8th Edition

Ancient Lives An Introduction to Archaeology and Prehistory

By Nadia Durrani, Brian M. Fagan Copyright 2026
594 Pages 250 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

594 Pages 250 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

594 Pages 250 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Ancient Lives is an engaging and accessible textbook that introduces complete beginners to the fascinating worlds of archaeology and prehistory through sites of key significance and the world’s first civilizations. Opening with an introduction to the basic principles, methods, and theoretical approaches of archaeology, the book then provides a summary of world prehistory from a global... Read more

Part 1: Archaeology: Studying Ancient Times  1. Introducing Archaeology and Prehistory  2. The Record of the Past  3. Acquiring the Record  4. How Did People Live?  Part 2: Ancient Interactions  5. Individuals and Interactions  6. Studying the Intangible  7. Explaining the Past  Part 3: The World of the First Humans  8. Human Origins  9. African Exodus  Part 4: Modern Humans Settle the World  10. The Great Diaspora  Part 5: The First Farmers and Complex Societies  11. The Earliest Farmers  12. The First Civilizations  13. Early Asian Civilizations  Part 6: The Ancient Americas  14. North America  15. Mesoamerican Civilizations  16. Andean Civilizations  Part 7: Finale  17. What Remains to Be Done: Archaeology and You 

Biography

Nadia Durrani is a best-selling archaeological writer. The former editor of Current World Archaeology magazine, she is also the long-standing co-author of Brian Fagan’s portfolio of textbooks. Her other books include Climate Chaos: Lessons on Survival from Our Ancestors (with Fagan), which won the 2023 COSMOS award for Italy’s best popular science book. She studied archaeology and anthropology at Cambridge University, has a PhD from University College London, and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, UK.

Brian M. Fagan (1936–2025) was one of the world’s leading archaeological writers and an internationally recognized authority on world prehistory. In addition to writing textbooks, he wrote dozens of general books including The Adventure of Archaeology; A Little History of Archaeology; and The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. He studied at Cambridge University and was Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.