The Cambridge Illustrated History of Archaeology (Cambridge Illustrated Histories) [Paperback]

Paul G. Bahn (Editor), Lord Renfrew (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 1999 | Series: Cambridge Illustrated Histories

This is the fullest and most authoritative single-volume account of archaeology from the earliest discoveries to the great excavations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Lavishly illustrated throughout and global in scope, it tells the story of those explorations which have helped shape our knowledge of the past. From early digging in Greece and the Near East, through the part played by archaeology in the 'discovery' of the Americas, to the unearthing of sites in Africa, Scandinavia, the former Soviet Union, and Australasia, the book describes individual events as part of a connected narrative amounting to a thorough history of the subject for general readers. It is the first general history of archaeology written by a team of specialists and the first history to cover every part of the world. The book is complete with time-period charts, lists of archaeological events, and a full index.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Archaeology as a discipline has a history as colorful as the subject it studies--the artifacts of the human past. Who hasn't heard of businessman-turned-flamboyant excavator Heinrich Schliemann, who unearthed (and looted) Troy's gold? Author Bahn leads a team of a dozen scholars down that parallel track of eccentric personalities and the things they dug up, resulting in a compact volume with a worldwide embrace, evenly balanced between sites famous and obscure. For its Eurocentric focus, however, Bahn makes no apology, arguing that the "archaeology of archaeology" essentially developed in Europe, at first, while the Renaissance gathered steam, in curiosity about Roman ruins and megalithic monuments like Stonehenge. Simple antiquarian collecting gradually gave way to more scientific systems of analysis, and the chapters, organized chronologically, recount the field's increasing sophistication in, for example, dating methods such as the carbon 14 technique. Two hundred illustrations abound, arresting the attention of any passing browser. An asset in any library. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'... a truly international history of archaeology ... The Illustrated History is refreshing in that it presents an international view of archaeological discovery and sometimes of changing ideas about the past.' Brian Fagan, American Antiquity

'... a global approach ...'. Estelle Lazer, University of Sydney, , The Weekend Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (June 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521669464
• ISBN-13: 978-0521669467
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,425,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book to enjoy over and over, January 16, 2000

By 

G. B. Talovich (Wulai, Taiwan, ROC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cambridge Illustrated History of Archaeology (Cambridge Illustrated Histories) (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book. If you are interested in archaeology, you want this book. The interesting, informative text is richly illustrated. The printing is excellent.

However, I am going to be churlish and gripe. What about China? The terracotta army? (three quarters of page 322). Come on, everybody's granduncle knows about the terracotta army. Staggering finds are popping up all over China, and all Cambridge gives us is the terracotta army.

What kind of finds? Okay, a peculiarity of Chinese archaeology is that there are very few early religious sites, so let me tell you about three of them: from the neolithic Hungshan culture of nothern China, a temple with statues of nude goddesses; from the neolithic Liangzhu culture of central China, altars with thousands of incredible pieces of jade, engraved with images that must be gods; from Sichuan in the southwest, the mysterious Sanxingtui sacrificial pits, with the astonishing seven foot tall bronze statue of (?) a shaman, and astounding bronze masks=-=- and don't forget that I just said religious sites are not common. With all this activity in Chinese archaeology, they show us the terracotta army AGAIN!

but other than that, it's a great book. You'll enjoy it!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Informative, February 26, 2000

By 

Silence Dogood (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cambridge Illustrated History of Archaeology (Cambridge Illustrated Histories) (Hardcover)

This is truly a beautiful book and an excellent overview. The reader who thinks it doesn't go into chinese archeaology in depth is correct - but it doesn't go into any area in any great depth - it's an overview for general-interest readers. My one complaint is addressed to the publisher, Cambridge University Press: on my copy, pages 259-274 are printed upside down! This is pretty sloppy for a book that costs this much. But otherwise, I recommend this highly.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine overview of how archaeology came to be what it is, March 30, 2004

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cambridge Illustrated History of Archaeology (Cambridge Illustrated Histories) (Paperback)

This is a terrific overview of the how the science of archaeology developed from medieval times. In those times people began to systematically look at ancient artifacts and began to try and explain them with something more than a myth. Sure, there were many ideas that seem ridiculous to us. However, we can rest assured that 500 years from now many ideas we accept as well known fact will seem equally preposterous.

I think the book is most helpful for a person, whether student or general reader, who wants to get some background on what archaeology is about, what some of the big achievements have been, some of the fiascos, and where the field stood about 1990-95. The last chapter speculating on current issues and the future is the weakest. It just raises some political correctness subjects such as women's issues and sore points such as the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum.

I wish they had raised more technically important issues and laid out a better sense of the real frontier rather than listing subjects that seem like they are trying to make the subject relevant. But these are only a few pages in an otherwise fine text.

The volume is wonderfully illustrated with drawings and photographs that enhance the story told in the text.

There is a chronology from 1500, a page of texts for further reading, a page of acknowledgements, and an index.