Chris Scarre – författare

Shining a light on some of the most interesting research results on megalithic cultures, as well as their contemporaries, these 16 papers from the European Megalithic Studies Group symposium (Santiago de Compostela, Spain), cover monuments from Germany, moving down the Atlantic Facade across to Ireland and then back to the Western Mediterranean. Issues presented in this volume include temporality and mobility (both at the broad scale and at the local scale), social organisation & settings and external relationships. The methods used to investigate these themes are various: bio-molecular and isotopic analyses, typo-chronology, targeted excavations & radiocarbon dating, material cultural analyses, 3D models, ceremonial & funerary/burial practices (including osteometrics) and large-scale prospection. New methods researching the materiality and symbolism of monuments are also presented; some incorporate the role of the natural world. Alongside them are other contributions focusing on the key characteristic of megalithic monuments – the skilful and purposeful arrangement of large blocks of stone – and their interpretation. Discoveries include the intriguing return of large & complex ceremonial timber circles in active megalithic areas, presenting a significant contrast to what was considered the main funerary expressions in South Portugal. Ultimately, through the application of new, or differently applied, technologies and ways of thinking, this volume offers a series of studies that remove some of the mystery that surrounds these mementos of another time.

Ancient Civilizations offers a comprehensive and straightforward account of the world’s first civilizations and how they were discovered, drawing on many avenues of inquiry including archaeological excavations, surveys, laboratory work, highly specialized scientific investigations, and both historical and ethnohistorical records.

This book covers the earliest civilizations in Eurasia and the Americas, from Egypt and the Sumerians to the Indus Valley, Shang China, and the Maya. It also addresses subsequent developments in Southwest Asia, moving on to the first Aegean civilizations, Greece and Rome, the first states of sub-Saharan Africa, divine kings and empires in East and Southeast Asia, and the Aztec and Inka empires of Mesoamerica and the Andes. It includes a number of features to support student learning: a wealth of images, including several new illustrations; feature boxes which expand on key sites, finds, and written sources; and an extensive guide to further reading. With new perceptions of the origin and collapse of states, including a review of the issue of sustainability, this fifth edition has been extensively updated in the light of spectacular new discoveries and the latest theoretical advances.

Examining the world’s pre-industrial civilizations from a multidisciplinary perspective and offering a comparative analysis of the field which explores the connections between all civilizations around the world, this volume provides a unique introduction to pre-industrial civilizations in all their brilliant diversity. It will prove invaluable to students of Archaeology.

Ancient Civilizations offers a comprehensive and straightforward account of the world’s first civilizations and how they were discovered, drawing on many avenues of inquiry including archaeological excavations, surveys, laboratory work, highly specialized scientific investigations, and both historical and ethnohistorical records.

This book covers the earliest civilizations in Eurasia and the Americas, from Egypt and the Sumerians to the Indus Valley, Shang China, and the Maya. It also addresses subsequent developments in Southwest Asia, moving on to the first Aegean civilizations, Greece and Rome, the first states of sub-Saharan Africa, divine kings and empires in East and Southeast Asia, and the Aztec and Inka empires of Mesoamerica and the Andes. It includes a number of features to support student learning: a wealth of images, including several new illustrations; feature boxes which expand on key sites, finds, and written sources; and an extensive guide to further reading. With new perceptions of the origin and collapse of states, including a review of the issue of sustainability, this fifth edition has been extensively updated in the light of spectacular new discoveries and the latest theoretical advances.

Examining the world’s pre-industrial civilizations from a multidisciplinary perspective and offering a comparative analysis of the field which explores the connections between all civilizations around the world, this volume provides a unique introduction to pre-industrial civilizations in all their brilliant diversity. It will prove invaluable to students of Archaeology.

Ancient Civilizations provides a vivid and accessible account of early states and empires in Eurasia, Africa and the Americas. This textbook covers not only the traditional early states that formed in Egypt and Mesopotamia, in the Indus valley and China, in highland and lowland Mesoamerica and Andean South America, but it also follows the development of later states and empires including classical Greece and Rome, Han China and Angkor, and the kingdoms of sub-Saharan Africa. It provides a description of each, highlighting their key features and the kinds of evidence available for their study. Ancient Civilizations sees the development of states as a phenomenon recurring throughout past millennia, in different regions of the world, as part of a widespread process of social development and demographic growth. Particular attention is paid to the circumstances that allowed early states to develop and survive, the crucial role of agriculture and irrigation in supporting larger populations, the impact of warfare and expansionism, and the centrality of élites, ritual practices and monumentality in these early societies. Introductory chapters explain the history of research on early state societies, with due attention to the role of non-western scholars and examples in their study and interpretation. That broader postcolonial perspective is strengthened by the coverage of more recent state societies of sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia alongside those cultures that have so frequently dominated texts on ‘first civilizations’, and Ancient Civilizations offers greater insight into the whole range of societies that fall under this heading. Thus, Angkor in Cambodia and Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa are covered alongside Egypt, the Maya, and classical Greece and Rome. The result is a book unique in its scope and compelling in its diversity, written by three active scholars with considerable experience in their respective fields. Including features to support student learning: a wealth of images, feature boxes which expand on key sites, finds and written sources, and an extensive guide to further reading, Ancient Civilizations provides a unique introduction to pre-industrial civilizations.

Ancient Civilizations provides a vivid and accessible account of early states and empires in Eurasia, Africa and the Americas. This textbook covers not only the traditional early states that formed in Egypt and Mesopotamia, in the Indus valley and China, in highland and lowland Mesoamerica and Andean South America, but it also follows the development of later states and empires including classical Greece and Rome, Han China and Angkor, and the kingdoms of sub-Saharan Africa. It provides a description of each, highlighting their key features and the kinds of evidence available for their study. Ancient Civilizations sees the development of states as a phenomenon recurring throughout past millennia, in different regions of the world, as part of a widespread process of social development and demographic growth. Particular attention is paid to the circumstances that allowed early states to develop and survive, the crucial role of agriculture and irrigation in supporting larger populations, the impact of warfare and expansionism, and the centrality of élites, ritual practices and monumentality in these early societies. Introductory chapters explain the history of research on early state societies, with due attention to the role of non-western scholars and examples in their study and interpretation. That broader postcolonial perspective is strengthened by the coverage of more recent state societies of sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia alongside those cultures that have so frequently dominated texts on ‘first civilizations’, and Ancient Civilizations offers greater insight into the whole range of societies that fall under this heading. Thus, Angkor in Cambodia and Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa are covered alongside Egypt, the Maya, and classical Greece and Rome. The result is a book unique in its scope and compelling in its diversity, written by three active scholars with considerable experience in their respective fields. Including features to support student learning: a wealth of images, feature boxes which expand on key sites, finds and written sources, and an extensive guide to further reading, Ancient Civilizations provides a unique introduction to pre-industrial civilizations.

Atlantic Europe is the zone par excellence of megalithic monuments, which encompass a wide range of earthen and stone constructions from inpressive stone circles to modest chambered tombs. A single basic concept lies behind this volume - that the intrinsic qualities encountered within the diverse landscapes pf Atlantic Europe both informed the settings chosen for the monuments and played a role in determining their form and visual appearance. Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe goes significantly beyond the limits of existing debate by inviting archaeologists from different countries with the Atlantic zone (including Britain, France, Ireland, Spain and Sweden) to examine the relationship between landscape features and prehistoric monuments in their specialist regions. By placing the issue within a broader regional and intellectual context, the authors illustrate the diversity of current archaeological ideas and approaches converging around this central theme.

Atlantic Europe is the zone par excellence of megalithic monuments, which encompass a wide range of earthen and stone constructions from inpressive stone circles to modest chambered tombs. A single basic concept lies behind this volume - that the intrinsic qualities encountered within the diverse landscapes pf Atlantic Europe both informed the settings chosen for the monuments and played a role in determining their form and visual appearance. Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe goes significantly beyond the limits of existing debate by inviting archaeologists from different countries with the Atlantic zone (including Britain, France, Ireland, Spain and Sweden) to examine the relationship between landscape features and prehistoric monuments in their specialist regions. By placing the issue within a broader regional and intellectual context, the authors illustrate the diversity of current archaeological ideas and approaches converging around this central theme.