The History of Archaeology - Hardcover

With its space- and time-bound nature, archaeology lends itself to treatment in atlas form. While most archaeology atlases focus on either time or location, this publication from Constable (World's Biggest Buildings) encompasses both. Organized geographically, it opens with early hominids and continues to North American IndiansDthe Anasazi and the MoundbuildersDand the Viking settlements. Each geographic area has an introduction, followed by sections that highlight a site, find, topic, or culture. Each of the 77 two-page sections contains a time line, photos, and a short, descriptive text. Although global in coverage and comprehensive in timeframe, the book is quite general, lacking details and a bibliography, and would not be useful for ready reference. In contrast, Mick Aston and Tim Taylor's The Atlas of Archaeology (DK, 1998) is a better reference tool, for it is organized chronologically, provides more detail, and contains a gazetteer, better maps, a glossary, and a bibliography. While the time lines and maps of the World Atlas might be useful to students, the work is better suited to general-interest audience at public libraries.DJoyce L. Ogburn, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
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