This book presents an interdisciplinary study of the El Mirador cave located on the Atapuerca karstic system, one of the longest Pleistocene and Holocene archaeopaleontological deposits in Iberia. This book presents the results including new unpublished and published data to discuss different aspects related to the prehistoric herders and farmers that occupied this territory. Divided into four parts, the book covers site presentation and the paleoenvironmental reconstruction covering a chronological span between 7060 ± 40-3040 ± 40 yrs. The history of the excavation and the excavation methodology is detailed in this part including new unpublished recording techniques using 3D scanning and photogrammetry and a very meticulous sampling strategy. The book presents formation processes of the deposit which are key to understanding the successive occupations of the caves regarding its use as sheepfold cave as well as human remains that are part of different funerary contexts in the cave. In the last section, the book covers material culture found in the cave including lithic tools and pottery. This interdisciplinary work is of interest to scholars in anthracology, zooarchaeology, paleoanthropology, lithic technology, and experimental archaeology.

"This book is a copublication of The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and The Field Museum"--Copyright page.

Describes the Stone age settlement preserved almost intact in the sand dunes of one of the Orkney Islands, how it came to be discovered in the mid-nineteenth century, and what it reveals about the life and culture of this prehistoric community.

The ancient world comes to life in the first volume in a two book series on the history of Egypt, spanning the first farmers to the construction of the pyramids. Famed archaeologist John Romer draws on a lifetime of research to tell one history's greatest stories; how, over more than a thousand years, a society of farmers created a rich, vivid world where one of the most astounding of all human-made landmarks, the Great Pyramid, was built. Immersing the reader in the Egypt of the past, Romer examines and challenges the long-held theories about what archaeological finds mean and what stories they tell about how the Egyptians lived. More than just an account of one of the most fascinating periods of history, this engrossing book asks readers to take a step back and question what they've learned about Egypt in the past. Fans of Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra and history buffs will be captivated by this re-telling of Egyptian history, written by one of the top Egyptologists in the world.

Addressing one of the most debated revolutions in the history of our species, the change from hunting and gathering to farming, this title takes a global view, and integrates an array of information from archaeology and many other disciplines, including anthropology, botany, climatology, genetics, linguistics, and zoology.

The peoples of Inner Asia in the second half of the first millennium BC have long been considered to be nomads, engaging in warfare and conflict. This book, which presents the findings of new archaeological research in southeastern Kazakhstan, analyzes these findings to present important conclusions about the nature of Inner Asian society in this period. Pots, animal bones, ancient plant remains, and mudbricks are details from the material record proving that the ancient folk cultivated wheat, barley, and the two millets, and also husbanded sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. The picture presented is of societies which were more complex than heretofore understood: with an economic foundation based on both herding and farming, producing surplus agricultural goods which were exported, and with a hierarchical social structure, including elites and commoners, made cohesive by gift-giving, feasting, and tribute, rather than conflict and warfare. The book includes material on the impact of the first opening of the Silk Route by the Han emperors of China.

This volume shows how hunter gatherer societies maintain their traditional lifeways in the face of interaction with neighboring herders, farmers, and traders. Using historical, anthropological and archaeological data and cases from Africa, Australia, and Southeast Asia, the authors examine hunter gatherer peoples—both past and present--to assess these relationships and the mechanisms by which hunter gatherers adapt and maintain elements of their culture in the wider world around them.