Larousse Encyclopedia Of Archeology - Hardcover

Picard, Gilbert Char

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9780517649688: Larousse Encyclopedia Of Archeology

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0517649683 ISBN 13: 9780517649688

Publisher: Crescent, 1987

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The Larousse Encyclopedia of Archeology has been written by practicing archeologists under the general editorship of Professor Gilbert Charles-Picard of the Sorbonne. It is divided into two major sections. The first, Archeology at Work, defines what archeology is: it discusses the survival of artifacts, monuments and cities, and reveals how sites can be located even when only the most tenuous evidence for their existence is available. Surveying, excavation, dating, restoration, publication of discoveries, and exhibition are also examined in detail. The second part of the book, The Recovery of the Past, is devoted to the cultures and civilizations of former times, to the great cities, monuments, gorgeous palaces, and fantastic tombs that were in some cases concealed by the dust, ashes or jungle of centuries, and in others visibly present but waiting through the ages for the genius of a Champollion, a Schliemann, or a John Lloyd Stephens to realize their importance in man's perpetual study of man. The reader will learn how the archeologist, "the detective of the past", has recovered not only man's former glories but has also traced his first modest steps towards them. The story of primitive man and his development of tools, pottery, shelter for his family, and methods of agriculture are as enthralling as the great artistic achievements of Persepolis, Knossos and Chich�n Itz�. The ruins of once-teeming cities in Western Asia, the riches of the Nile Valley, the classic world of the Greeks and the relics of the overwhelming power of Rome, the enigma of the Etruscans and the riddle of the Maya cities, the glory of Ancient China and the apparently insoluble Minoan script -- all these challenges the archeologist met and conquered -- but the work will never end and the story will never cease to fascinate. These chapters have been written by experts in their field and illuminated with a generous supplement of 40 full-color and 600 black-and-white illustrations.

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