Bøger i Cambridge World Archaeology serien

This uniquely broad and challenging book reviews the latest archaeological evidence on Neolithic Europe. Describing important sites and problems, and addressing major themes, this revised version of Whittle's Neolithic Europe reflects radical changes in interpretive approaches over the past decade.

The book presents the latest research on the spread of farming by archaeologists and geneticists. It shows that it resulted from a population expansion from present-day Turkey and explains how this took place. It will be of interest to advanced students and scholars in archaeology, anthropology and the evolutionary social sciences more generally.

How did Neanderthal societies differ from those of the first modern humans in Europe 35,000 years ago? This investigation of archaeological evidence from stone tools, hunting and campsites reveals much about the differing scale of social interaction and abilities to negotiate social worlds, and enhances our understanding of this period.

This is the first general study of the impact of Islam in sub-Saharan Africa from the immediate pre-Islamic period to the present day. Timothy Insoll charts the historical background and the archaeological evidence attesting to the spread of Islam, and analyses its methods of conversion.

In this new archaeological study, Himanshu Prabha Ray looks at the maritime orientation of communities of the Indian subcontinent prior to European expansion. She uses archaeological data to reveal the connections between the early history of peninsular South Asia and its Asian and Mediterranean partners in the Indian Ocean region.

This is an up-to-date account the Bronze Age of Southeast Asia. It explores the controversy of whether the earliest bronze working took place there. It illuminates issues of indigenous technological advancement and the influence of neighbouring civilisations, and maps the evolvution of the first South-east Asia states.

The Bronze Age was crucial in the formation of Europe emerging into history in the later first millennium BC. Focusing on the material culture remains of the period, Anthony Harding provides an interpretation of the main trends in human development during this timespan. The result is a comprehensive study for specialists and students.

This comprehensive study of ethnoarchaeology, the ethnographic study of living cultures from archaeological perspectives, uses a global coverage and includes theory, practical advice regarding fieldwork, and complete topical coverage of the discipline. Critical discussions of varied case studies make this a very readable book and well-suited to use in class.

Southeast Asia was the scene of one of the world's major civilisations, that of Angkor, until it was sacked in the early fifteenth century. Recent archaeological excavations revealed the region's dynamic development. This book focuses on the social world of early mainland Southeast Asia, beginning at its occupation, 12,000 years ago by hunters and gatherers.

Farmers made a sudden and dramatic appearance in Greece around 7000 BC, bringing with them new ceramics and crafts, and establishing settled villages. They were Europe's first farmers, and their settlements provide the link between the first agricultural communities in the Near East and the subsequent spread of the new technologies to the Balkans and on to Western Europe. In this 2001 book, Catherine Perles argues that the stimulus for the spread of agriculture to Europe was a colonisation movement involving small groups of maritime peoples. Drawing evidence from a wide range of archaeological sources, including often neglected 'small finds', and introducing daring new perspectives on funerary rituals and the distribution of figurines, she constructs a complex and subtle picture of early Neolithic societies, overturning the traditional view that these societies were simple and self-sufficient.

The author examines the evolution of state-level societies and their relationship to polities in Japan and China, and the emergence of a Korean ethnic identity. Emphasising the particular features of the region, she dispels the notion that the culture and traditions of Korea are only pale imitations of those of its neighbours, China and Japan.