A big book (8.75x14.5"). Introductions to the chronologically arranged chapters summarize highlights of the era under study and present maps and key dates. The body of each chapter consists of a timeline laid out so that comparisons can be made among the continents in the areas of food and environment, shelter and architecture, technology and innovation, and art and ritual. Color photos of objects (many from the Smithsonian) illustrate about three out of four items of information (ten items to a page), making this a visual work indeed. Certainly this reference has been put together with considerable effort and expertise--quantities of information and illustrations, carefully designed and packaged. But the broad, all- inclusive scope and the lack of a thesis or point of view make this team effort seem an exercise in design, rather than a truly interesting reference.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 256) and index.

Editor-in-Chief Chris Scarre, Ph.D., is a specialist in the prehistory of Europe and the Mediterranean, and also has a keen interest in the ancient Near East and the classical world of Greece and Rome. He was editor of Past Worlds: The Times Atlas of Archaeology (1988) and is currently editor of the twice-yearly Cambridge Archaeological Journal. He has directed excavations at prehistoric settlements and burial mounds in France. J. Daniel Rogers, Ph.D., and Jane MacLaren Walsh, Ph.D., head the review panel, based in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, and are major contributors to the Americas Section. Rogers is head of the Division of Archaeology and author of Objects of Change (1990) and co-editor of Ethnohistory and Archaeology (1993). Walsh is a specialist in Mesoamerican archaeology and ethnohistory. She is a contributor to the book Seeds of Change (1991). Other Smithsonian Institution Contributors include: Karen M. Dohm, Ph.D., is a specialist in southwestern US archaeology at the Smithsonian's Natural Museum of Natural History. She has published on Pueblo households and architecture. William W. Fitzhugh, Ph.D., is Curator of Anthropology and head of the Arctic Studies Center at the Smithsonian's Natural Museum of Natural History. He is co-editor of Crossroads of Continents (1988). Ramiro Matos, Ph.D., is a Visiting Researcher at the Smithsonian Institution and Professor of Archaeology at the University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru. He is a leading authority on the prehistoric cultural development of Peru and author of Pumpu: Un Centro Inka de Administration (1993). Betty J. Meggers, Ph.D., is an expert on Latin American archaeology, especially Ecuador and the Amazon Basin, at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. She is the author of Prehistoria Sudamericana: Nuevas Perspectivas (1992). Donald J. Ortner, Ph.D., is Curator of Anthology and the former chair of the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He conducts research on human adaptation in the the ancient Near East and medieval England. He is editor of How Humans Adapt (1983) and co-editor of Human Paleopathology (1992). Richard B. Potts, Ph.D., is Curator of Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He directs East African rift valley excavations, is author of Early Hominid Activities at Olduvai (1988), and co-author of Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time (1992). Bruce D. Smith, Ph.D., is President of the Society of American Archaeology and Curator of Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He is the author of Rivers of Change (1992) and editor of The Mississippian Emergence (1990). Dennis J. Standford, Ph.D., is Chair of the Department of Anthology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. He is an e expert of the Paleo-Indian cultures of the the Americas and co-editor of Ice Age Hunters of the Rockies (1992). Melina A. Zeder, Ph.D., is Curator of Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. She is the author of Feeding Cities: Specialized Animal Economy in the Ancient Near East (1991). International Contributors include: Peter Andrews, Ph.D., is a research scientist in the Human Origins group at the Natural History Museum in London. He specializes in primate and early human evolution, and is co-author of Human Evolution: An Illustrated Guide (1989) and author of Owls, Caves and Fossils (1990). Paul Bahn, Ph.D., is a prehistorian and author of Images of the Ice Age and Easter Island, Earth Island (1992); he is co-author of Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice and contributor to Past Worlds: The Times Atlas of Archaeology. Brian M. Fagan, Ph.D., is former Keeper of Prehistory at the Livingstone Museum in Zambia, where he studied the Iron Age people of Central Africa. He is the Professor of Anthropology at the University of California and author of numerous books on archaeology, including Quest for the Past (1979) and Ancient North America (1991). Josephine Flood, Ph.D., former Director of the Aboriginal Environment section of the Australian Heritage Commission in Canberra, Australia, is a researcher and writer. She is the author of The Moth Hunters (1980), Archaeology of the Dreamtime (1989), and The Riches of Australia (1993). Jane McIntosh, Ph.D., is author of The Practical Archaeologist's Handbook and researches South Indian megalithic monuments. Peter Morgan, art historian, has worked as an archaeologist in New Zealand. He specializes in the Middle East and is completing a doctorate on Iranian ceramics at Oxford. Ann Paludan, Ph.D., is a Chinese archaeologist and author of The Imperial Ming Tombs (1981) and The Chinese Spirit Road (1991). Michael Roaf, Ph.D., is a Near Eastern archaeologist and author of Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East (1991)./ Chris Stringer, Ph.D., is a research scientist in the Human Origins group at the Natural History Museum in London. He is co-author of Human Evolution:: An Illustrated Guide (1989), co-editor of The Human Revolution (1989), and author of In Search of the Neanderthals (1993). Paul Taylor, Ph.D., is a biodiversity specialist based at the Natural History Museum in London. He is author of Eyewitness Fossil.