Discovery!

New archaeological treasures and finds that reshape our view of the past, recounted by the discoverers themselves. An unprecedented look inside contemporary archaeology,Discovery!reveals the most exciting, significant, and astonishing finds from the last fifteen years. Many of the book's contributions are written by the discoverers themselves, who give firsthand accounts of their work and assess the significance. They include famous Egyptologists such as Zahi Hawass, Kent Weeks, and Alain Zivie; pioneering underwater explorers such as Franck Goddio; and leading excavators and scientists from America, Britain, China, France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, and elsewhere. Discovery!spans two million years of history, from the latest fossil discoveries that rewrite the story of human origins to wrecks of early submarines and ironclads from the American Civil War. There are revelations about the pyramids of Giza, a just-discovered royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings, and gold-filled burials of Assyrian queens at Nimrud, Iraq. Italy's Ice Man and spectacular Inca mummies from high in the Andes bring us face to face with people from the past, while stunning wall paintings from San Bartolo in Guatemala revolutionize our knowledge of the ancient Maya. International in scope and totally authoritative, the book is illustrated throughout with spectacular photographs, many taken at the very moment of discovery. 295 illustrations and photographs, 290 in color.