The second edition of Archaeological Ethics is an invitation to an ongoing and lively discussion on ethics. In addition to topics such as looting, reburial and repatriation, relations with native peoples, and professional conduct, Vitelli and Colwell-Chanthaphonh have responded to current events and news stories. Twenty-one new articles expand this ongoing discussion into the realm of intellectual property, public outreach, archaeotourism, academic freedom, archaeological concerns in times...

Every four days there are a million more people on the planet. More people and fewer resources.In this timely work, Alan Weisman examines how we can shrink our collective human footprint so that we don't stomp any more species - including our own - out of existence. The answer: reducing gradually and non-violently the number of humans on the planet whose activities, industries and lifestyles are damaging the Earth.Defining an optimum human population for the Earth is an exp...

"This exciting saga crosses space and time to illustrate how humans, born of stardust, were shaped—and how they in turn shaped the world we know today." — Publishers WeeklyThis book offers "world history on a grand scale"—pulling back for a wider view and putting the relatively brief time span of human history in context. After all, our five thousand years of recorded civilization account for only about one millionth of the lifetime of our planet ( Kir...

Elixir: A Human History of Water spans five millennia, from the beginnings of civilisation to the global water shortages of today. Our present-day interaction with this most essential resource has deep roots in the remote past, and every human culture has been shaped by its relationship to water. From the earliest hunter-gatherers, for whom knowing where to find water was a matter of life and death, through the Greek and Romans, whose mighty aqueducts still provide water ...

To whom does the past belong? Is the archeologist who discovers a lost tomb a sort of hero -- or a villain? If someone steals a relic from a museum and returns it to the ruin it came from, is she a thief?Written in his trademark lyrical style, Craig Childs's riveting new book is a ghost story -- an intense, impassioned investigation into the nature of the past and the things we leave behind. We visit lonesome desert canyons and fancy Fifth Avenue art galleries, journey throughout t...

Our early ancestors lived in small groups and worked actively to preserve social equality. As they created larger societies, however, inequality rose, and by 2500 bce truly egalitarian societies were on the wane. In The Creation of Inequality, Kent Flannery and Joyce Marcus demonstrate that this development was not simply the result of population increase, food surplus, or the accumulation of valuables. Instead, inequality resulted from conscious manipulation of the unique social ...

The Triangle of Trade in the Cradle of Civilization interestingly presents Mesopotamia as the supermarket of the ancient world. Although Sumeria was the nerve center for international trade, it had to import most everything from northern Mesopotamia, namely Armenia. Why have not the Armenians claimed their rightful place among the nations of Mesopotamia? The historical maze of humankind is fraught with mysteries, controversies, and inconsistencies.

'A fizzingly entertaining and enlightening book' Daily Telegraph'Mesmerising' Geographical Magazine'A fascinating delve into uncharted, forgotten lost places. But it's not just a trivia-tastic anthology of remote destinations but a nifty piece of psycho-geography, explaining our human need for these cartographical conundrums.' WanderlustIn a world of Google Earth, in which it is easy to be...

Evil Paradises, edited by Mike Davis and Daniel Bertrand Monk, is a global guidebook to phantasmagoric but real places—alternate realities being constructed as “utopias” in a capitalist era unfettered by unions and state regulation. These developments—in cities, deserts, and in the middle of the sea—are worlds where consumption and inequality surpass our worst nightmares. Although they read like science fiction, the case studies are shockingly real. In Dubai, where child slavery e...

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Yuval Noah Harari's book.Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.This short summary and analysis of Sapiens includes:Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsChar...

Whether antiquities should be returned to the countries where they were found is one of the most urgent and controversial issues in the art world today, and it has pitted museums, private collectors, and dealers against source countries, archaeologists, and academics. Maintaining that the acquisition of undocumented antiquities by museums encourages the looting of archaeological sites, countries such as Italy, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, and China have claimed ancient artifacts as state propert...

After the fall of the Taliban, instability reigned across Afghanistan. However, in the small town of Istalif, located a little over an hour north of Kabul and not far from Bagram on the Shomali Plain, local politics remained relatively violence-free. Bazaar Politics examines this seemingly paradoxical situation, exploring how the town's local politics maintained peace despite a long, violent history in a country dealing with a growing insurgency.At the heart of this story ...