This engaging work uses key discoveries, events, people, techniques, and controversies to
give the general reader a rich history of archaeology from its beginnings in the 16th century
to the present. The history of archaeology leads from the musty collections of dilettante
antiquarians to high-tech science. The book identifies three major developmental periods—
Birth of Archaeology (16th–18th centuries), Archaeology of Origins and Empires (19th
century), and World Archaeology (20th century). An introductory essay acquaints the reader …

Archaeology as a systematic scientific discipline is generally considered to have begun in
the nineteenth century; however, the present volume reminds us that humankind has taken
an interest in how his ancestors lived and died many centuries before the great excavations
begun in the nineteenth century. Author of the work under review is Tim Murray, professor of
archaeology at LaTrobe University in Melbourne, Australia. In the introduction Murray
explains that the idea for this volume arose from his work as editor of the Encyclopedia of …