Beneath the Seven Seas 
Bass, G.
New York: Thames & Hudson, 2005. ISBN 0500051364.
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| More than two dozen researchers from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) tell the story of the institute's 30-plus years of underwater archaeological research--not "warts and all" but close enough for an academic work. See also our review. 256 pages. |
The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors
Gibbons, A.
New York: Doubleday, 2006. ISBN 0385512260.
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| Ann Gibbons chronicles the fiercely competitive quest to discover our ancient relatives in her book. See also our review. 336 pages. |
Final Report: An Archaeologist Excavates His Past
Coe, M.
New York: Thames & Hudson, 2006. ISBN 0500051437.
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| Mesoamerican archaeologist Michael Coe says of his autobiography, "I've been digging into my past and this is my report on what I've found." See also our review. 224 pages. |
The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind, and Body
Mithen, S.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006. ISBN 0674021924.
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| Move over, Mozart--you've got nothing on the Neandertals. Our beetle-browed cousins may not have mastered art or language, but they were maestros of music--and dance. See also our review. 384 pages. |
The Oracle: The Lost Secrets and Hidden Message of Ancient Delphi
Broad, W.
London: Penguin Press, 2006. ISBN 1594200815.
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| A New York Times science journalist profiles a team of scientists--an archaeologist, geologist, geochemist, and toxicologist--as they reveal the Oracle's greatest secret. See also our review. 336 pages. |
The Sorrow of Archaeology
Martin, R.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005. ISBN 0826337252.
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| This novel is a reflection on the meaning of archaeology by the author who lives in the Mesa Verde region. See also our review. 272 pages. |
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Mann, C.
New York: Knopf Publishing Group, 2005. ISBN 140004006X.
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| The author debunks the myth that when Europeans arrived in the Americas in the fifteenth century, they encountered a vast primeval wilderness sparsely populated by nomadic hunters living in harmony with nature since time immemorial. See also our review. 480 pages. |
Antiquity & Photography. Early Views of Ancient Mediterranean Sites
Szegedy Maszak, A., et al.
Los Angeles: J.Paul Getty Museum, 2005. ISBN 0892368055.
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| More than 100 images, made between 1840 and 1880 soon after photographic techniques were devised, appear in this book. See also our review. 226 pages. |
David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition
Finkelstein, I., and N. A. Silberman
New York: Free Press, 2006. ISBN 0743243625.
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| The authors sift through the archaeological evidence from dozens of sites dating to the first millennium B.C. and painstakingly analyze biblical history. They suggest that the exploits of David and Solomon were highly exaggerated to legitimize the political and religious goals of later regimes. See also our review. 352 pages. |
Boomtown Saloons
Dixon, K.
Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2005. ISBN 0874176085.
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| This book is a compelling look at these establishments in one of the biggest mining towns in the nineteenth-century West. See also our review. 256 pages. |
= Editors' Picks
