BOOKS
Wonderful things by
Nothing is more evocative of past civilizations than the hoards of treasure that are found by archaeologists. Many come from tombs and burial chambers, but they have been found too in sunken wrecks and underwater cities, in shrines and temples and royal palaces the world over. Paul Bahn and his team tell us of the extraordinary treasures, and of the equally extraordinary men and women who spent their lives on quests for the unknown.
Troy and Knossos by
Describes the Aegean civilizations and the archaeological efforts to excavate the ancient cities of Troy and Knossos.
Priam's Gold by
Troy: one of the most captivating and mysterious stories of antiquity... But was Troy an actual place or just a legend of Homer's epic? It took the most unlikely of people, Heinrich Schliemann ' a grocer's-apprentice turned self-made archaeologist, courageous and driven ' to solve one of the greatest puzzles in history.
Finding the Walls of Troy by
The relentlessly self-promoting amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann took full credit for discovering Homer's Troy over one hundred years ago, and since then generations have thrilled to the tale of his ambitions and achievements. But Schliemann gained this status as an archaeological hero partly by deliberately eclipsing the man who had launched his career. Now, at long last, Susan Heuck Allen puts the record straight in this fascinating archaeological adventure that restores the British expatriate Frank Calvert to his rightful place in the story of the identification and excavation of Hisarl#65533;k, the site now thought to be Troy as described in the Iliad. Frank Calvert had lived in the Troad--in the northwest corner of Asia Minor--excavating there for fifteen years before Schliemann arrived and learning the local topography well. He was the first archaeologist to test the hypothesis that Hisarl#65533;k was the Troy of Hector and Helen. So that he would have unrestricted access to the site, he purchased part of the mound and was the first archaeologist to conduct excavations there. Running out of funds, he later interested Schliemann in the site. The thankless Schliemann stole Calvert's ideas, exploited his knowledge and advice, and finally stole Calvert's glory, in part by slandering him and denigrating his work. Allen corrects the record and does justice to a man who was a victim of his own integrity while giving a balanced treatment of Schliemann's true accomplishments. This meticulously researched book tells the story of Frank Calvert's development as an archaeologist, his adventures and discoveries. It focuses on the twists and turns of his turbulent relationship with the perfidious Schliemann, the resulting gains for archaeology, and the successful conclusion of their common quest. Allen has brought together a wide range of relevant published material as well as unpublished sources from archives, diaries, letters, and personal interviews to tell this gripping story.
The Great Archaeologists by
The Great Archaeologists takes the reader on a journey from the first attempt to establish just how ancient the "ancient past" really was, through the revelatory discovery of lost civilizations and unknown cultures, right up to today's search for explanations about the past.We meet Thomsen and Worsaae, Danish researchers and rivals, and Sanz de Sautuola and Abbé Breuil, who astonished the world with their discoveries of cave art. Controversial figures such as Heinrich Schliemann and the Hungarian Aurel Stein, plunderer of ancient manuscripts from Central Asia, are given new assessments. Little-known pioneers such as Max Uhle in Peru and Li Chi in China are set beside the giants in the field--from Koldewey, Dörpfeld, and Woolley in the Near East, to Louis and Mary Leakey, who transformed knowledge of our African ancestry. Other indomitable women include Gertrude Bell, Kathleen Kenyon, and the script-decipherer Tatiana Proskouriakoff.Brian Fagan has assembled a team of some of the world's greatest living archaeologists to write knowledgeably and entertainingly about their distinguished predecessors in this handsome volume, full of fascinating anecdotes, personal accounts, and unexpected insights.
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