Bahn Paul (ed.) The Penguin Archaeology Guide

Penguin Books, 2001. — 494 p. — ISBN: 0-140-29308-6.Archaeology is one of those rare disciplines that has both an academic and a popular following, and The Penguin Archaeology Guide is designed to cater for both groups. In the course of some 3,500 meticulously researched articles, it explores over three million years of human development and describes the techniques employed by archaeologists to record and analyse the physical evidence lеft behind by successive generations.
The view of archaeology taken by the guide is a multi-faceted — and global — one. There are articles on the early hominid remains found in Kenya, on the prehistoric cultures of Siberia and on the growth, of Egyptian civilization. There are entries on the Paviland Cave burial in Wales, the Woodruff Ossuary, in Kansas and the Birrigai rockshelter in Australia.
And there are pieces on a wide range of ethnic and cultural groups — Khmers, Aztecs, Etruscans and Celts among them. In addition, many different types of artifact, from pottery to papyrus, are described in detail and related to their geographical and cultural contexts, as are different types of structures, such as dolmens, hillforts and lake villages. Finally, there are numerous articles, that explore the more theoretical aspects of the subject, explain the procedures employed for excavating and dating both sites and objects, and that look at the lives and achievements of key figures in the history of archaeology.
Compiled by a team of international experts and illustrated throughout with maps and photographs, The Penguin Archaeology Guide offers a superbly rich and authoritative account of a vast, complex and perennially fascinating subject.