Bahn Paul G. (ed). The World's Great Archaeological Treasures

London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999. — 255 p. — ISBN: 978-0-7607-8533-1.The treasures that our ancestors left behind, sometimes lost for many centuries, offer a unique and fascinating insight into the way our forefathers lived their daily lives. In The World's Great Archaeological Treasures, Paul Bahn's team of international specialists explore a selection of the world's great archaeological discoveries to uncover our past.
The treasures described and analyzed here come from a wide range of different contexts, in terms of geography and culture as well as historic - or prehistoric - period. The treasures range from Ice-age figurines of central and eastern Europe to African gold, from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the sensational discoveries of Egyptologists in the tomb of Tutankhamen. Many of the most well-known treasure troves were originally put together as burial furnishings, and for this reason they tell us much of what our forebears believed about death, and the afterlife, and how provision was made for the wellbeing of the dead in their journey onwards.
Other hoards, however, were not stored deliberately - the treasures of Pompeii, for example, were never intended to be left in situ, and they offer a more spontaneous and less organized picture of both the utilitarian and the decorative objects of daily and ceremonial life. All these and more are carefully examined and assessed, both as objects in their own right and, crucially, within their context. This scholarly and accessible book offers a fascinating insight into human history around the globe.Preface (Paul G. Bahn).
Treasures of Africa.
Africa’s Oldest Dated Rock Art (Anne Thackeray).
The Hetepheres Treasures (Steven Snape).
The Tomb of Hemaka (Steven Snape).
The ‘Main Deposit’ from Hierakonpolis (Steven Snape).
The Statues of Menkaure (Steven Snape).
The Tod Treasure (Steven Snape and Louise Steel).
The Tomb of Kha (Steven Snape).
The Amarna Letters (Steven Snape).
Tutankhamen (Steven Snape).
Tanis (Steven Snape).
The Rosetta Stone (Steven Snape).
Nigerian Sculpture (Anne Thackeray).
The Lydenburg Heads (Anne Thackeray).
Gold from Mapungubwe (Anne Thackeray).
Birds from Great Zimbabwe (Anne Thackeray).
The Royal Graves of Thulamela (Anne Thackeray).
Treasures of Asia.
‘Ain Ghazal (Chris Edens).
The Uruk ‘Sammelfund’ (Chris Edens).
The Mishmar Treasure (Chris Edens).
The ‘Royal’ Tomb at Maikop (Peter Bogucki).
Tell Asmar (Chris Edens).
The Gold of Troy (Louise Steel).
Royal Treasures at Ur (Chris Edens).
The Luristan Bronzes (Chris Edens).
Bronze Age Treasures of Bactria (Chris Edens).
Alaca Hoyuk (Chris Edens).
The Gold from Tell el-Ajjul (Louise Steel).
The Burial Pits at Sanxingdui (Simon Kaner).
The Megiddo Ivories (Chris Edens).
The Splendours of Prehistoric Japanese Pottery (Simon Kaner).
Scythian Treasures of the Steppes (Peter Bogucki).
Musical Treasures from Ancient China (Simon Kaner).
The Golden Hoard of Tillya Tepe (Chris Edens).
Bronze Bells of Yayoi (Mark Hudson).
Treasures of Zhongshan (Simon Kaner).
Ancient Scripts from East Asia (Simon Kaner).
The Funeral Masks of Tashtyk (Paul G. Bahn).
The Dead Sea Scrolls (Steven Snape).
Treasures from Early Korean Royal Tombs (Simon Kaner).
The Treasure House of Ancient Japan (Mark Hudson).
Ikor and the Ainu Bear Ceremony (Mark Hudson).
Treasures of Australasia.
Valuable Goods in Australia and the Pacific (Caroline Bird).
Wooden Combs from Kauri Point Swamp (Caroline Bird).
Treasures of Europe.
Early Ice Age Masterpieces (John Hoffecker and Paul G. Bahn).
Art Treasures of the Ice Age Steppe (John Hoffecker).
Power, Prestige and Gold at Varna (Peter Bogucki).
Prepalatial Jewellery from Mochlos (Louise Steel).
Amber and Jet: Treasured Accessories from Prehistoric Europe (Simon Kaner).
Bush Barrow and the Treasures of Bronze Age Goldwork (Simon Kaner).
Bronze Age Hoards of the Carpathian Basin (Peter Bogucki).
The Aegina Treasure (Louise Steel).
Mycenae ‘Rich in Gold’ (Louise Steel).
Dowris and the Irish Goldsmiths (Simon Kaner).
Vix and Treasures of the European Iron Age (Simon Kaner).
Ancient Classical Sculptures (David Gill).
Celtic Prince (Paul G. Bahn).
Celtic Torcs (Paul G. Bahn).
The Lady of Elche (Paul G. Bahn).
The Panagyurishte Treasure (David Gill).
The Rogozen Treasure (David Gill).
Etruscan Tombs (David Gill).
The Hildesheim Treasure (David Gill).
Hoards from Pompeii (David Gill).
The Boscoreale Treasure (David Gill).
Mosaics from Roman Britain (David Gill).
Vindolanda: Letters from Rome (Paul G. Bahn).
The Treasure of the Spring at Bad Pyrmont (Peter Bogucki).
The Portland Vase (David Gill).
The Water Newton Hoard (David Gill).
The Mildenhall Treasure (David Gill).
The Esquiline Treasure (David Gill).
The Hoxne Treasure (David Gill).
The Golden Age of Scandinavia (Peter Bogucki).
Sutton Hoo (Simon Kaner).
Medieval Buried Treasure at Sroda Slaska (Peter Bogucki).
Treasures of North and Central America.
The Richey-Roberts Clovis Cache (Philip Duke).
The Olmec ‘Fort Knox’ (Geoffrey McCafferty).
Tomb 7: Shrine of a Mixtec Earth Goddess (Geoffrey McCafferty).
Ancient Treasures of Florida (Philip Duke).
The Funerary Mask of Pacal (Constance Cortez).
The Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza (Geoffrey McCafferty).
Treasures of the American Desert (Philip Duke).
Ancient Treasures of Ozette (Philip Duke).
Treasures of South America.
Ancient Textiles of the Andes (Karen Wise).
Paracas Textiles (Karen Wise).
The Tombs of Sipan (Karen Wise).
Laguna de los Condores and the Chachapoyas (Karen Wise).
The Gold of El Dorado (Karen Wise).
Treasure Maps of the World.