| Description |
512 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), photographs ; 24 cm |
| Note |
Includes index. |
| Contents |
Introduction / by Douglas Preston -- 3.6 mya-50,000 B.C: bones of our ancestors. The first steps of humankind -- Walking with Lucy -- The toolmaker of Olduvai gorge -- The curious case of Dmanisi -- Homo naledi defies definition -- The ancestor in a test tube -- The tiny people time forgot -- New light on neanderthals -- 50,000-3000 B.C.: the dawn of culture. Rock art of aboriginal dreamtime -- Ice age artists -- The most ancient Americans -- The world's oldest temple -- The first true city -- The fate of Ötzi the iceman -- If stones could speak -- Masterpieces of the Sahara -- 3000-1500 B.C.: the foundations of society. The dawn of ancient Egypt -- Untold riches in Ur's royal tombs -- Peaceful cities of the Indus valley -- Egypt's pyramid builders -- The "princess" of Khok Phanom Di -- Knossos' cryptic tableets -- The law code of Hammurabit -- The Minoan "Pompeii" -- 1500-1000 B.C.: converging worlds. Hattusha's written records -- The Uluburun shipwreck -- Letters to the pharaohs -- Mycenae, more than myth -- Tomb of a teenage pharaoh -- The legend of Troy -- Rediscovering the Shang -- Armies clash at the causeway -- A settlement left in haste -- 1000-500 B.C.: ancient tribes & dynasties. Beyond the blue horizon -- Homes of the high and mighty -- The search for King David -- Mexico's colossal stone heads -- Pyramids of the black pharaohs -- Cities of the dead -- Babylon's crowning glory -- The celtic King Tut -- Persepolis, pride of Persia -- 500-200 B.C: an age of artisans. Riding with the Amazons -- The Nebra sky disk -- Warriors from a watery grave -- The crown jewel of Athens -- Thracian gold -- The Nok Terra-cottas -- Macedonian tombs of Vergina -- Sunken cities of the pharaohs -- China's Terra-cotta warriors -- Probing the Antikythera mechanism -- 200 B.C.-A.D. 75: rituals & religion. Cracking the hieroglyphic code -- Europe's eerie bog bodies -- Maya masterpieces revealed -- Dead sea scrolls -- Treasure lost and found -- Caesarea Maritima's ambitious harbor -- Spirits in the sand -- Standoff at Masada -- A.D. 75-600: tombs & temples. Petra, ancient city of stone -- Last moments of Pompeii and Herculaneum -- An untouched royal tomb -- City of kings and commoners -- Teotihuacan's cosmic vision -- Jerusalem's holy sepulchre -- Rescuing Mes Aynak -- The mosaics of Huqoq -- The caves of Ajanta -- Ghost ship of Sutton Hoo -- A.D. 600-1000: surprises & mysteries. Cemetery of the golden chiefs -- The Oseberg ship -- Andean treasures, untouched -- The people of Petroglyph canyon -- The shining city of moorish Spain -- The new world's first Europeans -- Mud-brick maze of Jenne-jeno -- The enigma of Easter island -- A.D. 1000-1200: great builders. The magnificent Angkor Wat -- A sacred Maya landscape -- Lost city of the Monkey god -- Cahokia, an American capital -- The old ones of the southwest -- The city of great Zimbabwe -- East Africa's crossroads -- 1200-1600: sovereigns & citizens. London's bones -- The Birch-bark scrolls -- The drowned fleet of Kublai Khan -- Ruins of the Templo Mayor -- The lost town of Machu Picchu -- A treasure trove of knowledge -- Frozen mumies of the Andes -- Shipwreck of the Mary Rose -- 1600-present: a changing world order. Settling the rainforest -- The cold truth of Jamestown -- What the thaw reveals -- The wicked city of Port Royal -- America's last slave ship -- The disappearance of the H. L. Hunley -- Finding the Titanic -- Afterword / by Fredrik Hiebert. |
| Summary |
This work "tells incredible stories of how explorers and archaeologists have uncovered the clues that illuminate our past. Archaeology is the key that unlocks our deepest history. Ruined cities, golden treasures, cryptic inscriptions, and ornate tombs have been found across the world, and yet these artifacts of ages past often raised more questions than answers. But with the emergence of archaeology as a scientific discipline in the 19th century, everything changed. Illustrated with dazzling photographs, this enlightening narrative tells the story of human civilization through 100 key expeditions, spanning six continents and more than three million years of history. Each account relies on firsthand reports from explorers, antiquarians, and scientists as they crack secret codes, evade looters and political suppression, fall in love, commit a litany of blunders, and uncover ancient curses. Pivotal discoveries include: King Tut's tomb of treasure, terracotta warriors escorting China's first emperor into the afterlife, the glorious Anglo-Saxon treasure of Sutton-Hoo, graves of the Scythians, the real Amazon warrior women, [and] new findings on the grim fate of the colonists of Jamestown." --distributor's website |
| Subject |
Archaeology.
|
|
Excavations (Archaeology)
|
|
Civilization.
|
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Extinct cities.
|
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Tombs.
|
| Genre |
Illustrated works.
|
| Added Author |
Williams, Ann R., editor.
|
|
Preston, Douglas J., writer of introduction.
|
|
Hiebert, Fredrik T. (Fredrik Talmage), writer of afterword.
|
| Added Title |
100 discoveries that changed the world |
|
One hundred discoveries that changed the world |
| ISBN |
9781426221989 |
|
1426221983 |
| Standard No. |
40030910640 |
|
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