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Conversations With the High Priest of Coosa 
Hudson, C.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003. ISBN 0807854212.
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| This "fictionalized ethnography" recounts imaginary meetings between an elder from one of the biggest North American chiefdoms and a sixteenth-century Spanish priest. Hudson makes the most of the opportunity to weave an engaging tale filled with accounts of the ancient legends and ritual of the Southeastern United States. 248 pages. |
Figuring It Out
Renfrew, C.
New York: Thames & Hudson, 2003. ISBN 0500051143.
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| Modern art and archaeology aren't the most likely pairing of subjects, but Colin Renfrew makes a convincing case that the two are complementary disciplines. Copiously illustrated, the book defies easy categorization as it juxtaposes everything from the Laetoli footsteps to Neolithic figurines with a bewildering array of modern art, including a submarine made of tires. 224 pages. |
Lost World: Rewriting Prehistory
Koppel, T.
New York: Atria Books, 2003. ISBN 0743453573.
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| The latest book on the earliest North Americans, this book stands out with its sharp reporting on the coastal migration theory of Paleoindian origins. 320 pages. |
Megaliths
Corio, D., and L. Corio
London: Random House, 2003. ISBN 0224064649.
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| This book features David Corio's handsome black-and-white photographs of both well-known and obscure ancient stone monuments in England and Wales. The accompanying text, by Corio's wife, writer Lai Ngan Corio, gracefully recounts legends and folklore associated with each site. What makes the book especially fun to read is its focus on descriptions of the sites left behind by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century antiquarians, who can always be counted on for interesting speculations, like wondering if megaliths were made by "Men of Gigantick stature." 180 pages. |
On the Trail of the Maya Explorer: Tracing the Epic Journey of John Lloyd Stephens
Glassman, S.
Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2003. ISBN 0817313036.
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| This book retraces the voyages of nineteenth-century lawyer and explorer John Lloyd Stephens, whose account of explorations through the Yucatán introduced the ancient Maya to the larger world. Glassman borrows liberally from Stephen's 200-year-old observations and modern scholarship, giving heft to his own compelling travel narrative. 296 pages. |
Samarkand, Bukhara, Kiva
Chuvin, P.
Paris: Editions Flammarion, 2003. ISBN 2080111698.
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| "Garden that Ravishes the Heart" and "Pavilion of Delight" once existed in the vibrant and mythical lands along the Silk Road. "Castle of Demons" still does. All are lovingly documented in this hefty, glossy tome celebrating the three capitals of Central Asia. The author's informative yet never overbearing text on the region's historical monuments is well served by an excellent English translation, but the scene-stealer here is Gèrard Degeorge's spectacular photographs of 100- and 1,000-year-old fortresses, mosques, and residences. 248 pages. |
The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
Wilkinson, R.
New York: Thames & Hudson, 2003. ISBN 0500051208.
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| A well-illustrated reference guide to the deities at the heart of Egyptian religion and society. 256 pages. |
The Genealogy of Greek Mythology
James, V.
New York: Gotham Books, 2003. ISBN 1592400132.
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| This book looks like an AAA guidebook, but that's not bad, because it claims to be "an illustrated family tree of Greek myth from the first gods to the founders of Rome." The format is unconventional, a slipcase holding a long, accordion-folded book. Flip it over and you switch from gods and goddesses to legendary mortals. Author Vanessa James, who teaches Greek and Roman theater at Mount Holyoke College, came up with the idea when staging a play based on Bulfinch's Mythology. At $25 is it a good deal? The guide's compact form means some ambiguities are left unresolved: Is the goat-footed god Pan the son of Zeus or of Hermes? And the family tree lists offspring in a random order. It isn't encyclopedic, but as a well-illustrated, fast reference for who's who, it does the job. 108 pages. |
The New World's Old World: Photographic Views of Ancient America
Castleberry, M., ed.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003. ISBN 0826329713.
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| This collection documents changes wrought by excavation, tourism, and development over the years. Vintage images include 1860s daguerreotypes showing the slow destruction of Big Mound in St. Louis and Teobert Maler's haunting turn-of-the-century images of ruins in Guatemala. 280 pages. |
The New World's Old World: Photographic Views of Ancient America
Castleberry, M., ed.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003. ISBN 0826329713.
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| This collection documents changes wrought by excavation, tourism, and development over the years. Vintage images include 1860s daguerreotypes showing the slow destruction of Big Mound in St. Louis and Teobert Maler's haunting turn-of-the-century images of ruins in Guatemala. 280 pages. |
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