Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History

by Patrick Hunt

Overview

The world's greatest archaeological finds and what they tell us about lost civilizations

Renowned archaeologist Patrick Hunt brings his top ten list of ancient archaeological discoveries to life in this concise and captivating book. The Rosetta Stone, Troy, Nineveh's Assyrian Library, King Tut's Tomb, Machu Picchu, Pompeii, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Thera, Olduvai Gorge, and the Tomb of 10,000 Warriors--Hunt reveals the fascinating stories of these amazing discoveries and explains the ways in which they added to our knowledge of human history and permanently altered our worldview. Part travel guide to the wonders of the world and part primer on ancient world history, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History captures the awe and excitement of finding a lost window into ancient civilization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780452288775
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/25/2007
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	876,503
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.93(h) x 0.54(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Patrick Hunt earned his Ph.D. in Archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, University of London, and is in his twenty-eighth year at Stanford. For over fifteen years, he directed the Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project, and his research has been sponsored by the National Geographic Society's Expedition Council. He is also a National Lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America; on a national committee of that organization; an elected Fellow of the Explorers Club in New York City; a National Geographic Expeditions Expert; a National Lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America; and an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He has authored twenty-one books and 100+ articles, and often appears as a scholar on PBS, National Geographic, and NOVA, as well as consulting for BBC and other documentary productions.

Editorial Reviews

"For lay readers and beginning students in archaeology and ancient history, this book will serve as an enjoyable, wide-ranging introduction to the importance of archaeology in writing-or rewriting-history."--Library Journal

From the Publisher

An outgrowth of decades of travel and research by Hunt (classics, Stanford Univ.; Alpine Archaeology) and a popular class he teaches, this book allots one chapter to each of ten key discoveries: the Rosetta stone, Troy, the Assyrian Library at Nineveh, Tutankhamen's Tomb, Machu Picchu, Pompeii, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Akrotiri on Thera, the Olduvai Gorge, and the Tomb of 10,000 Warriors. These discoveries are examined "in the context of the evolving discipline of archaeology since the eighteenth century." Hunt writes colorfully and enthusiastically about each discovery and the importance of material finds, not texts alone, in reconstructing history. He gives full credit to archaeologists-great names such as Ninevah's Layard, King Tut's Carter, the Leakeys of Olduvai Gorge, and even Troy's much-maligned Heinrich Schliemann-for their unique accomplishments. The bibliography includes sources for each chapter, but footnotes would have benefited readers amid the broad sweep of time and space covered. Scholars will undoubtedly disagree over the relative importance of these discoveries and whether some should have been selected at all, but for lay readers and beginning students in archaeology and ancient history, this book will serve as an enjoyable, wide-ranging introduction to the importance of archaeology in writing-or rewriting-history. For public and undergraduate libraries.
—Joan W. Gartland

Library Journal