Wonders of the Ancient World. National Geographic Atlas of Archaeology

Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1994. — 304 p. — ISBN: 0-87044-982-6.Archaeology has a human face: Every piece of pottery ever found was once touched by someone's hands; every structure unearthed once rang to the sounds of laughter or tears; every jewel from an ancient burial once made an individual more important or alluring.
Since the first stirrings of human evolution in Africa four million years ago, people have been leaving traces of themselves behind; and for the last couple of centuries, archaeologists have been finding and studying them.
Wonders of the Ancient World is organized both geographically and chronologically, to take you from the Middle East and Europe through sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Oceania to the Americas; and from those distant human beginnings to around A.D. 1600.
Familiar civilizations and sites are here—the Greeks and the Romans, Angkor, Machu Picchu. But so are the tantalizingly unfamiliar: Tairona, Pagan, Aksum, Nan Madol, and many others. Rich texts and hundreds of color illustrations bring their cultures to life.
Questions are raised. How did Pacific islanders navigate across the trackless ocean? Why were entire armies of terra-cotta figures buried with Chinese emperors? What became of the Aztec?
Those answers that we have come from studies undertaken by archaeologists—people who, according to National Geographic Staff Archaeologist George E. Stuart, feel a "devotion to ancient things." And whose finds provide wonders for us all.Introduction (George E. Stuart).
Portfolio: Tools of Archaeology (Tom Melham).
Human Origins.
In the Beginning (Leslie Allen).
Peopling the Earth (Leslie Allen).
The Middle East and Europe.
Early Settlements (Toni Eugene).
Portfolio: First Farmers (Catherine Herbert Howell).
Cities and Civilizations (Cynthia Russ Ramsay).
Portfolio Origins of Writing (John E. Ross).
The Classical World (Catherine Herbert Howell).
Crossroads of Faith (Catherine Herbert Howell).
Europe: Into the North (Toni Eugene).
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ancient Kingdoms (John F. Ross).
Portfolio: Metal Ages (K. M. Kostyal).
Asia and Oceania.
The Indian Subcontinent (Cynthia Russ Ramsay).
Southeast Asia (Cynthia Russ Ramsay).
East Asia (Ann Nottingham Kelsall).
Portfolio: Textile Treasures (Margaret Sedeen).
Central and North Asia (Jennifer C. Urquhart).
Pacific Islands (Ron Fisher).
The Americas.
North America (Tom Melham John F. Ross).
Portfolio: The Potter's Art (Jennifer C. Urquhart).
Mesoamerica (Mary Ann Harrell).
South America (Toni Eugene).