A survey of world history as told by the artifacts. After a section illustrating the methods used by archeologists this book gives excellent two-page spreads covering nearly every time and place up to the industrial revolution: "Europe after the Ice," "Minoan Crete," "The Aztecs and their Ancestors," "The Trading Kingdoms of East Africa," and so on. As a general survey whole epochs are summed up in a single paragraph. This sparsity is fine because all kinds of archaeological remains are the main focus. Plans of palaces, elevations of temples, maps of mining areas and photos of everything from Peking Man to the Callanish stone circle to Persian rhytons to the Gundestrup cauldron to Maori patus to Custer's shell casings. The point is made over and over again that what scholars know of the past comes from what past people have left behind. Kings and empires are mentioned in passing but this is not a political history. It is, if anything, an economic history. Artifacts are always the focus and so goods made for export and moved by trade routes are most commonly discussed. At this point, the book is rather dated. It's most recent sources are from the mid 1980s. This is not a major issue for me as Scythian tattoos and Ottoman plates are the same now as then. However, if you can't stand the use of "AD" or references to the Soviet Union, stay away. Also, the material sort of abruptly ends in the 1800s without any real conclusion or final thoughts. On the plus side, the pages are matte finish and so there's no risk of getting fingerprints in the middle of your map of Ming Peking. A worthy "shallow but wide" supplement to any collection of the "deep and narrow."
06 May 2010
A Review: Past Worlds: Collins Atlas of Archeology
3.5 / 5 Stars
A survey of world history as told by the artifacts. After a section illustrating the methods used by archeologists this book gives excellent two-page spreads covering nearly every time and place up to the industrial revolution: "Europe after the Ice," "Minoan Crete," "The Aztecs and their Ancestors," "The Trading Kingdoms of East Africa," and so on. As a general survey whole epochs are summed up in a single paragraph. This sparsity is fine because all kinds of archaeological remains are the main focus. Plans of palaces, elevations of temples, maps of mining areas and photos of everything from Peking Man to the Callanish stone circle to Persian rhytons to the Gundestrup cauldron to Maori patus to Custer's shell casings. The point is made over and over again that what scholars know of the past comes from what past people have left behind. Kings and empires are mentioned in passing but this is not a political history. It is, if anything, an economic history. Artifacts are always the focus and so goods made for export and moved by trade routes are most commonly discussed. At this point, the book is rather dated. It's most recent sources are from the mid 1980s. This is not a major issue for me as Scythian tattoos and Ottoman plates are the same now as then. However, if you can't stand the use of "AD" or references to the Soviet Union, stay away. Also, the material sort of abruptly ends in the 1800s without any real conclusion or final thoughts. On the plus side, the pages are matte finish and so there's no risk of getting fingerprints in the middle of your map of Ming Peking. A worthy "shallow but wide" supplement to any collection of the "deep and narrow."
A survey of world history as told by the artifacts. After a section illustrating the methods used by archeologists this book gives excellent two-page spreads covering nearly every time and place up to the industrial revolution: "Europe after the Ice," "Minoan Crete," "The Aztecs and their Ancestors," "The Trading Kingdoms of East Africa," and so on. As a general survey whole epochs are summed up in a single paragraph. This sparsity is fine because all kinds of archaeological remains are the main focus. Plans of palaces, elevations of temples, maps of mining areas and photos of everything from Peking Man to the Callanish stone circle to Persian rhytons to the Gundestrup cauldron to Maori patus to Custer's shell casings. The point is made over and over again that what scholars know of the past comes from what past people have left behind. Kings and empires are mentioned in passing but this is not a political history. It is, if anything, an economic history. Artifacts are always the focus and so goods made for export and moved by trade routes are most commonly discussed. At this point, the book is rather dated. It's most recent sources are from the mid 1980s. This is not a major issue for me as Scythian tattoos and Ottoman plates are the same now as then. However, if you can't stand the use of "AD" or references to the Soviet Union, stay away. Also, the material sort of abruptly ends in the 1800s without any real conclusion or final thoughts. On the plus side, the pages are matte finish and so there's no risk of getting fingerprints in the middle of your map of Ming Peking. A worthy "shallow but wide" supplement to any collection of the "deep and narrow."
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