his iconic works. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. This book was previously published in hardback as Homer.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, three life-sized marble statues of women were found near Portici on the Bay of Naples. This momentous discovery led to further exploration of the site, which was soon identified as the ancient city of Herculaneum - one of the towns buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Since their discovery, these statues have become throughout the world as the "Herculaneum Women."This superbly illustrated volume presents, for the first time, the comprehensive story of these famous statues - from their discovery to the most recent interpretations of their importance. It also provides readers with a thorough analysis of their archaeological, historical, and artistic context.

If you drive through Mpumalanga with an eye on the landscape flashing by, you may see, near the sides of the road and further away on the hills above and in the valleys below, fragments of building in stone as well as sections of stone-walling breaking the grass cover. Endless stone circles, set in bewildering mazes and linked by long stone passages, cover the landscape stretching from Ohrigstad to Carolina, connecting over 10 000 square kilometres of the escarpment into a complex web of stone-walled homesteads, terraced fields and linking roads. Oral traditions recorded in the early twentieth century named the area Bokoni – the country of the Koni people. Few South Africans or visitors to the country know much about these settlements, and why today they are deserted and largely ignored. A long tradition of archaeological work which might provide some of the answers remains cloistered in universities and the knowledge vacuum has been filled by a variety of exotic explanations – invoking ancient settlers from India or even visitors from outer space – that share a common assumption that Africans were too primitive to have created such elaborate stone structures. Forgotten World defies the usual stereotypes about backward African farming methods and shows that these settlements were at their peak between 1500 and 1820, that they housed a substantial population, organised vast amounts of labour for infrastructural development, and displayed extraordinary levels of agricultural innovation and productivity. The Koni were part of a trading system linked to the coast of Mozambique and the wider world of Indian Ocean trade beyond. Forgotten World tells the story of Bokoni through rigorous historical and archaeological research, and lavishly illustrates it with stunning photographic images.

A History of the Archaic Greek World offers a theme-based approach to the development of the Greek world in the years 1200-479 BCE. * Updated and extended in this edition to include two new sections, expanded geographical coverage, a guide to electronic resources, and more illustrations * Takes a critical and analytical look at evidence about the history of the archaic Greek World * Involves the reader in the practice of history by questioning and reevaluating conventional beliefs * Casts new light on traditional themes such as the rise of the city-state, citizen militias, and the origins of egalitarianism * Provides a wealth of archaeological evidence, in a number of different specialties, including ceramics, architecture, and mortuary studies

___________________________ THE MILLIONS-SELLING BOOK THAT TURNED HISTORY ON ITS HEAD Part one of a trilogy, followed by MAGICIANS OF THE GODS and AMERICA BEFORE Fingerprints of the Gods is a revolutionary rewrite of history that has persuaded millions of readers throughout the world to change their preconceptions about the history behind modern society. An intellectual detective story, this unique history book directs probing questions at orthodox history, presenting disturbing new evidence that historians have tried - but failed - to explain. This groundbreaking evidence includes: * Accurate ancient maps that show the world as it last looked during the Ice Age, thousands of years before any civilisation capable of making such maps is supposed to have existed. * Evidence of the devastating scientific and astronomical information encoded into prehistoric myths. * The incredible feat of the construction of the great pyramids of Egypt and of megalithic temples on the Giza plateau. * The mysterious astronomical alignments of the pyramids and the Great Sphinx. * The antediluvian geology of the Sphinx. * The megalithic temples of the Andes. * The myths of Viracocha and Quetzalcoatl. * The pyramids of the Sun and the Moon in Mexico. * The doomsday calendar and eerie memories of the ancient Maya. * The warning from the Hopi of Arizona.

This book provides new insights into the relationship between humans and birds in Northern Europe during the Bronze Age. Joakim Goldhahn argues that birds had a central role in Bronze Age society and imagination, as reflected in legends, myths, rituals, and cosmologies. Goldhahn offers a new theoretical model for understanding the intricate relationship between humans and birds during this period. He explores traces of birds found in a range of archaeological context, including settlements and burials, and analyzes depictions of birds on bronze artefacts and figurines, rock art, and ritual paraphernalia. He demonstrates how birds were used in divinations, and provides the oldest evidence of omens taken from gastric contents of birds - extispicy - ever found in Europe.

The League of the Iroquois, the most famous native government in North America, dominated intertribal diplomacy in the Northeast and influenced the course of American colonial history for nearly two centuries. The age and early development of the League, however, have long been in dispute. In this highly original book, two anthropological archaeologists with differing approaches and distinct regional interests synthesize their research to explore the underpinnings of the confederacy. Wonderley and Sempowski endeavor to address such issues as when tribes coalesced, when intertribal alliances presaging the League were forged, when the five-nation confederation came to fruition, and what light oral tradition may shine on these developments. This groundbreaking work develops a new conversation in the field of Indigenous studies, one that deepens our understanding of the Iroquois League's origins.

The Northern Black Sea region, despite its distance from the centers of classical civilizations, played an integral role in the socioeconomic life of the ancient Greco-Roman world. The chapters in this book, written by experts on the region, explore topics such as the trade, religion, political culture, art and architecture, and the local non-Greek populations, from the foundation of the first Greek colonies on the North Pontic shores at the end of the seventh and sixth century BCE through the first centuries of the Roman imperial period. This volume closely examines relevant categories of archaeological material, including amphorae, architectural remains, funerary and dedicatory monuments, inscriptions, and burial complexes. Geographically, it encompasses the coastal territories of modern Russia and Ukraine. The Northern Black Sea in Antiquity embraces an inclusive and comparative approach while discussing new archaeological evidence, offering fresh insights into familiar questions, and presenting original interpretations of well-known artifacts.

Did you know that you can 'read' the landscapes of Scotland? It is easy to overlook how much of our history is preserved all around us - how the narrative of our changing nation has been inscribed in fields, forests, mountains, roads, buildings, villages, towns and cities. The footprints of the past can be found everywhere across our modern landscape. The very shapes of our fields tell us of the passing of the Romans and the labours of medieval peasants; while many hundreds of years later, great heaps of abandoned spoil mark the rapid decline of heavy industry in the latter half of the twentieth century. Our landscapes hold evidence of our past that cannot be explored any other way - offering valuable clues to aspects of life that have often been overlooked or ignored in written histories. In this landmark new book you can learn how to read the landscapes around you, identify common and unusual features, and appreciate the incredible layers of the past to be found beneath your feet. A History of Scotland's Landscapes explores the many ways that we have used and changed our environment over thousands of years. Full of maps, photographs and drawings, it offers a remarkable new perspective on Scotland - a unique guide to tracing memories, events and meanings in the forms and patterns of our surroundings.

Sicily as it is - Sicily as it was. This unique book with acetate overlays reconstructs existing buildings and ruins into the magnificence if the Monuments, Temples and Theatres of classical times. For beginner or expert archaeologists, this book should accompany all who visits Sicily.

A pioneering space archaeologist explores artifacts left behind in space and on Earth, from moon dust to Elon Musk's red sports car. Alice Gorman is a space archaeologist: she examines the artifacts of human encounters with space. These objects, left behind on Earth and in space, can be massive (dead satellites in eternal orbit) or tiny (discarded zip ties around a defunct space antenna). They can be bold (an American flag on the moon) or hopeful (messages from Earth sent into deep space). They raise interesting questions: Why did Elon Musk feel compelled to send a red Tesla into space? What accounts for the multiple rocket-themed playgrounds constructed after the Russians launched Sputnik? Gorman-affectionately known as "Dr Space Junk" -takes readers on a journey through the solar system and beyond, deploying space artifacts, historical explorations, and even the occasional cocktail recipe in search of the ways that we make space meaningful. Engaging and erudite, Gorman recounts her background as a (nonspace) archaeologist and how she became interested in space artifacts. She shows us her own piece of space junk: a fragment of the fuel tank insulation from Skylab, the NASA spacecraft that crash-landed in Western Australia in 1979. She explains that the conventional view of the space race as "the triumph of the white, male American astronaut" seems inadequate; what really interests her, she says, is how everyday people engage with space. To an archaeologist, objects from the past are significant because they remind us of what we might want to hold on to in the future.

A mosquito-infested and swampy plain lying north of the city walls, Rome's Campus Martius, or Field of Mars, was used for much of the period of the Republic as a military training ground and as a site for celebratory rituals and occasional political assemblies. Initially punctuated with temples vowed by victorious generals, during the imperial era it became filled with extraordinary baths, theaters, porticoes, aqueducts, and other structures - many of which were architectural firsts for the capitol. This book explores the myriad factors that contributed to the transformation of the Campus Martius from an occasionally visited space to a crowded center of daily activity. It presents a case study of the repurposing of urban landscape in the Roman world and explores how existing topographical features that fit well with the Republic's needs ultimately attracted architecture that forever transformed those features but still resonated with the area's original military and ceremonial traditions.

In the past, an excavated musket ball might simply have been catalogued as either a ""spherical lead bullet"" or an ""impacted bullet."" But each recovered ball, far from being a mere lump of lead, is a part of history and has a story to tell. With the help of new equipment and research techniques, and an increase in the number of discoveries, these narratives can finally contribute exacting detail to the historical record. Battlefield archaeologist Daniel M. Sivilich provides readers with the tools and techniques to unlock the stories of small shot in this book, the first definitive guide to identifying musket balls, from the oldest formed to those fired in the early nineteenth century. Musket Ball and Small Shot Identification: A Guide traces the history of musket balls and small shot, and explores their uses as lethal projectiles and in nonlethal alterations. Sivilich asks - and answers - a variety of questions to demonstrate how a musket ball found in a military context can help to interpret the site: Was it fired? What did it hit? What type of gun is it associated with? Has it been chewed, and if so, by whom or what? Was it hammered into gaming pieces? By equipping historians and archaeologists with the information necessary for answering these questions, Sivilich's accessible work opens new views into firing lines, casualty areas, and military camps. It dispels long-held misperceptions about lead shot having been bitten by humans, offers examples of shot altered to improve lethality, and discusses balls made of materials other than lead, such as pewter. Coupling detailed analysis with more than 300 color and black-and-white illustrations for comparison and identification, this guide will prove indispensable to historians, battlefield archeologists, and collectors. It is a critical resource for understanding the full story of firepower.

When we try to make sense of pictures, what do we gain when we use a particular method - and what might we be missing or even losing? Empirical experimentation on three types of mythological imagery - a Classical Greek pot, a frieze from Hellenistic Pergamon and a second-century CE Roman sarcophagus - enables Katharina Lorenz to demonstrate how theoretical approaches to images (specifically, iconology, semiotics, and image studies) impact the meanings we elicit from Greek and Roman art. A guide to Classical images of myth, and also a critical history of Classical archaeology's attempts to give meaning to pictures, this book establishes a dialogue with the wider field of art history and proposes a new framework for the study of ancient visual culture. It will be essential reading not just for students of classical art history and archaeology, but for anyone interested in the possibilities - and the history - of studying visual culture.

The ultimate book on King Tut and his tomb--the most exciting archaeological find the world has ever known.
The fabulous treasures of Tutankhamun have fascinated the public since their discovery by Howard Carter in 1922. Many books have been written about the boy king and his tomb, but this volume by world-renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass provides the reader with a unique perspective on this extraordinary archaeological find. Images by pioneering photographer Sandro Vannini offer distinctive views of almost 200 of the spectacular artifacts found at the burial site.
"King Tutankhamun" uses carefully selected objects to illustrate the entire ten years of painstaking excavation and documentation carried out by Carter and his team. Organized to follow the chambers of the tomb in the order in which they were excavated, it illuminates the site's most magnificent artifacts.
An experienced field archaeologist who has made many important discoveries himself, Dr. Hawass imbues the text with his own unique voice, imagining how exploration of the tomb must have felt for Carter and providing invaluable information about the objects. Sandro Vannini's photographs are extraordinary as well, allowing the objects to be seen in even more detail than is possible with the naked eye. 324 color illustrations, including 26 foldouts.

This book examines the development of ancient Greek civilization through a path-breaking application of social scientific theories. David B. Small charts the rise of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations and the unique characteristics of the later classical Greeks through the lens of ancient social structure and complexity theory, opening up new ideas and perspectives on these societies. He argues that Minoan and Mycenaean institutions evolved from elaborate feasting, and that the genesis of Greek colonization was born from structural chaos in the eighth century. Small isolates distinctions between Iron Age Crete and the rest of the Greek world, focusing on important differences in social structure. His book differs from others on Ancient Greece, highlighting the perpetuation of classical Greek social structure into the middle years of the Roman Empire, and concluding with a comparison of the social structure of classical Greece to that of the classical Maya civilization.

Perched on the chalk uplands of Salisbury Plain, the megaliths of Stonehenge offer one of the most recognizable outlines of any ancient structure. Its purpose - place of worship, sacrificial arena, giant calendar - is unknown, but its story is one of the most extraordinary of any of the world's prehistoric monuments. Constructed in several phases over a period of some 1500 years, beginning c. 3000 BC, Stonehenge's key elements are its 'bluestones' , transported from West Wales by unexplained means, and sarsen stones quarried from the nearby Marlborough Downs. Francis Pryor delivers a rigorous account of the nature and history of Stonehenge, but also places the enigmatic stones in a wider cultural context, exploring how antiquarians, scholars, writers, artists, 'the heritage industry' - and even neopagans - have interpreted the site over the centuries.

It is almost 900 years since David I founded the great medieval monastery of Holyrood. Since then, the site has been home to powerful abbots and great monarchs, a house of prayer and a symbol of royal magnificence. The upstanding buildings of the abbey church and the palace eloquently demonstrate its noble and complex history. However, behind the rich interior of the palace and under its lawns there lies a mass of further evidence describing that history in new detail. Recent archaeological work has brought some of these lost fragments of earlier history to light. The buried foundations of the medieval monastery and the palace of James IV, the masonry of the splendid palace of James V encased by later building, and the remarkable survival of the tower of James V, all offer new perspectives on this most famous royal site. Cumulatively, the various stages of the work have allowed a more detailed analysis of the development of the palace and gardens under successive monarchs to the present day. This ranges from the overall layout of its buildings and gardens, to the internal arrangements of the royal apartments in the tower of James V, immortalised by their association with Mary Queen of Scots and the murder of Riccio. Through all this, the buildings have served as a theatre for state ceremony and as an architectural embodiment of the Scottish monarchy and the kingdom of Scotland.

A brilliant introduction to Egyptology, this book describes the mysterious story of the lost pharaohs. Lowered into a crevice thirty feet deep by the Priests of the Necropolis, the mummies of the lost pharaohs were undisturbed for three thousand years. Their discovery and its incredible impact on the field of Egyptology form just one episode of this fascinating book, which also covers the construction of the pyramids, the City of the Dead, and many other topics. Leonard Cottrell, author of numerous BBC radio documentaries on ancient Egypt, offers the general reader a story that is both entertaining and factual, ably conveying the romance and mystery which draw so many to the study of ancient Egypt.

Written by the late keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities in the British MuseumRa - Sun God - Almighty, Immortal and Invisible. Osiris - God of Resurrection Isis and HorusCreation, Judgement and Resurrection concepts

"Puebloan Ruins of the Southwest" offers a complete picture of Puebloan culture from its prehistoric beginnings through twenty-five hundred years of growth and change, ending with the modern-day Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona.

Aerial and ground photographs, over 325 in color, and sixty settlement plans provide an armchair trip to ruins that are open to the public and that may be visited or viewed from nearby. Included, too, are the living pueblos from Taos in north central New Mexico along the Rio Grande Valley to Isleta, and westward through Acoma and Zuni to the Hopi pueblos in Arizona.

In addition to the architecture of the ruins, "Puebloan Ruins of the Southwest" gives a detailed overview of the Pueblo Indiansa lifestyles including their spiritual practices, food, clothing, shelter, physical appearance, tools, government, water management, trade, ceramics, and migrations.

Paleozoology and Paleoenvironments outlines the reconstruction of ancient climates, floras, and habitats on the basis of animal fossil remains recovered from archaeological and paleontological sites. In addition to outlining the ecological fundamentals and analytical assumptions attending such analyzes, J. Tyler Faith and R. Lee Lyman describe and critically evaluate many of the varied analytical techniques that have been applied to paleozoological remains for the purpose of paleoenvironmental reconstruction. These techniques range from analyses based on the presence or abundance of species in a fossil assemblage to those based on taxon-free ecological characterizations. All techniques are illustrated using faunal data from archaeological or paleontological contexts. Aimed at students and professionals, this volume will serve as fundamental resource for courses in zooarchaeology, paleontology, and paleoecology.

100 Great African Kings and Queens is a fascinating journey that tracks the sands of civilization. Through the eyes of the reign of these illustrious African monarchs, a fascinating portion of world history is uncovered. Volume one is the first 10 of 100 . They range from Khufu, the father of the pyramids to Makeda, the magnificent Queen of Sheba. Then there is Hannibal of Tunisia who taught the Roman Empire the meaning of fear. The pilgrimage to Mecca of Emperor Mansa Musa of Mali (who lays claim to the title of the richest man who ever lived - would be worth 400 billion dollars today ) is among the most spectacular events of all time. Not to be forgotten are Cleopatra of Egypt and freedom fighters like Nzinga of Matamba, as well as Yaa Asantewaa of Ghana. There are 9 more volumes to come. Volume one of this journey, will amaze, delight, and make the world stand up to celebrate a shared humanity without borders.