Ancient Civilizations

Chris Scarre is an archaeologist specializing in the prehistory of Europe and the Mediterranean, with a particular interest in the archaeology of the Atlantic façade—Britain and Ireland, France, and Iberia. He is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at Durham University, UK, and is actively involved in primary research and field projects both at home and overseas. He has wide interests in archaeology and is a firm believer that we need to study the past more broadly if we are to understand it. In addition to Ancient Civilizations, he is editor of the textbook on world prehistory The Human Past.Charles Golden is a Mesoamerican archaeologist, whose research has focused on the borders between ancient Maya kingdoms in Mexico and Central America, and the economic, social, and ritual ties that bound rural villages into larger political communities. He is Professor of Anthropology at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and co‑editor of Realizing Value in Mesoamerica: The Dynamics of Desire and Demand in Ancient Economies, Continuities and Changes in Maya Archaeology: Perspectives at the Millennium, and Maya Archaeology, Vols. 1–3.Shadreck Chirikure is an archaeological scientist specializing in the study of ancient materials and high‑temperature technologies, and how these shaped the development of societies over time. Using Africa as a primary context, his research also engages with materials and technologies from China, the Americas, and Europe, building a comparative understanding of humanity’s encounters with materials and pyrotechnologies across the world. He is Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford, Editor‑in‑Chief of Archaeometry, and author of Metals in Past Societies.

• Part I Background -- 1 The Study of Civilization; 2 Theories of States; Part II The First Civilizations -- 3 Mesopotamia: The First Cities (3500–2000 B.C.); 4 Egyptian Civilization; 5 South Asia: The Indus Civilization; 6 The First Chinese Civilizations; Part III Great Powers in Southwest Asia -- 7 Mesopotamia and the Levant (2000–1200 B.C.); 8 Southwest Asia in the First Millennium; Part IV The Mediterranean World -- 9 The First Aegean Civilizations; 10 The Mediterranean World in the First Millennium (1000–30 B.C.); 11 Imperial Rome; Part V Northeast Africa and Asia -- 12 Northeast Africa: Kush, Meroe, and Aksum; 13 Sub-Saharan Africa; 14 Divine Kings in Southeast Asia; 15 Kingdoms and Empires in East Asia (770 B.C.–A.D. 700); Part VI Early States in the Americas -- 16 Lowland Mesoamerica; 17 Highland Mesoamerica; 18 The Foundations of Andean Civilization; 19 Andean States (200 B.C.–A.D. 1534); 20 Epilogue; References; Credits; Index.