* a coherent, flowing story, written in short, punchy chapters, rich in examples, each dealing with major questions making it suitable for complete beginners in archaeology * shows how such contemporary issues such as biological and cultural diversity, gender, and climate change have deep roots in the human past * creates student interest in the human past as reconstructed by multidisciplinary research, including archaeology, anthropology, biological anthropology, ethnohistory, and many other disciplines

This is a well-established introductory textbook with a strong history. Brian is a recognised and popular archaeological writer. Nadia is also an experienced and widely published writer in the field. This textbook has a global coverage, discussing sites and discoveries from around the world, updated with the latest in this edition.

This is a well-established introductory textbook with a strong history. Brian is a recognised and popular archaeological writer. Nadia is also an experienced and widely published writer in the field. This textbook has a global coverage, discussing sites and discoveries from around the world, updated with the latest in this edition.

World Prehistory provides a unique and balanced narrative of what happened in the prehistoric past and why. The book is well worth acquiring, as it provides essential historical background to a wide variety of subjects from written history and environmental studies to climate change. Chronological tables, numerous illustrations, guides to further reading, and stand-alone boxes on some archaeological methods, key sites, and some people of the past amplify much of the basic narrative. This global prehistory is aimed at people with no background in archaeology, undergraduates at all levels, and participants in graduate seminars on a wide range of subjects. Numerous people with a general interest in archaeology and multidisciplinary history have acquired and enjoyed this book.

* Includes a major revision of archaeological theory coverage to provide the latest thinking to students * Written in a lively and engaging style to connect with students and encourage them into the discipline * Details the great advances in archaeological techniques in recent times to bring the book up-to-date and enable students to look not just at the past but the future of the discipline.

* Includes a major revision of archaeological theory coverage to provide the latest thinking to students * Written in a lively and engaging style to connect with students and encourage them into the discipline * Details the great advances in archaeological techniques in recent times to bring the book up-to-date and enable students to look not just at the past but the future of the discipline.

* Provides a short and simple, but entertaining, account of the prehistoric past from human origins to today from a global perspective in contrast to the current lengthy textbooks on the subject * Shows how such contemporary issues such as biological and cultural diversity, gender, and climate change have deep roots in the remote past and thus resonates with the concerns of readers * Short and low cost introductory text for students studying the subject for the first time from two experienced textbook writers

This is an introduction to human prehistory written for complete beginners with a global perspective. It is written in a jargon-free style that covers 6 million years of the remote past from human origins to the first pre-industrial civilizations, balancing theoretical discussion with descriptions and analysis of major sites and cultural developments.

World Prehistory provides a unique and balanced narrative of what happened in the prehistoric past and why. The book is well worth acquiring, as it provides essential historical background to a wide variety of subjects, from written history and environmental studies to climate change. Chronological tables, numerous illustrations, guides to further reading, and stand-alone boxes on some archaeological methods, key sites, and some people of the past amplify much of the basic narrative.

This global prehistory is aimed at people with no background in archaeology, undergraduates at all levels, and participants in graduate seminars on a wide range of subjects. Numerous people with a general interest in archaeology and multidisciplinary history have acquired and enjoyed this book.

Table of Contents

Preface; Acknowledgments; A Note on Chronologies and Measurements; Part I Prehistory: 1. Introducing World Prehistory; Part II The World of the First Humans: 2 Human Origins; 3. African Exodus; Part III The Birth of the Modern World: 4 Diaspora, 5 The Origins of Food Production; 6 The Earliest Farmers; 7 Chiefs and Chiefdoms; Part IV The First States (Preindustrial Civilizations): 8 State-Organized Societies; 9 Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean World; 10 Egypt and Africa; 11 South, Southeast, and East Asia; PART V Preindustrial States in the Americas: 12 Lowland Mesoamerica; 13 Highland Mesoamerica; 14 Andean States; Epilogue; Glossary of Technical Terms; Glossary of Archaeological Sites and Cultural Terms; References; Index.

Focusing on sites of key significance and the world's first civilizations, Ancient Lives is an accessible and engaging textbook which introduces complete beginners to the fascinating worlds of archaeology and prehistory. Drawing on their impressive combined experience of the field and the classroom, the authors use a jargon-free narrative style to enliven the major developments of more than 3 million years of human culture. First introducing the basic principles, methods, and theoretical approaches of archaeology, the book then provides a summary of world prehistory from a global perspective. This latest edition provides an up-to-date account of human evolution and the origins of modern humans. It explores the reality of life in the prehistoric world. Later chapters describe the development of agriculture and animal domestication, and the emergence of cities, states, and preindustrial civilizations in widely separated parts of the world. Our knowledge of these is changing thanks to revolutionary developments in LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology and other remote-sensing devices. With this new edition updated to reflect the latest discoveries and research in the discipline, Ancient Lives continues to be a comprehensive and essential introduction to archaeology. It will be ideal for students looking for an accessible guide to the subject.

Focusing on sites of key significance and the world’s first civilizations, Ancient Lives is an accessible and engaging textbook which introduces complete beginners to the fascinating worlds of archaeology and prehistory. Drawing on their impressive combined experience of the field and the classroom, the authors use a jargon-free narrative style to enliven the major developments of more than 3 million years of human culture. First introducing the basic principles, methods, and theoretical approaches of archaeology, the book then provides a summary of world prehistory from a global perspective. This latest edition provides an up-to-date account of human evolution and the origins of modern humans. It explores the reality of life in the prehistoric world. Later chapters describe the development of agriculture and animal domestication, and the emergence of cities, states, and preindustrial civilizations in widely separated parts of the world. Our knowledge of these is changing thanks to revolutionary developments in LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology and other remote-sensing devices. With this new edition updated to reflect the latest discoveries and research in the discipline, Ancient Lives continues to be a comprehensive and essential introduction to archaeology. It will be ideal for students looking for an accessible guide to the subject.

Human-made climate change may have begun in the last two hundred years, but our species has witnessed many eras of climate instability. The results have not always been pretty. From Ancient Egypt to Rome to the Maya, some of history's mightiest civilizations have been felled by pestilence and glacial melt and drought. The challenges are no less great today. We face hurricanes and megafires and food shortages and more. But we have one powerful advantage as we face our current crisis: the past. Our knowledge of ancient climates has advanced tremendously in the last decade, to the point where we can now reconstruct seasonal weather going back thousands of years and see just how people and nature interacted. The lesson is clear: the societies that survive are those that plan ahead. Climate Chaos is a book about saving ourselves. Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani show in remarkable detail what it was like to battle our climate over centuries and offer us a path to a safer and healthier future.

Archaeology: The Basics, rewritten for this fourth edition, is a short, engaging book that takes the reader on a journey through the fascinating world of archaeology and archaeologists.

Written in a non-technical style by two experienced archaeologists and writers about the past, the book begins by introducing archaeology as a unique way of studying the entire span of the human past from our origins some six million years ago to today. The authors stress that archaeology is a global study of human biological and cultural diversity. After a brief look at early archaeological discoveries, they introduce today’s multidisciplinary archaeology. Then they go on to describe the archaeological record, the archives of the past and the importance of contexts of time and space. How do we find archaeological sites and how do we explore them? Two chapters laced with examples examine these questions. Later chapters describe ancient technologies and how we study them, and the all-important subject of changing ancient environments and climate change. Zooarchaeology, flotation methods, and other ways of reconstructing ancient diet and subsistence lead us into the study of changing settlement patterns across the landscape. Next, they visit the people of the past, either as individuals or groups, calling on bioarchaeology to assist them. Two chapters discuss ancient culture change and the remarkable diversity of ancient societies, and they are followed by an exploration of the spiritual realm, the exploration of the intangible. The final chapter looks at the importance of archaeology in today’s world. Rich in numerous examples and contemporary thinking about archaeology, this book tries to answer an important question: What does archaeology tell us about ourselves?

Archaeology: The Basics is essential reading for all those beginning to study archaeology and anyone who has ever questioned the past.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing archaeology; 2. The archives of the past; 3. Finding the archive; 4. Excavation; 5. Technologies; 6. Ancient environments; 7. Subsistence: How did people eat?; 8. Living across the landscape; 9. Dealing with others and the divine; 10. People of the past; 11. Community and identity; 12. Why archaeology?

World Prehistory: The Basics tells the compelling story of human prehistory, from our African origins to the spectacular pre-industrial civilizations and cities of the more recent past.

Written in a non-technical style by two archaeologists and experienced writers about the past, the story begins with human origins in Africa some 6 million years ago and the spread of our remote ancestors across the Old World. Then we return to Africa and describe the emergence of Homo sapiens (modern humans) over 300,000 years ago, then, much later, their permanent settlement of Europe, Eurasia, Asia, and the Americas. From hunters and foragers, we turn to the origins of farming and animal domestication in different parts of the world after about 11,000 years ago and show how these new economies changed human existence dramatically. Five chapters tell the stories of the great pre-industrial civilizations that emerged after 5000 years before present in the Old World and the Americas, their strengths, volatility, and weaknesses. These chapters describe powerful rulers and their ideologies, also the lives of non-elites. The narratives chronicle the rise and fall of civilizations, and the devastating effects of long droughts on many of them. The closing chapter poses a question: Why is world prehistory important in the modern world? What does it tell us about ourselves?

Providing a simple, but entertaining and stimulating, account of the prehistoric past from human origins to today from a global perspective, World Prehistory: The Basics is the ideal guide to the story of our early human past and its relevance to the modern world.

Table of Contents

1. Beginnings (c. 6 to 2 Ma); 2. Out of Africa (c. 2 Ma and later); 3. Enter Homo sapiens (c. 300,000 years ago and later); 4. Modern humans in the north (c. 50,000 to 12,000 years ago); 5. After the ice (c. 15,000 years ago and later); 6. Farmers and herders (c. 10,000 BCE and later); 7. Villages, towns, and chiefs (after about 8,000 BCE); 8. Sumerians and Assyrians (c. 3100 to 612 BCE); 9. By Nile and Indus (c. 3100 to 30 BCE); 10. China and Southeast Asia (after 5250 BCE to 1532 CE); 11. Mesoamerica (c. 1500 BCE to 1532 CE); 12. Andean civilizations (3000 BCE to 1532 CE); 13. Epilogue

People of the Earth is a narrative account of the prehistory of humankind from our origins over 3 million years ago to the first pre-industrial states, beginning about 5,000 years ago. This is a global prehistory, which covers prehistoric times in every corner of the world, in a jargon-free style for newcomers to archaeology. Many world histories begin with the first pre-industrial states. This book starts at the beginning of human history and summarizes the latest research into such major topics as human origins, the emergence and spread of modern humans, the first farming, and the origins of civilization. People of the Earth is unique in its even balance of the human past, in its readily accessible style, and its flowing narrative that carries the reader through the long sweep of our past. The book is highly illustrated, and features boxes and sidebars describing key dating methods and important archaeological sites. This classic world prehistory sets the standard for books on the subject and is the most widely used such textbook in the world. It is aimed at introductory students in archaeology and anthropology taking survey courses on the prehistoric past, as well as more advanced readers. It will also appeal to students of human responses to climatic and environmental change.

Pulling back the covers on the fascinating, yet often forgotten, history of the bed "If you thought that your bed was only good for sleeping in, having sex in, or dying in, then this book will disabuse you-in fact, it's so entertaining, it will keep you awake long into the night."-Paul Chrystal, author of In Bed with the Ancient Greeks and In Bed with the Romans Louis XIV ruled France from his bedchamber. Winston Churchill governed Britain from his during World War II. Travelers routinely used to bed down with complete strangers, and whole families shared beds in many preindustrial households. Beds were expensive items-and often for show. Tutankhamun was buried on a golden bed, wealthy Greeks were sent to the afterlife on dining beds, and deceased middle-class Victorians were propped up on a bed in the parlor. In this sweeping social history that covers the past seventy thousand years, Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani look at the endlessly varied role of the bed through time. This was a place for sex, death, childbirth, storytelling, and sociability as well as sleeping. But who did what with whom, why, and how could vary incredibly depending on the time and place. It is only in the modern era that the bed has transformed into a private, hidden zone, and its rich social history has largely been forgotten.

People of the Earth is a narrative account of the prehistory of humankind from our origins over 3 million years ago to the first pre-industrial states, beginning about 5,000 years ago. This is a global prehistory, which covers prehistoric times in every corner of the world, in a jargon-free style for newcomers to archaeology. Many world histories begin with the first pre-industrial states. This book starts at the beginning of human history and summarizes the latest research into such major topics as human origins, the emergence and spread of modern humans, the first farming, and the origins of civilization. People of the Earth is unique in its even balance of the human past, in its readily accessible style, and its flowing narrative that carries the reader through the long sweep of our past. The book is highly illustrated, and features boxes and sidebars describing key dating methods and important archaeological sites. This classic world prehistory sets the standard for books on the subject and is the most widely used such textbook in the world. It is aimed at introductory students in archaeology and anthropology taking survey courses on the prehistoric past, as well as more advanced readers. It will also appeal to students of human responses to climatic and environmental change.

For one semester or quarter courses in World Prehistory. Written by one of the leading archaeological writers in the world --- "in a simple, jargon-free narrative style "--- this brief, well-illustrated account of the major developments in the human past makes world prehistory "uniquely accessible to complete beginners." Written by Brian Fagan, "World Prehistory" covers the entire world, not just the Americas or Europe, and places major emphasis on both theories and the latest archaeological and multidisciplinary approaches. His focus is on four major developments in world prehistory: 1) The origins of humanity. 2) The appearance and spread of modern humans before and during the late Ice Age- including the first settlement of the Americas. 3) The beginnings of food production. 4) The rise of the first civilizations.

The Tihamah plain extends some 500km down the western coast of modern Yemen and about 100km along its southern coast. This publication presents the first long-term culture-history of the Tihamah, through the exploration of socio-economic, cultural and political developments and of the region's relation to the rest of South West Arabia to its east, and to the Horn of Africa lying to its west, across the Red Sea. This research assimilates and analyses all of the available data for an archaeological understanding of the pre-Islamic Tihamah. This comprehensive study, taken in a long-term perspective, enables the identification of patterns, discontinuities, changes and current interpretive problems related to the development of the Tihamah in its relation to neighbouring regions. The analysis is based on published and unpublished archaeological research - including field research undertaken by the author - and on a range of historical sources ...

In the Beginning describes the basic methods and theoretical approaches of archaeology. This is a book about fundamental principles written in a clear, flowing style, with minimal use of technical jargon, which approaches archaeology from a global perspective. Starting with a broad-based introduction to the field, this book surveys the highlights of archaeology's colorful history, then covers the basics of preservation, dating the past, and the context of archaeological finds. Descriptions of field surveys, including the latest remote-sensing methods, excavation, and artifact analysis lead into the study of ancient environments, landscapes and settlement patterns, and the people of the past. Two chapters cover cultural resource management, public archaeology, and the important role of archaeology in contemporary society. There is also a chapter on archaeology as a potential career. In the Beginning takes the reader on an evenly balanced journey through today's archaeology. This well-illustrated account, with its numerous boxes and sidebars, is laced with interesting, and sometimes entertaining, examples of archaeological research from all parts of the world. This classic textbook of archaeological method and theory has been in print for nearly 50 years and is used in many countries around the world. It is aimed at introductory students in archaeology and anthropology taking survey courses on archaeology, as well as more advanced readers.

"Understand major developments of human prehistory" "People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Prehistory 14/e, "provides an exciting journey though the 7-million-year-old panorama of humankind's past. Giving equal treatment to both well-trodden and more obscure parts of the world, "People of the Earth" shows how today's diverse humanity developed biologically and culturally over millions of years against a background of constant climatic change. MySearchLab is a part of the Fagan/Durrani program. Research and writing tools help students master basic writing skills. With MySearchLab, students can access academic journals and census data and receive aid throughout the writing process. This title is available in a variety of formats -- digital and print. Pearson offers its titles on the devices students love through Pearson's MyLab products, CourseSmart, Amazon, and more. To learn more about our programs, pricing options and customization, click the Choices tab. 0205968023 / 9780205968022 People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Prehistory Plus MySearchLab with Pearson eText -- Access Card Package Package consists of: 0205239927 / 9780205239924 MySearchLab with Pearson eText -- Valuepack Access Card 0205966551 / 9780205966554 People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Prehistory

ALERT: Before you purchase, check with your instructor or review your course syllabus to ensure that you select the correct ISBN. Several versions of Pearson's MyLab & Mastering products exist for each title, including customized versions for individual schools, and registrations are not transferable. In addition, you may need a CourseID, provided by your instructor, to register for and use Pearson's MyLab & Mastering products. PackagesAccess codes for Pearson's MyLab & Mastering products may not be included when purchasing or renting from companies other than Pearson; check with the seller before completing your purchase. Used or rental booksIf you rent or purchase a used book with an access code, the access code may have been redeemed previously and you may have to purchase a new access code. Access codesAccess codes that are purchased from sellers other than Pearson carry a higher risk of being either the wrong ISBN or a previously redeemed code. Check with the seller prior to purchase. -- Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE "Demonstrates the importance of archaeology today"" ""In the Beginning: An Introduction to Archaeology" presents the history and methods of archaeology and explores its significance today. The text introduces archeology's basic principles along with numerous examples from all over the world. Authors Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani provide a comprehensive summary of the field for people who have little or no experience. MySearchLab is a part of the Fagan/Durrani program. Research and writing tools, including access to academic journals, help students explore archaeology in even greater depth. To provide students with flexibility, students can download the eText to a tablet using the free Pearson eText app. 0205968031 / 9780205968039 In the Beginning: An Introduction to Archaeology Plus MySearchLab with eText -- Access Card Package Package consists of: 0205239927 / 9780205239924 MySearchLab with Pearson eText -- Valuepack Access Card 0205966586 / 9780205966585 In the Beginning: An Introduction to Archaeology

Understand major developments of human prehistory People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Prehistory 14/e, provides an exciting journey though the 7-million-year-old panorama of humankind's past. This internationally renowned text provides the only truly global account of human prehistory from the earliest times through the earliest civilizations. Written in an accessible way for beginning students, People of the Earth shows how today's diverse humanity developed biologically and culturally over millions of years against a background of constant climatic change.