208 pages : 30 cm

'The Atlas of World Archaeology' presents the story of human evolution and the development of societies and civilisations in all parts of the globe

Originally published: London: Time-Life, 2000

Includes bibliographical references and index

Pt. 1. The first humans -- The earliest hominids -- The first humans -- The first toolmakers -- African genesis / Anne Thackeray -- Spread of archaic humans -- The Neandertals -- Spread of modern humans -- Specialized hunters / John Hoffecker -- Ice Age art / Paul Bahn -- After the ice / Peter Bogucki -- pt. 2. Postglacial revolutions -- The emergence of farming / Christopher Edens -- Pyrotechnology : kiln and forge -- Further advances in farming / Peter Bogucki -- Early cities and state societies -- The development of writing / Christopher Edens -- pt. 3. The rise of civilization -- Europe & Western Asia -- Regional introduction -- Foragers of the Mesolithic / Peter Bogucki -- First farmers of the Near East / Christopher Edens -- Early farmers of Eurasia / Peter Bogucki -- First cities of the Near East / Christopher Edens -- Developed farmers of Europe -- The megalith builders / Simon Kaner -- Copper Age of Eastern Europe / Peter Bogucki -- Sumerians and Akkadians -- Early empires of Mesopotamia / Christopher Edens -- Bronze Age social elites / Peter Bogucki -- Aegean palace civilizations / Louise Steel -- Rival empires of the Near East / Christopher Edens -- Trade in the late Bronze Age / Steven Snape -- Philistines and Israelites / Christopher Edens -- The Phoenician empire / Louise Steel -- The Assyrian empire -- Southern Arabia / Christopher Edens -- The expanding Greek world -- The Western Mediterranean / David Gill -- Iron Age Europe / Peter Bogucki -- The Classical Age of Greece -- The Hellenistic Near East -- The spread of the Roman empire -- Communications and trade -- The frontiers of the empire / David Gill

Central, South & East Asia -- Regional introduction / Jane McIntosh -- Forager groups of East Asia / Simon Kaner -- The origins of rice cultivation / Charles Higham -- The Indus civilization / Jane McIntosh -- Earliest dynasties of China / Simon Kaner -- The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia / Charles Higham -- First empires of China -- Early states of Korea and Japan / Simon Kaner -- The Iron Age of Southeast Asia / Charles Higham -- Later states of South Asia / Jane McIntosh -- Scythians and steppe nomads / Peter Bogucki -- The Persian empire -- The Greeks in Asia -- Empires on the Silk Route / Christopher Edens -- Africa -- Regional introduction -- Hunters and herders / Anne Thackeray -- Predynastic Egypt -- Egypt in the Old Kingdom -- Middle Kingdom Egypt -- New Kingdom Egypt -- Kingdoms of the upper Nile / Steven Snape -- Iron Age Sub-Saharan Africa / Anne Thackeray

The Americas -- Regional introduction / Paul Bahn -- Archaic hunter-gatherers -- Origins of farming / Philip Duke, Geoffrey McCafferty, Karen Wise -- Bison hunters of North America -- North American mound builders -- Pueblo dwellers of the Southwest / Philip Duke -- Formative periode of Mesoamerica -- Classic highland civilizations -- Maya states of Central America -- The Postclassic transformation -- The Aztecs of Central Mexico / Geoffrey McCafferty -- Pre-civilizations of South America -- Andean states and empires -- The Inca empire / Karen Wise -- Australia & the Pacific -- Regional introduction -- Ice Age peoples of Australia -- Australia : later hunter-gatherers -- Early settlement of Melanesia -- Colonizing the Pacific / Caroline Bird -- Easter Island / Paul Bahn -- Maori settlement of New Zealand / Tom Higham