The World Encyclopedia of Archaeology: The World's Most Significant Sites and Cultural Treasures
Although it is called an encyclopedia, this attractive volume is more like a thematic atlas (in fact, the largest section is called “The Atlas”). A team of  more than 40 archaeologists, historians, and cultural anthropologists provided the text. More than 550 archival and color images, 20 regional maps, and 150 locator maps, as well as time lines, make the past ages live.    An introduction covers the history, types, and techniques of archaeology and the issues facing the discipline today. The atlas section begins with time lines comparing milestones in human development and archaeology in Europe, the Americas, Australia, and the Pacific from seven million years ago to 2000. Text, which is organized by region and civilization, covers themes (for example, “The Domestication of Plants and Animals,” “Bog Bodies”) in addition to more than 150 sites in more than 50 countries. The volume concludes with a reference section, a guide to sites by country, a bibliography, a glossary, and an index.    This book is very readable as well as a useful reference tool. It can be browsed or studied, and it would engage the informal student as well as the serious reader. Although some of the sites, such as Knossos and Pompeii, may be familiar, others, such as Head-Smashed-In in Canada and Sannai Maruyama in Japan, are less so. Rich, colorful photographs and artwork are found on every page.   There are a number of more comprehensive and scholarly reference works on archaeology, among them Encyclopedia of Archaeology: Histories and Discoveries (ABC-CLIO, 2001) and Milestones in Archaeology: A Chronological Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2007). The current volume is strongly recommended for public libraries needing just one basic resource. --Patricia Hogan