Using a regional and chronological framework, this groundbreaking book highlights the enormous diversity of human experience and the ways in which archaeologists are able to learn about it. Professor Chris Scarre has seamlessly integrated the work of an international team of archaeologists from North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The result is a unique textbook that engagingly and comprehensively embraces the entire expanse of human prehistory while also offering the most up-to-date accounts of separate regions and periods by the leading specialists in these areas. There are hundreds of maps, diagrams, and photographs, many in full color, as well as timelines and boxes on key sites, methods, discoveries, and controversies. For the second edition, the text has been thoroughly updated to include recent discoveries and new interpretations from around the world. The coverage of archaeology in the Middle East is expanded to include the Jiroft excavations in Iran and the Late Bronze Age in Qatna, Syria. The Americas section includes new dates for Clovis sites and new information on Kennewick man. There is also a new discussion on the link between climate change in Mesoamerica and the many historical changes: the Classic Maya collapse, in particular.