"Huge stone statues that stand guard on Easter Island. Old ruins that lay in New Mexico's Chaco Canyon. Ireland's ancient Newgrange tomb. Who build these strange places and why? Learn about these sites and other archaeological mysteries inside." -- Page [4] cover.

Pits and Boots derives from excavations carried out in 2007-8, in advance of an extension to the Bon Accord Centre in Aberdeen, that uncovered the backlands of an area that would have formed part of the industrial quarter of the medieval town. The site is well-dated by dendrochronology, augmented by artefactual evidence, and indicates activity from the late 12th century AD into the early modern period, with a particularly intensive period in the 13th...

The premier historical Jesus scholar joins a brilliant archaeologist to illuminate the life and teaching of Jesus against the background of his world. There have been phenomenal advances in the historical understanding of Jesus and his world and times, but also huge, lesser known advances in first-century Palestine archaeology that explain a great deal about Jesus, his followers, and his teachings. This is the first book that combines the two and...

This book is a brief, popular (but informed and up-to-date) introduction to the relationship between the Bible and archaeology. Material culture (i.e., artifacts) and the biblical text illuminate each other in various ways, but many of us find it difficult to reach a nuanced understanding of how this process works and how archaeological discoveries should be interpreted. This book provides an irenic and balanced perspective on these issues, showing...

Examines "the lives of contemporary archaeologists as they sweat under the sun for clues to the puzzle of our past. Johnson digs and drinks alongside archaeologists, chases them through the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and even Machu Picchu, and excavates their lives. Her subjects share stories we rarely read in history books, about slaves and Ice Age hunters, ordinary soldiers of the American Revolution, children of the first century, Chinese woman...