Cities and states developed in South Asia between c. BC 800 and AD 250, as Hinduism and Buddhism arose and spread. Drawing on archaeological studies and also on texts and inscriptions, this book explores the character of the early Indian cities, paying particular attention to their art and architecture and analyzing the political ideas that shaped the state systems. The study extends to the opening centuries of the Christian era, offering an Indian perspective on the contacts with the Greek and Roman worlds that followed the invasion by Alexander the Great.

Classical Greeks considered the Mycenaean civilization to be the basis of their glorious and heroic heritage, but its material existence was not confirmed until the excavations of Heinrich Schliemann in the late nineteenth century. In the ensuing years, as with the field of archaeology in general, emphasis has shifted from revealing monuments and finding treasure to dealing with less glamorous, more scientifically-oriented investigations concerning aspects such as social and political organization, economic functions and settlement patterns. With its more than 2500 entries, this reference work serves as both an introduction to and a summary of the study of ancient Mycenaean civilization. Considerably expanded from the first edition, there are 500 new entries representing materials published since 1991. The largest part of the book is made up of annotated bibliographies arranged topically with introductory material for each section. The book also includes a general introduction to Mycenaean civilization, an overview of the literature pertaining to Mycenaean civilization, lists of site reports, a section on electronic resources and author, place and subject indexes.

This volume provides new insights into the distinctive contributions that community archaeology and heritage make to the decolonization of archaeological practice. Using innovative approaches, the contributors explore important initiatives which have protected and revitalized local heritage, initiatives that involved archaeologists as co-producers rather than leaders. These case studies underline the need completely reshape archaeological practice, engaging local and indigenous communities in regular dialogue and recognizing their distinctive needs, in order to break away from the top-down power relationships that have previously characterized archaeology in Africa. Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa reflects a determined effort to change how archaeology is taught to future generations. Through community-based participatory approaches, archaeologists and heritage professionals can benefit from shared resources and local knowledge; and by sharing decision-making with members of local communities, archaeological inquiry can enhance their way of life, ameliorate their human rights concerns, and meet their daily needs to build better futures. Exchanging traditional power structures for research design and implementation, the examples outlined in this volume demonstrate the discipline's exciting capacity to move forward to achieve its potential as a broader, more accessible, and more inclusive field.

The material world of European settlement in Australia has been uncovered not only by historians but by the work of archaeologists as well. These archaeological enquiries have revealed new and direct pictures of the public and private lives of Australians at home and at work. This book, now in paperback, presents the insights gained from such investigations and makes them available to a wide audience. Historical archaeology is broad ranging and this book discusses the first European towns including those settlements that failed, the archaeology of convicts and archaeological evidence of the agricultural, maritime, industrial and manufacturing activities of early Australia. Graham Connah also examines the evidence of earliest external contact, contact between Europeans and Aboriginal people and looks at the diverse cultural forms of modern Australia. The book also suggests ways people can become involved in studying and protecting Australia's historical heritage.

Mesoamerica has become one of the world's most important areas for research into the emergence of complex human societies. Between 10,000 years ago and the arrival of the Spanish in 1521, some of the most significant changes in the evolution of human societies occurred. These included the emergence of agriculture and sedentary villages, the growth of centralized governments (chiefdoms and states), and the rise of market systems, cities, and highly stratified social systems. In the 1970s and 1980s a number of ambitious research efforts produced exciting data on culture change in Mesoamerica. In this revised and updated 1993 edition of a book first published in 1981, the authors present a synthesis of Mesoamerican prehistory, focusing on three of its most intensively studied regions, the Valleys of Oaxaca and Mexico and the Maya lowlands. An original framework of ideas is developed to explain long-term change in complex societies.

Sarah Nelson's book surveys Korean prehistory from the earliest paleolithic settlers, perhaps half a million years ago, through the formation of the Three Kingdoms and on to the creation of United Silla in AD 668, when the peninsula was largely united for the first time. The author treats the development of state-level societies and their relationship to polities in Japan and China, and the development of a Korean ethnic identity. Emphasizing the particular features of the region, the author dispels the notion that the culture and traditions of Korea are pale imitations of those of its neighbors, China and Japan.

The Archaeology of Native North America presents the ideas, evidence, and debates regarding the initial peopling of the continent by mobile bands of hunters and gatherers and the cultural evolution of their many lines of descent over the ensuing millennia. The emergence of farming, urban centers, and complex political organization paralleled similar developments in other world areas. With the arrival of Europeans to North America and the inevitable clashes of culture, colonizers and colonists were forever changed, which is also represented in the archaeological heritage of the continent. Unlike others, this book includes Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, thus addressing broad regional interactions and the circulation of people, things, and ideas. This edition incorporates results of new archaeological research since the publication of the first edition a decade earlier. Fifty-four new box features highlight selected archaeological sites, which are publicly accessible gateways into the study of North American archaeology. The features were authored by specialists with direct knowledge of the sites and their broad importance. Glossaries are provided at the end of every chapter to clarify specialized terminology. The book is directed to upper-level undergraduate and graduate students taking survey courses in American archaeology, as well as other advanced readers. It is extensively illustrated and includes citations to sources with their own robust bibliographies, leading diligent readers deeper into the professional literature. The Archaeology of Native North America is the ideal text for courses in North American archaeology.

This integrated collection of new and newly revised essays by archaeologist Timothy Earle represents both a personal journey and a growing synthesis of how political economies emerged in human societies. Drawing in detail on the cases of chiefdoms in Hawaii, the Andes, and Denmark, "Bronze Age Economics" documents how intensification of economies, surplus mobilization, and controlled distribution of both staple and prestige goods fundamentally drove the political evolutionary processes that prefigured states. Representing as it does the trajectory of Earle's lifework, this book fairly encapsulates the history of processual archaeology and social evolutionary theory over the past quarter century.

The Germania of Tacitus is the most extensive account of the ancient Germans written during the Roman period. This new translation, introduction, and commentary provides an up-to-date guide to the relevant literary and archaeological evidence, and discusses the methodological issues involved in understanding this important historical source.

A first study from an archaeological perspective of the elaborate systems of Polynesian chiefdoms presents an original account of the processes of cultural change and evolution over three millennia.

The importance of sedentism and domestication in the development of civilization is stressed through this study of the hunter and gatherer societies occupying early mainland Southeast Asia 12,000 years ago.

Peruvian Prehistory offers an authoritative survey of the cultural evolution of Peru from the appearance of the first inhabitants around 10,000 BC to the arrival of the Spanish in 1534. The book is divided chronologically into three main parts, which examine in turn the highland and lowland zones in the Preceramic and Initial periods; the development of complex society at Chavin, Tiwanaku and Fluari and in the Moche and Nazca cultures; and the culmination of this process, the Pan-Andean empire of the Incas, and the way this can be studied through a combination of archaeology and ethnohistoric research. A fourth, concluding section deals with the often neglected tropical forest region of Peru and its formative influence on the evolution of Andean culture. The first collective assessment of Peruvian archaeology for a generation, this volume traces the processes of political, social and economic change in Andean civilisation in a manner that will attract many with no specialist interest in Peru.

Drawing together a century of widely scattered scientific and technical reports, as well as 25 years of first-hand experience in the field, Scott Anfinson provides the first comprehensive overview of the people who inhabited the Prairie Lake Region of the northwestern Plains before the arrival of European explorers. Focusing on southwestern Minnesota, north-central Iowa, and south-eastern South Dakota, the author describes the dramatic environmental changes that occurred during the precontact millennia, and the impact on the human, animal, and plant cultures of the region once treated as the insignificant edge of the Great Plains and Eastern Woodlands. His synthesis reveals how the successions of peoples in this transition region selectively accepted -- and denied -- influences from the better-known cultures around them. Archaeologists and historians of Native Americans, as well as amateur and armchair archaeologists, will welcome this valuable addition to the region's geological, natural and cultural history.

Reprint of the leading book on the methods of stone construction in Egypt from the beginnings at the pyramid complex of Djoser at Saqqara in 2700 B.C. through the pyramids of the Old and Middle Kingdoms to the hypostyle hall at Karnak and other buildings.

Imagine the whole of British history laid out in one long line, giving a shape to the mysterious prehistoric past, detailing the major English, Scottish and Welsh rulers (including emperors, kings and queens), prime ministers, important events and battles. To be even more useful such a time scale should be in full colour and include the populations, climate, maps, architectural heritage and technological/scientific advances... and it could cover 500,000 years. Filling a gap left by other reference sources, The British Time Scale is a unique and invaluable production. In a conveniently portable folded book format, the timescale will also expand into a chart of 2 metres in length and includes 25 maps. An illustrated overview including climate, population and maps. Richly detailed and in full colour, this is the easiest way to appreciate the whole sweep of human history of this island/peninsula. It can be used fold by fold, book-fashion, whilst touring or as a wall or table chart. Either way, it makes a convenient and enjoyable work of reference.

The Texture of Industry is an overview of the industrialization of North America using material evidence - sites, structures, and artifacts - to fill out the story of America's `industrial archaeology', drawing upon techniques from archeometry, field archaeology, art history, and architectural recording. The book is organized around a discussion of the industrial experience. Several sites and artifacts - ones that can be visited by the public - are studied in depth.

The trajectory of Rome from a small village in Latium vetus, to an emerging power in Italy during the first millennium BC, and finally, the heart of an Empire that sprawled throughout the Mediterranean and much of Europe until the 5th century CE, is well known. Its rise is often presented as inevitable and unstoppable. Yet the factors that contributed to Rome's rise to power are not well understood. Why Rome and not Veii? In this book, Francesca Fulminante offers a fresh approach to this question through the use of a range of methods. Adopting quantitative analyses and a novel network perspective, she focuses on transportation systems in Etruria and Latium Italy from ca. 1000–500 BC. Fulminante reveals the multiple factors that contributed to the emergence and dominance of Rome within these regional networks, and the critical role they in the rise of the city and, ultimately, Roman imperialism.

First published in the 1950s, this is a classic account of the discovery in 1911 of the lost city of Machu Picchu. In 1911 Hiram Bingham, a pre-historian with a love of exotic destinations, set out to Peru in search of the legendary city of Vilcabamba, capital city of the last Inca ruler, Manco Inca. With a combination of doggedness and good fortune he stumbled on the perfectly preserved ruins of Machu Picchu perched on a cloud-capped ledge 2000 feet above the torrent of the Urubamba River. The buildings were of white granite, exquisitely carved blocks each higher than a man. Bingham had not, as it turned out, found Vilcabamba, but he had nevertheless made an astonishing and memorable discovery, which he describes in his bestselling book LOST CITY OF THE INCAS.

A provocative, comparative study of the formation and expansion of the Aztec and Inca empires. Argues that prehistoric cultural development is largely determined by continual changes in traditional religion.

Mut was an important deity perhaps best known as the consort of Amun-Re and the mother of Khonsu, but her earlier and far more independent role was as the daughter of the sun god, much akin to Hathor. Like Nekhbet and Wadjet and the other lioness goddesses (referred to as Sekhmet) she was the 'Eye of Re', who could be both benign and dangerous. In human form, Mut protected the king and his office; as Sekhmet she could destroy Egypt if not pacified. The Mut precinct was a major religious center from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Roman Period, but evidence suggests the existence of an even earlier temple. It expanded during the reign of the Kushite king, Taharqa and attained its present size during the fourth century BCE, sheltering three major temples, several small chapels, and eventually, a village within the protection of its massive enclosure walls. One of its most striking features is the hundreds of Sekhmet statues. In 1976, the Brooklyn Museum began the first systematic exploration of the precinct as a whole. Since 2001, Brooklyn has shared the site with an expedition from the Johns Hopkins University, both teams working cooperatively toward the same goal. This richly illustrated guide seeks to bring the goddess and her temple precinct the attention they deserve.

If all the portable artefacts of Ancient Egypt were in a single location, the lives of students, historians and connoisseurs would be immeasurably simpler – but the objects are scattered in museums and collections all over the world. This book brings together nearly 200 of the most significant artefacts, giving both context and immediacy to the rich culture of Ancient Egypt. From a 5000-year-old Predynastic pottery bowl adorned with model hippopotami, to a pair of sandals carefully woven from grass, reeds and papyrus, to a wooden sundial amulet of the early Roman period, this is a compelling and beautifully illustrated overview of three millennia of civilization on the banks of the Nile.

The roots of our modern world lie in the civilization of Mesopotamia, which saw the development of the first urban society and the invention of writing. The cuneiform texts reveal the technological and social innovations of Sumer and Babylonia as surprisingly modern, and the influence of this fascinating culture was felt throughout the Near East. Early Mesopotamia gives an entirely new account, integrating the archaeology with historical data which until now have been largely scattered in specialist literature.

Placing Bruno--both advanced philosopher and magician burned at the stake--in the Hermetic tradition, Yates's acclaimed study gives an overview not only of Renaissance humanism but of its interplay--and conflict--with magic and occult practices.
"Among those who have explored the intellectual world of the sixteenth century no one in England can rival Miss Yates. Wherever she looks, she illuminates. Now she has looked on Bruno. This brilliant book takes time to digest, but it is an intellectual adventure to read it. Historians of ideas, of religion, and of science will study it. Some of them, after reading it, will have to think again. . . . For Miss Yates has put Bruno, for the first time, in his tradition, and has shown what that tradition was."--Hugh Trevor-Roper, "New Statesman"
"A decisive contribution to the understanding of Giordano Bruno, this book will probably remove a great number of misrepresentations that still plague the tormented figure of the Nolan prophet."--Giorgio de Santillana, "American Historical Review"
"Yates's book is an important addition to our knowledge of Giordano Bruno. But it is even more important, I think, as a step toward understanding the unity of the sixteenth century."--J. Bronowski, "New York Review of Books"

Since the arrival of literate European settlers in what is now KwaZulu-Natal in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, numerous stories about the Drakensberg region have made their way into print. But for every story which happens to have been written down, there are many others which have not, and which are therefore unavailable to us in our aim of wanting to establish a modern-day understanding of the history of the Drakensberg. This applies especially to the stories told by the unlettered San hunter-gatherers and their forebears during the several thousand years for which they inhabited these mountains, and by the isiNtu-speaking black farmers who have lived in the neighbouring uplands for the past thousand years or so. But it also applies to the unwritten stories told by European colonizers and their descendants over the last century and a half.;The declaration of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park as a World Heritage Site - on the basis of its scenic beauty, high degree of biodiversity and the exceptional cultural value of its heritage of San rock art - provides an occasion for reflecting on the history and people of the region, from the earliest known times to the present. Constructed from archaeological and written sources, this book highlights the histories of the indigenous San hunter-gatherers and black farmers, as well as of the European colonisers. The accessible text is complemented by photographs of the landscape, rock art and archaeological finds.;The authors have not aimed to write a definitive history, but have tried to open up ways of looking at the region's past which go beyond the mainly 'colonial' views which have predominated in the literature up to the present.