Schocken Books, 1973
This book is a collection of excerpts from the writings of pioneer archaeologists from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries. It includes such milestones as Schliemann’s excavations at Troy, Champollion’s deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs, Bingham’s discovery of Machu Picchu, and Carter’s opening of the tomb of Tutanhkamen. This is but a small sample of the more than sixty excerpts covering major archaeological discoveries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South and Central America. The writings are fascinating for their main content, but also for what they reveal about the evolution from wealthy relic-hunting antiquarians to methodical, scientific, and scholarly archaeologists.
The style, quality of writing, and intended audience vary from piece to piece — some are quite easy to read and understand, while others are intended for scholars of a particular specialty and era. For the latter type, reference materials such as historical atlases are quite helpful. In many cases, there seem to have been maps, diagrams, or other illustratory material present in the original texts which have not been reproduced here. Ceram would have done well to either remove references to plates and figures, or to actually include those referenced in the excerpts. This editing misstep aside, I found this to be a fascinating — although at times difficult — read.
