Booklist Review
*Starred Review* While we are not able to predict with entire clarity where we are going, archaeology allows us to take a sound if not entirely dispassionate look at where we've been. It is hard to imagine a more engrossing or thorough overview of human history than this volume. Spanning from prehominid beginnings in Africa to the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, Bahn's copiously illustrated, involving, and informative guide discusses how what we leave behind tells us about how we lived and even how we lived, thought, and worshipped. This reference title's entries are generally two pages in length, with between two-to-six clear black-and-white photographs. A description of the site under consideration is given along with what can be deduced from the remains. Photos are analyzed in captions, enhancing the text. Written by experts in the field, most with university affiliations, the entries are consistent and involving. A final section, How Archaeology Works, details changes in methods over time in the areas of surveying, excavation, dating, and scientific analysis, such as in the use of DNA and site analysis to identify the body of King Richard III of England. The volume concludes with a glossary, a list of contributors, and a detailed, accurate index. An excellent resource for high-school and college students with considerable appeal for the general reader.--Welton, Ann Copyright 2017 Booklist
Choice Review
The latest work in the series of archaeologically focused monographs from the Smithsonian Institution, this lavishly illustrated (and affordably priced) volume chronologically sets forth the known data retrieved by excavation for six time periods covering the last four million years and their current analysis. Each section is prefaced by a world map that notes the locations discussed, and provides a time line of key events for each era at the bottom of every third page to help the reader stay oriented. The highly readable text is written by an international group of 14 Canadian, British, American, and Peruvian archaeologists, both practicing and retired. Brief biographical profiles of archaeologists who did important work on a specific site (such as Jericho or Knossos), geographic region, or cultural era are included under some site entries. Virtually all of the illustrations are color photographs, and monochrome photos and maps are occasionally interspersed. A brief glossary of frequently used terms and abbreviations is provided. Contemporary technologies and field techniques are covered in the final section, "How Archaeology Works." As the subtitle suggests, a core reference work for all college, university, and museum libraries. Summing Up: Essential. All levels of students through researchers/faculty; general readers. --Robert B. Ridinger, Northern Illinois University
Library Journal Review
Organized by time period, this book examines major archaeological sites all over the world, from four million years ago to present day. Bahn (Images of the Ice Age) has pulled together a group of top scholars to create a comprehensive look at the science of archaeology. The volume discusses the shortage of places to store excavated materials and the delicate balance between tourism vs. preservation, along with the effects of terrorism on cultural heritage materials. Fascinating and little-considered facts are included in "Focal Points" sections, detailing information on a skull that indicated blunt force trauma believed to be the "earliest known example of lethal interpersonal violence." At the end of almost all of the entries are "Key Events" in time line form. Although dense, the writing is accessible to a variety of readers. VERDICT Upper-level high school students and undergraduates will find this a useful option.-Christine -Sharbrough, Industry, TX © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
