Archaeology: The Whole Story

by Paul G. Bahn (Editor), Brian M. Fagan

Global in perspective and covering over four million years of history, this accessible volume provides a chronological account of both the development of the human race and the order in which modern societies have made discoveries about their ancient past. Beginning deep in prehistory, it takes in all the great archaeological sites of the world as it advances to the present day.

A masterful combination of succinct analysis and driving narrative, Archaeology: The Whole Story also addresses the questions that inevitably arise as we gradually learn more about the history of our species: what are we? Where did we come from? What inspired us to start building, writing and all the other activities that we traditionally regard as exclusively human? A concluding section explains how we know what we know: for example, how seventeen prehistoric shrines were discovered around Stonehenge using magnetometers, ground-penetrating radars, and 3D laser scanners; and how DNA analysis enabled us to identify some bones discovered beneath a car park in Leicester as the remains of a fifteenth-century king of England.

Written by an international team of archaeological experts and richly illustrated throughout, Archaeology: The Whole Story offers an unparalleled insight into the origins of humankind.

Genres: History, Archaeology, Nonfiction, Historical

576 pages, Paperback

Published August 30, 2017

About the author

Paul G. Bahn is a British archaeologist, translator, writer and broadcaster who has published extensively on a range of archaeological topics, with particular attention to prehistoric art. He is a contributing editor to Archaeology magazine.

Reviews

[The Rockpile Project · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous and highly accessible book which gives a very engaging and incredibly thorough introduction to archaeology. From research into the earliest hominins to the technology used by archaeologists, it seems that every aspect of the field is introduced with lots of beautiful full-color illustrations. It is also thorough in its inclusion of information on archaeological sites from all over the world. Anyone with an interest in the human past will absolutely love this book.

[John Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a tremendously interesting book. There's so much information in it that one could never take it all in. I kept the book for two months and still had to skim. The book is well laid out. Each major section commences with a world map showing where each chapter subject is located. The chapters show a timeline of the significant events across the bottom of the first double page spread. There are several photos in each spread with a diagram referring to the related text of each photo (maybe a little over the top?). There's a lot to fit in, and I suppose that's why a small font was chosen. This made it harder for me with imperfect eyesight, and add in the glossy paper where light reflection obscures the text sometimes, this is a small markdown. Of course, those features also show a high quality production which will impress many readers. Covering millions of years, readers can find not only the most well-known archaeological finds, but also many more obscure items. The photos show ruins, human remains, artifacts and more.
Maybe I should say some readers wanting only to dip in to the subject could find this daunting. Don't deny yourself the pleasure - skipping or sampling is always an option.
I've no good reason to downgrade this below 5 stars, so rating 4.7.