Before abandoning archaeology for politics, Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817 94) carried out major excavations in Mesopotamia between 1845 and 1851, uncovering important evidence of ancient Assyrian civilisation. Although he originally believed that Nimrud was Nineveh, he later confirmed that Kuyunjik was the location of the ancient city. First published in 1849, this two-volume work is a mixture of excavation report, ancient history, anthropology and travel writing. Layard's excitement at the extent and importance of the finds as soon as digging commenced is clearly conveyed, and he places Mesopotamian history in the context of the more familiar biblical and classical worlds. His Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (1853) is also reissued in this series. Volume 1 covers the background to the excavations, the first discoveries, and the difficulties with Arab authorities and local workmen. Also included are observations on the inhabitants, culture and history of the region."

An anthropologist and archaeologist working for much of his life in the British Museum, Thomas Athol Joyce (1878-1942) succeeded in making American archaeology more accessible to non-specialists. Through careful analysis and presentation of the available evidence from South and Central America, he secured his reputation as an authority in this field, especially with regard to Mayan civilisation. Drawing on his wide reading of the published literature, he produced three pioneering and highly illustrated textbooks. The present work appeared in 1912 and confined itself to South America, beginning its coverage with Colombia in the north. Given the better preservation of the material culture, there is a particular focus on Peru and the Incas. The topics discussed range from burials, mummies and shrunken heads to nose ornaments, musical instruments, tattoos and weaving. Joyce's Mexican Archaeology (1914) and Central American and West Indian Archaeology (1916) are also reissued in this series.

A pioneering Egyptologist, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. A great many of his publications have been reissued in this series. In the 1890s, the Irish scholar Sir John Pentland Mahaffy (1839-1919) took the lead on the considerable task of cataloguing, transcribing and commenting on the Greek papyri found by Petrie in mummy cartonnage on recent digs in Egypt. This three-volume collection is the result of his labours. The texts, comprising private correspondence, legal records, petitions and many other types of document, reveal a great deal about life in Egypt in the third century BCE. First published in 1905 with significant input from Mahaffy's colleague J. G. Smyly, Volume 3 contains seven autotype reproductions of key examples, as well as a review by Mahaffy of the entire project and its scholarly reception.

Drawing on archaeological, historical, theological, scientific and folkloric sources, Sarah Tarlow's interdisciplinary study examines belief as it relates to the dead body in early modern Britain and Ireland. From the theological discussion of bodily resurrection to the folkloric use of body parts as remedies, and from the judicial punishment of the corpse to the ceremonial interment of the social elite, this book discusses how seemingly incompatible beliefs about the dead body existed in parallel through this tumultuous period. This study, which is the first to incorporate archaeological evidence of early modern death and burial from across Britain and Ireland, addresses new questions about the materiality of death: what the dead body means, and how its physical substance could be attributed with sentience and even agency. It provides a sophisticated original interpretive framework for the growing quantities of archaeological and historical evidence about mortuary beliefs and practices in early modernity.

Among the leading Egyptologists of his day, Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) excavated over fifty sites and trained a generation of archaeologists. As a young man, he demonstrated an aptitude for mathematics and used this skill to measure monuments across the south of England, including Stonehenge. Published in 1877, this work was based in part on these early surveys and provides great insight into the linear measurements used by ancient civilisations. Notably, Petrie establishes that accurate measurement was possible in societies without writing systems. His innovative approach to metrology draws comparisons between units of measurement used by peoples separated by great spans of time and distance, ranging from medieval Ireland to ancient Egypt. Petrie went on to write prolifically throughout his long career, and a great many of his other publications are also reissued in this series.

Inspired by Schliemann's discoveries at Mycenae and Troy, Sir Arthur John Evans (1851-1941), keeper of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum from 1884 to 1908, trustee of the British Museum and fellow of the Royal Society, used his inherited wealth to purchase land in Crete at Knossos. From 1900 he commenced excavations there in co-operation with the British School at Athens. Work continued for eight full seasons, uncovering a Bronze Age palace and bringing to light further architectural and artefactual remains of Minoan civilisation, including numerous texts in Linear A and Linear B. Evans' speculative reconstruction of the site in reinforced concrete remains controversial, and some of his interpretations are disputed, but his pioneering work is painstakingly detailed in this highly illustrated multi-volume work, published between 1921 and 1935, with an index volume appearing in 1936. Part 2 of Volume 4 first appeared in 1935.

Inspired by Schliemann's discoveries at Mycenae and Troy, Sir Arthur John Evans (1851-1941), keeper of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum from 1884 to 1908, trustee of the British Museum and fellow of the Royal Society, used his inherited wealth to purchase land in Crete at Knossos. From 1900 he commenced excavations there in co-operation with the British School at Athens. Work continued for eight full seasons, uncovering a Bronze Age palace and bringing to light further architectural and artefactual remains of Minoan civilisation, including numerous texts in Linear A and Linear B. Evans' speculative reconstruction of the site in reinforced concrete remains controversial, and some of his interpretations are disputed, but his pioneering work is painstakingly detailed in this highly illustrated multi-volume work, published between 1921 and 1935, with an index volume appearing in 1936. Part 1 of Volume 2 first appeared in 1928.

Beautifully illustrated throughout, this English translation of Desire Charnay's record of his travels among the ancient cities of Mexico and Central America was first published in 1887. Born in France, Charnay (1828 1915) travelled extensively through commissions from the French government and with private patronage. He made several visits to the region between 1857 and 1886, producing in his work both a journal of his adventures and an archaeological examination of past civilisations. Beginning in Mexico, Charnay notably examines the ancient city of Tula and also the history of Yucatan, discussing aspects of Toltec and Mayan culture. He explores the ruins of Chichen Itza, Kabah and Yaxchilan (which Charnay dubbed 'Lorillard Town' after a benefactor), among many other settlements. Surveying art, pyramid architecture, ancient customs and history based on extant sources, this account was a major contribution in its field and remains of interest to scholars of Latin American archaeology.

The Black Sea lies at the junction of three major cultural areas: Europe, Central Asia, and the Near East. It plays a crucial role in enduring discussions about the impact of complex Near Eastern societies on European societies, and the repercussions of early urbanization across Eurasia. This book presents the first comprehensive overview of the Black Sea region in the prehistoric period. It penetrates artificial boundaries imposed by traditions, politics, and language to encompass both the European and Asiatic coasts and both Eastern European and Western scholarly literature. With a critical compilation and synthesis of archaeological data, this study situates the prehistoric Black Sea in a global historical context. By adopting the perspective of technology and innovation, it transcends a purely descriptive account of material culture and emphasizes society, human interaction, and engagement with the material world.

Originally published in 1954, this book was based on various periods of fieldwork undertaken in the region of the Horn of Africa between 1941 and 1946. Written by prominent archaeologist John Desmond Clark (1916-2002), the text presents a detailed analysis of the relationship between physical geography and stone age culture within the area. Numerous illustrative figures, maps, appendices and a bibliography are also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in historical geography, anthropology and archaeology.

Inspired by Schliemann's discoveries at Mycenae and Troy, Sir Arthur John Evans (1851-1941), keeper of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum from 1884 to 1908, trustee of the British Museum and fellow of the Royal Society, used his inherited wealth to purchase land in Crete at Knossos. From 1900 he commenced excavations there in co-operation with the British School at Athens. Work continued for eight full seasons, uncovering a Bronze Age palace and bringing to light further architectural and artefactual remains of Minoan civilisation, including numerous texts in Linear A and Linear B. Evans' speculative reconstruction of the site in reinforced concrete remains controversial, and some of his interpretations are disputed, but his pioneering work is painstakingly detailed in this highly illustrated multi-volume work, published between 1921 and 1935, with an index volume appearing in 1936. Part 2 of Volume 2 first appeared in 1928.

This book offers a detailed account of Inca history, society, and culture through the lens of archaeology, written documents, and ethnographic accounts of native Andeans. Throughout the Andes, public works ordained by the emperors of the Incas dominate and transform the natural landscape. Cities, temples and fortresses of stone, marvelously engineered roads cut through sheer mountain slopes, massive agricultural terraces, and hydraulic works are emblematic of Inca power. In this book, Alan L. Kolata examines how these awesome material products came into being. What were the cultural institutions that gave impetus to the Incas' imperial ambition? What form of power did the Incas exercise over their conquered provinces, far from the imperial capital of Cuzco? How did they mobilize the staggering labor force that sustained their war machine and built their empire? What kind of perceptions and religious beliefs informed Inca worldview?

Situated between the worlds of the Near East, Europe and Africa, the archaeology and culture of Cyprus are central to an understanding of the ancient Mediterranean world. This book treats the archaeology of Cyprus from the first-known human presence during the Late Epipalaeolithic (ca. 11,000 BC) through the end of the Bronze Age (ca. 1000 BC). A. Bernard Knapp examines the archaeological and documentary records of prehistoric Cyprus within their regional context, paying special attention to the Levant and the Aegean. The appendix (compiled by Sturt W. Manning) analyses all published radiocarbon dates from the island, providing for the first time a comprehensive chronological framework for all of Cypriot prehistory. Focusing on key themes such as identity, insularity and connectivity, and society, community and polity throughout, this book provides a remarkably up-to-date and integrated synthesis of human activity on the Mediterranean's third-largest island.

Ancient Central China provides an up-to-date synthesis of archaeological discoveries in the upper and middle Yangzi River region of China, including the Three Gorges Dam reservoir zone. It focuses on the Late Neolithic (late third millennium BC) through the end of the Bronze Age (late first millennium BC) and considers regional and interregional cultural relationships in light of anthropological models of landscape. Rowan K. Flad and Pochan Chen show that centers and peripheries of political, economic and ritual activities were not coincident, and that politically peripheral regions such as the Three Gorges were crucial hubs in interregional economic networks, particularly related to prehistoric salt production. The book provides detailed discussions of recent archaeological discoveries and data from the Chengdu Plain, Three Gorges and Hubei to illustrate how these various components of regional landscape were configured across Central China.

Born in Scotland, James Fergusson (1808 86) spent ten years as an indigo planter in India, the profits from which allowed him to embark upon a second career as an architectural historian. Although he had no formal training, he became one of the most respected researchers in the field, particularly in Indian architecture. He made numerous trips around India in order to study and document its cave temples, publishing his first book on the subject in 1845. In 1880, he returned to the subject, collaborating with the archaeologist James Burgess (1832 1916) as part of the Archaeological Survey of India. It was Fergusson who first categorized the temples, suggesting that they could be classified through reference to the religious order and function. Illustrated with more than 150 maps, plans and drawings, this work of impressive scope remains of relevance to students of Indian architecture and history.

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"

This book aims to synthesize more than 600,000 years of Italian prehistory, beginning with the Lower Paleolithic and ending with the last hunter-gatherers of the early Holocene. The author treats such issues as the development of social structure, the rise and fall of specific cultural traditions, climatic change, modifications of the landscape, fauna and flora, and environmental adaptation and exploitation and includes detailed descriptions of the most important sites.

Historical archaeology, one of the fastest growing of archaeology's sub fields in North America, has developed more slowly in Central and p- ticularly South America. Happily, this circumstance is ending as a gr- ing number of recent projects are successfully integrating textual and material culture data in studies of the events and processes of the last 500 years. This interval and this region-often called Ibero-America-have been studied for a century or more by historians with traditional perspectives and emphases focusing on colonial elites and large-scale politico-economic events. Such inclinations fit well into world-system and other core-peri- ery models that have had a major impact on historical thought since the 1970s. Over the past 20 years or so, however, world-system models have come under fire from historians, anthropologists, and others, in part because the emphasis on global trends and the growth of capitalism - nies the importance of understanding variability in local histories and circumstances. Historians have increasingly turned their attention to lo cal, rural, and domestic contexts, thereby illuminating the great diversity of responses to colonial domination that were played out in the vast arena of the Americas. It is not coincidental that this is the intellectual climate in which historical archaeology is establishing itself in Central and South America.

From AD 1550 to 1850, the Araucanian polity in southern Chile was a center of political resistance to the intruding Spanish empire. In this book, Tom D. Dillehay examines the resistance strategies of the Araucanians and how they used mound building and other sacred monuments to reorganize their political and culture life in order to unite against the Spanish. Drawing on anthropological research conducted over three decades, Dillehay focuses on the development of leadership, shamanism, ritual, and power relations. His study combines developments in social theory with the archaeological, ethnographic, and historical records. Both theoretically and empirically informed, this book is a fascinating account of the only indigenous ethnic group to successfully resist outsiders for more than three centuries and to flourish under these conditions.

Ancient Central China provides an up-to-date synthesis of archaeological discoveries in the upper and middle Yangzi River region of China, including the Three Gorges Dam reservoir zone. It focuses on the Late Neolithic (late third millennium BC) through the end of the Bronze Age (late first millennium BC) and considers regional and interregional cultural relationships in light of anthropological models of landscape. Rowan K. Flad and Pochan Chen show that centers and peripheries of political, economic and ritual activities were not coincident, and that politically peripheral regions such as the Three Gorges were crucial hubs in interregional economic networks, particularly related to prehistoric salt production. The book provides detailed discussions of recent archaeological discoveries and data from the Chengdu Plain, Three Gorges and Hubei to illustrate how these various components of regional landscape were configured across Central China.

For two centuries, travellers were amazed at the massive buildings found along the rivers that flow from the mountainous interior of Borneo. They concentrated hundreds of people under one roof, in the middle of empty rainforests. There was no practical necessity for this arrangement, and it remains a mystery. In this book Peter Metcalf provides an answer by showing the historical context, using both oral histories and colonial records. The key factor was a pre-modern trading system that funneled rare and exotic jungle products to China via the ancient coastal city of Brunei. Meanwhile the elite manufactured goods traded upriver shaped the political and religious institutions of longhouse society. However, the apparent permanence of longhouses was an illusion. In historical terms, longhouse communities were both mobile and labile, and the patterns of ethnicity they created more closely resemble the contemporary world than any stereotype of 'tribal' societies.

In this innovative 2007 study, Sarah Tarlow shows how the archaeology of this period manifests a widespread and cross-cutting ethic of improvement. Theoretically informed and drawn from primary and secondary sources in a range of disciplines, the author considers agriculture and the rural environment, towns, and buildings such as working-class housing and institutions of reform. From bleach baths to window glass, rubbish pits to tea wares, the material culture of the period reflects a particular set of values and aspirations. Tarlow examines the philosophical and historical background to the notion of improvement and demonstrates how this concept is a useful lens through which to examine the material culture of later historical Britain.

A detailed history with fascinating insights and a gorgeous visual reference, this book tours the sacred Egyptian sites, from the impressive mortuary temples of the pharaohs to those dedicated to the many gods and goddesses.It includes an in-depth examination of the crucial role that religious belief and mythology played during this intriguing period of ancient history. The allure of ancient Egypt has endured over many centuries - and this authoritative volume offers further intriguing insights. It delves into the tombs, devoting chapters to the most famous burial sites: Giza, Saqqara and the Valley of the Kings, where the resting place of the boy-king Tutankhamun was discovered. The book also describes Egypt's temples, religions and myths, from the impressive mortuary temples of the pharaohs, such as Ramesses II, to elaborate funerary rituals, offerings and superstitions.With maps, chronologies and artwork supplementing more than 750 photographs, this book captures the essence of a fascinating epoch.

Study of the origin and development of civilization is of unequaled importance for understanding the cultural processes that create human societies. Is cultural evolution directional and regular across human societies and history, or is it opportunistic and capricious? Do apparent regularities come from the way inves tigators construct and manage knowledge, or are they the result of real constraints on and variations in the actual processes? Can such questions even be answered? We believe so, but not easily. By comparing evolutionary sequences from different world civilizations scholars can judge degrees of similarity and difference and then attempt explanation. Of course, we must be careful to assess the influence that societies of the ancient world had on one another (the issue of pristine versus non-pristine cultural devel opment: see discussion in Fried 1967; Price 1978). The Central Andes were the locus of the only societies to achieve pristine civilization in the southern hemi sphere and only in the Central Andes did non-literate (non-written language) civ ilization develop. It seems clear that Central Andean civilization was independent on any graph of archaic culture change. Scholars have often expressed appreciation of the research opportunities offered by the Central Andes as a testing ground for the study of cultural evolu tion (see, e. g. , Carneiro 1970; Ford and Willey 1949: 5; Kosok 1965: 1-14; Lanning 1967: 2-5).

This volume provides an important new synthesis of archaeological work carried out in Australia on the post-contact period. It draws on dozens of case studies from a wide geographical and temporal span to explore the daily life of Australians in settings such as convict stations, goldfields, whalers' camps, farms, pastoral estates and urban neighbourhoods. The different conditions experienced by various groups of people are described in detail, including rich and poor, convicts and their superiors, Aboriginal people, women, children, and migrant groups. The social themes of gender, class, ethnicity, status and identity inform every chapter, demonstrating that these are vital parts of human experience, and cannot be separated from archaeologies of industry, urbanization and culture contact.

The book engages with a wide range of contemporary discussions and debates within Australian history and the international discipline of historical archaeology. The colonization of Australia was part of the international expansion of European hegemony in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The material discussed here is thus fundamentally part of the global processes of colonization and the creation of settler societies, the industrial revolution, the development of mass consumer culture, and the emergence of national identities. Drawing out these themes and integrating them with the analysis of archaeological materials highlights the vital relevance of archaeology in modern society. "