Eyewitness to Discovery - Softcover
Archaeology has an aura of romance and a long history of startling discoveries wrested from clinging soil. Indeed, patience and persistence can lead to spectacular finds, as they did for Howard Carter in November 1922. After seven years searching the Egyptian desert, Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, and in these vivid words he described what the tomb held in store: "At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold--everywhere the glint of gold."
In Eyewitness to Discovery, Brian M. Fagan gathers together fifty-five vivid accounts of the world's greatest archaeological discoveries, from the tomb of Tutankhamun and the Aegean Marbles to Otzi the Iceman and Macchu Picchu, told by the people who discovered them. The selections chronicle the development of the field, from the early 1700s when archaeology was little more than a lighthearted treasure hunt, to the late twentieth century when discoveries often come not only from spectacular excavations, but also from the screens of computers or from the analysis of pollen grains invisible to the naked eye. Fagan provides engaging, informative introductions to each selection, as well as an introduction to the volume, that lays out the history of archaeology.
But the heart of the book is the excitement of the discoveries themselves. We see how Arthur Evans found clues on Minoan seals in an Athens flea market that helped him discover the Palace of Knossos and a long forgotten early civilization; how Austen Henry Layard--one of the heroic archaeologists of the nineteenth century--discovered ancient Nineveh; and how General Napoléon Bonaparte's soldiers found the Rosetta Stone, one of the most important archaeological finds in history, in the Nile Delta in 1799. And we read how, in 1974, Don Johanson, while working in the center of the Afar desert in Ethiopia--a wasteland of bare rock, gravel, and sand--happened upon the oldest, most complete skeleton of any human ancestor that had ever been found: Lucy, approximately 3.5 million years old.
Archaeological discovery unveils the past and brings us face to face with the triumphs and tragedies of those who have gone before. This book is a celebration of archaeological discoveries, and the men and women who made them.
In Eyewitness to Discovery, Brian M. Fagan gathers together fifty-five vivid accounts of the world's greatest archaeological discoveries, from the tomb of Tutankhamun and the Aegean Marbles to Otzi the Iceman and Macchu Picchu, told by the people who discovered them. The selections chronicle the development of the field, from the early 1700s when archaeology was little more than a lighthearted treasure hunt, to the late twentieth century when discoveries often come not only from spectacular excavations, but also from the screens of computers or from the analysis of pollen grains invisible to the naked eye. Fagan provides engaging, informative introductions to each selection, as well as an introduction to the volume, that lays out the history of archaeology.
But the heart of the book is the excitement of the discoveries themselves. We see how Arthur Evans found clues on Minoan seals in an Athens flea market that helped him discover the Palace of Knossos and a long forgotten early civilization; how Austen Henry Layard--one of the heroic archaeologists of the nineteenth century--discovered ancient Nineveh; and how General Napoléon Bonaparte's soldiers found the Rosetta Stone, one of the most important archaeological finds in history, in the Nile Delta in 1799. And we read how, in 1974, Don Johanson, while working in the center of the Afar desert in Ethiopia--a wasteland of bare rock, gravel, and sand--happened upon the oldest, most complete skeleton of any human ancestor that had ever been found: Lucy, approximately 3.5 million years old.
Archaeological discovery unveils the past and brings us face to face with the triumphs and tragedies of those who have gone before. This book is a celebration of archaeological discoveries, and the men and women who made them.
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About the Author:
About the Editor:
Brian M. Fagan is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of The Adventure of Archaeology and The Rape of the Nile, and is a Contributing Editor for Archaeology magazine.
Review:
"An ambitious book....Some of these accounts are as thrilling as a detective story...one or two are full of a strange, astonished poetry...others are full of gold."--The Economist
"Brian Fagan is one of the most successful popularizers of archaeology, and has a reputation for being both interesting and accurate....[these] stories are still fresh and lively today....But there is more than mere entertainment here, and Fagan sets out to educate as well as to amuse."--Nature
About the Editor:
Brian M. Fagan is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of The Adventure of Archaeology and The Rape of the Nile, and is a Contributing Editor for Archaeology magazine.
"An ambitious book....Some of these accounts are as thrilling as a detective story...one or two are full of a strange, astonished poetry...others are full of gold."--The Economist
"Brian Fagan is one of the most successful popularizers of archaeology, and has a reputation for being both interesting and accurate....[these] stories are still fresh and lively today....But there is more than mere entertainment here, and Fagan sets out to educate as well as to amuse."--Nature
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication date1996
- ISBN 10 096557346X
- ISBN 13 9780965573467
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages493
- Rating
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Eyewitness to Discovery
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Oxford University Press
(1996)
ISBN 10: 096557346X
ISBN 13: 9780965573467
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