‘For stunning snapshots of ancient worlds, turn to this pictorial odyssey … a whirlwind tour, written by experts and accessible to all’ – New Scientist

‘Spectacularly illustrated quality scholarship … frontline reports from the frontiers of research’ – The Times Higher Education Supplement

‘Page after gorgeous page is filled with arresting photographs of archaeological finds …  another book that seasoned archaeologists will learn from and enjoy, but which you could also give to any non-archaeological friend as the perfect answer to why people like us bother with stuff that is old, broken and buried’ – Salon (Newsletter of the Society of Antiquaries)

From cave art, royal tombs and mummies to lost cities, ancient scripts and DNA – the most exciting, spectacular and astonishing finds made by archaeologists around the world in the last 15 years, recounted by the discoverers themselves.

International in scope and totally authoritative, the book is illustrated throughout with spectacular photographs, many taken at the very moment of discovery. Contributors include famous Egyptologists such as Zahi Hawass, Kent Weeks and Alain Zivie; pioneering underwater explorers, such as Franck Goddio and many other leading excavators and scientists.

Here are revelations about the pyramids of Giza, a just-discovered royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings and gold-filled burials of Assyrian queens at Nimrud, Iraq.
Italy’s Ice Man and spectacular Inca mummies from high in the Andes bring us face to face with people from the past, while stunning wall paintings from Guatemala revolutionize our knowledge of the ancient Maya, and Greek sculptures and Roman mosaics open our eyes anew to Classical art.

Many recent discoveries have been made through the microscope and in the laboratory, and we see how Neanderthals are being reconstructed from their DNA and how medical science is revolutionizing our knowledge of pharaohs and commoners.

Brian M. Fagan is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of California and the author of many widely read books on archaeology, including The Rape of the Nile, The Little Ice Age and Fish on Friday. He is also the editor of The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World and The Seventy Great Inventions of the Ancient World, both published by Thames & Hudson.

Also of interest
The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World
Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice
The Complete Ice Age edited by Brian Fagan
The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls