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From the Bookshelf of Easley Library Bookworms…

The Horizon Book of Lost Worlds

Leonard Cottrell,

Marshall B. Davidson (Editor)

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Jul 29, 2009 Werner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: archaeology

My high rating for this book reflects the enormous fascination I found in it as an adolescent; I'd say it was one of the major contributions to my intellectual formation. (I usually tended to learn more from my outside reading than I ever did from textbooks and assigned readings in school!) Today, of course, it might be a trifle dated in places; there have been new excavations since 1962, and some questions described here as unanswered have now been answered (Arzawa, mentioned in some of the old My high rating for this book reflects the enormous fascination I found in it as an adolescent; I'd say it was one of the major contributions to my intellectual formation. (I usually tended to learn more from my outside reading than I ever did from textbooks and assigned readings in school!) Today, of course, it might be a trifle dated in places; there have been new excavations since 1962, and some questions described here as unanswered have now been answered (Arzawa, mentioned in some of the old Hittite tablets, has since been identified geographically, for instance). Even today, though, this would be a wonderful beginning resource for an intelligent lay reader (precisely the kind it was written for) who wants a good introductory overview of the wonders of archaeology and the worldwide ancient past. (My count of having read it "1" time is a bit deceptive; it's the sort of book where I re-read parts of it often!)

Cottrell's and Davidson's qualifications aren't stated; and they don't provide a bibliography of sources or any footnotes. They were apparently magazine journalists not necessarily trained in archaeology or ancient history; but serious journalists, genuinely interested in their subject and committed to explaining it authoritatively and clearly. The book is divided into 20 chapters. After an introductory overview and a chapter tracing the transition of knowledge about the ancient past from a hazy void of half-forgotten legend and context-less historical and biblical references to solid facts, ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia are treated in three chapters each. The Indus Valley civilization, Crete, Mycenae, the Hittites, the Etruscans, the Khmers, and the Maya are each treated in single chapters. Interspersed with these are a chapter on some of the early major archaeological discoveries that blazed the trails subsequent research has followed, and a chapter collecting excerpts from writers who actually had some primary contact with these civilizations (even if it was in many cases after their heyday) ranging from Herodotus to 16th-century Spanish bishop Diego de Landa, who observed the Maya not long after the Spanish conquest.

Even to a 14-year-old reader, the quality of the content spoke for itself, as having obviously been based on extensive study of solid sources. Cottrell wrote the text, which is a model of how to combine an exciting, vitally alive, anything-but-dry style with accurate and detailed content. (Unlike that of many "coffee-table" books, it's also substantial in its own right, not just a pretext for the pictures.) On questions where scholars differ about interpretations of the data, this is clearly indicated. (His perspective is secular; but he mentions the Bible occasionally and takes it seriously as a primary document for the ancient Near East.) Davidson's contribution was apparently to organize the chapters; to incorporate the numerous short sidebars, apart from the flow of the main text, that highlight particular subjects, like the Book of the Dead, Minoan "bull-leaping," or Maya "Masks and Profiles," and to integrate the hundreds of illustrations, many of them in color, that gloriously complement the text. (The provenance of each of these is identified in the lengthy acknowledgments section.) Most often, these are photographs of actual artifacts, inscriptions, and excavated buildings, though some are reproductions of 19th-century sketches that pre-date photography, or reproductions of carvings or paintings that show artists' conceptions, from the medieval to the early modern centuries, of the ancient past. (The pre-Victorian earthiness of two or three of these could obviously evoke wide-eyed fascination in a pubescent teen; but I can honestly say that 99% of my enthusiasm for the book came from purely intellectual delight. :-))

A good index in the back, and a two-page worldwide time-line at the beginning, add to the useful features here. If archaeology and/or the ancient world is your thing, this would be an absolutely great read! ...more

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