The Atlas of Archaeology: The Definitive Guide to the Location, History & Significance of the World's Most Important Archaelogical Sites & Finds

This large and attractive book is a fascinating look at the present state of information gained through archaeology. (OK, I saw the 1998 edition, which is not perhaps completely up-to-date, but is still quite fascinating.) Part one of the book has chapters covering a number of historic epochs (Neolithic, first cities, Iron Age, etc.), giving information on the era, a look at a certain site, and comparative sites. Along the way, the reader is treated to many wonderful brightly colored pictures, maps and illustrations. The second part of the book is a gazetteer or index of hundreds (or thousands, I lost count!) of archaeological sites across the world, organized by geographic location. Yep, this is quite a fun and interesting book! It is probably not too useful as a resource for a student, unless the student is researching one of the sites covered in part one of the book. But, for the general reader, and the armchair archaeologist, this book is great. I loved all the information that is packed in here, and the many colorful images. I highly recommend this fun and interesting book.

This is actually a pretty good reference tool. While it is not exhaustive, it is definitely helpful, colorful, and informative. The student who is inchoate in the area of Archaeology will find this volume helpful in several ways. First, it present a basic overview of the field of Archaeology by giving a brief synopsis of various artifacts, sites, and finds, in various locale. Second, it provides the reader with a nice history of the study of Archaeology via typology, comparative sites, interpreting finds, and the various locations around the world where important findings have been discovered. Third, the book includes a wonderful array of pictures, maps, drawing and illustrations. Moreover, the book is very well formatted and organized making it fairly easy to work your way around in it. However, it is a brief book, and is probably not suitable for the experienced student or scholar in the field (but would, I believe, still be enjoyable for the expert). I wish I could have given the book another half a star.

As a child I was always going to grow up and become a famous archaeologist (I never made it - I am actually a psychologist). My young daughter is similarly interested, and this is a great book for someone "starting out" with an interest in ancient times. It looks at all of the famous sites in archaeology, as well as the different eras. In addition it looks at themes as recent as the study of the industrial era, showing that archaeology is not just ancient bones and bits of pottery. For those who want more detail it is probably a little sketchy, but for the average household it is an excellent reference book.