In the Beginning

Nadia Durrani is an archaeologist, editor, and author of multiple archaeology books. With Brian Fagan, she has written the award-winning book, Climate Chaos: Lessons in Survival from Our Ancestors, plus a portfolio of archaeology textbooks for Routledge. The former long-standing chief editor of Britain’s best-selling global archaeological magazine, Current World Archaeology, she has written and edited countless articles aimed at the general public. She studied archaeology and anthropology at Cambridge University and has a PhD in Arabian archaeology from University College London. On the board of the International Association for the Study of Arabia, and a founding member of the Great War Archaeology Group, she is also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.Brian Fagan is one of the world’s leading writers about archaeology and an internationally recognized authority on world prehistory. He studied archaeology and anthropology at Pembroke College, Cambridge University and then spent seven years in sub-Saharan Africa. Now a Distinguished Professor Emeritus, from 1967 to 2013, he was a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

• Preface; What Happened When and Where: A Brief Journey Through Ancient Times: Part I Background to Archaeology -- Chapter 1 Introducing Archaeology; Chapter 2 The Beginnings of Scientific Archaeology; Chapter 3 The Many-Voiced Past; Part II The Basics -- Chapter 4 Matrix and Preservation; Chapter 5 Doing Archaeological Research; Chapter 6 Culture, Data, and Context; Chapter 7 Dating the Past; Part III Recovering the Data -- Chapter 8 They Sought It Here, They Sought It There; Chapter 9 Excavation; Part IV Analyzing the Past -- Chapter 10 Classifying Artifacts; Chapter 11 Technologies of the Ancients; Part V Studying Environments and People -- Chapter 12 Ancient Environments; Chapter 13 Studying Subsistence; Chapter 14 The Living Past; Chapter 15 Landscape and Settlement; Chapter 16 Interactions; Chapter 17 Archaeology and the Intangible; Part VI Managing the Past -- Chapter 18 Cultural Resource Management (CRM) and Public Archaeology; Chapter 19 Archaeology and Contemporary Society; Part VII Careers and Resources -- Chapter 20 So You Want to Become an Archaeologist?; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.