Brian Fagan is Emeritus Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author or editor of forty-six books, including Ancient North America, Discovery! and The Complete Ice Age, as well as seven widely used undergraduate college texts. He is a contributing editor to American Archaeology and Discover Archaeology magazines, and formerly wrote a regular column for Archaeology magazine.

• Introduction: Searching for the Past 1. The Antiquity of Humankind William Stukeley 1687–1765: Blending Romance and ScienceChristian Jürgensen Thomsen 1788–1865 & Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae 1821–85: The Three Age System Jacques Boucher de Perthes 1788–1868: Humanity’s High Antiquity Gabriel de Mortillet 1821–98: Classifying Human Cultural EvolutionOscar Montelius 1843–1921: Developing Accurate Chronologies Sanz de Sautuola 1831–88 & Henri Breuil 1877–1961: Finding the Earliest Art 2. Discoverers of Ancient CivilizationsJohann Joachim Winckelmann 1717–68: Father of Classical Archaeology Giovanni Battista Belzoni 1778–1823: Exploring Ancient Egypt Karl Richard Lepsius 1810–84: Documenting the Pharaohs Auguste Mariette 1821–81: Protecting Egypt’s Heritage John Lloyd Stephens 1805–52 & Frederick Catherwood 1799–1854: Revealing Maya CivilizationAusten Henry Layard 1817–94: Nimrud, Nineveh and BabylonHeinrich Schliemann 1822–90 & Sophia Schliemann 1852–1932: Searching for Homer’s WorldAlfred Maudslay 1850–1931: Exploring Maya CitiesRobert Koldewey 1855–1925: Nebuchadnezzar’s BabylonArthur Evans 1851–1941: Excavator of Minoan KnossosMax Uhle 1856–1944: Explorer of the Peruvian PastAurel Stein 1862–1943: Archaeology and Adventure in Central AsiaGertrude Bell 1868–1926: Desert Traveller in Arabia and IraqHoward Carter 1874–1939: Finding TutankhamunJohn Marshall 1876–1958: Indus Civilization RevealedAlfonso Caso 1896–1970 & Ignacio Bernal 1910–92: Unearthing Precolumbian MexicoMatthew Stirling 1896–1975: Discoverer of the OlmecsGertrude Caton-Thompson 1888–1985: Great Zimbabwe and the African Past 3. The Art of ExcavationGiuseppe Fiorelli 1823–96 & Amedeo Maiuri 1886–1963: Excavating and Preserving PompeiiAugustus Lane Fox Pitt Rivers 1827–1900: Pioneer of Archaeological ExcavationWilliam Matthew Flinders Petrie 1853–1942: Excavating and Dating Ancient EgyptWilhelm Dörpfeld 1853–1940: Scientific Excavation at TroyLeonard Woolley 1880–1960: Excavator of UrAlfred Kidder 1885–1963: The American SouthwestMortimer Wheeler 1890–1976 & Philip Barker 1920–2001: Maestros of Archaeological ExcavationWilliam Foxwell Albright 1891–1971: Father of ‘Biblical Archaeology’Spyridon Marinatos 1901–74: Santorini: Akrotiri from beneath the AshesMichael Katzev 1939–2001 & Richard Steffy 1924–2007: Underwater Archaeology as ScienceOle Crumlin-Pedersen 1935–2011: Recreating Viking Ships 4. Decipherers of Ancient ScriptsJean-François Champollion 1790–1832: Breaking the Hieroglyphic CodeHenry Creswicke Rawlinson 1810–95: Deciphering CuneiformMichael Ventris 1922–56: Reading Linear B Tablets as GreekEric Thompson 1898–1975, Tatiana Proskouriakoff 1909–85 & Yuri Knorosov 1922–99: Decoding Maya Hieroglyphs 5. Discovering World PrehistoryJulio Tello 1880–1947: Father of Peruvian ArchaeologyDorothy Garrod 1892–1968: Mount Carmel and Cro-MagnonsLi Chi 1896–1979 & Pei Wenzhong 1904–82: The First Chinese Dynasties and Early Humans in East AsiaAlexey Okladnikov 1908–81 & Sergey Semenov 1898–1978: Early Technology and Neanderthals in RussiaLouis Leakey 1903–72 & Mary Leakey 1913–96: Human Origins in AfricaKathleen Kenyon 1906–78: Excavating JerichoGrahame Clark 1907–95: European and World PrehistoryRobert Braidwood 1907–2003: Early Farming in the Near EastHannah Marie Wormington 1914–94 & Cynthia Irwin-Williams 1936–90: Female Pioneers in North American ArchaeologyJames B. Griffin 1905–97: Archaeology of Eastern North AmericaJesse Jennings 1909–97: Archaeology of the Desert WestGordon Willey 1913–2002: The Consummate American ArchaeologistJ. Desmond Clark 1916–2002: The Broad Canvas of African PrehistoryRoger Green 1932–2009: Studying the Early Polynesians 6. Thinking about the PastVere Gordon Childe 1892–1957: Revolutions in PrehistoryGlyn Daniel 1914–86 & Stuart Piggott 1910–96: Ancient Europeans, Megaliths and the Wider AudienceAndré Leroi-Gourhan 1911–86: How Humans Make their WorldsDavid Clarke 1937–76 & Lewis Binford 1931–2011: Pioneers of the ‘New Archaeology’Bruce Trigger 1937–2006: Archaeology, Anthropology and Human SocietyWilliam T. Sanders 1926–2008: Culture and Environment in Mesoamerica

'A compelling range of brilliance, imagination and eccentricity, conveying not just a sense of what being an archaeologist involves, but of how much archaeology has achieved as a contribution to human understanding' - British Archaeology