Description
This volume examines thirteen of archeology's greatest triumphs, and the careers of the scientists and adventurers who forged them during the field's ``heroic age'' (from Napoleon's 1798 Egyptian expedition to Howard Carter's first glimpse of Tutankhamen's treasure in 1922) and beyond. This work features numerous photographs of dig sites and artifacts, as well as 14 specially commissioned maps. Each chapter describes the excavation of the site, with biographies of the people who conducted the work, including colorful characters like Heinrich Schliemann and Hiram Bingham, and women archaeologists such as Harriet Boyd. What is known about the civilizations as a result of both excavation and painstaking research is given, as are theories about the abandonment and disappearance of the cities. The final chapter shows how satellite and computer imaging revealed Ubar in 1991 and Urkesh in 1995.
