A comprehensive and indispensable guide to world prehistory and how archaeology helps us to understand the enormous diversity of the human past. The text has established itself as a thorough and authoritative survey of human prehistory and the development of civilizations. Written by an international team of acknowledged experts, it presents a streamlined overview through a series of chapters focusing on individual regions and time periods. The Third Edition has been completely revised to offer updated scholarship and discoveries and features new color illustrations. 788 illustrations, 296 in color