Examines the history of mankind during the Neolithic Age, and presents evidence that the Stone Age human was more advanced than science originally thought. Includes figures and photographs.

The Instant New York Times Bestseller! Was an advanced civilization lost to history in the global cataclysm that ended the last Ice Age? Graham Hancock, the internationally bestselling author, has made it his life's work to find out--and in America Before, he draws on the latest archaeological and DNA evidence to bring his quest to a stunning conclusion. We’ve been taught that North and South America were empty of humans until around 13,000 years ago – amongst the last great landmasses on earth to have been settled by our ancestors. But new discoveries have radically reshaped this long-established picture and we know now that the Americas were first peopled more than 130,000 years ago – many tens of thousands of years before human settlements became established elsewhere. Hancock's research takes us on a series of journeys and encounters with the scientists responsible for the recent extraordinary breakthroughs. In the process, from the Mississippi Valley to the Amazon rainforest, he reveals that ancient "New World" cultures share a legacy of advanced scientific knowledge and sophisticated spiritual beliefs with supposedly unconnected "Old World" cultures. Have archaeologists focused for too long only on the "Old World" in their search for the origins of civilization while failing to consider the revolutionary possibility that those origins might in fact be found in the "New World"? America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization is the culmination of everything that millions of readers have loved in Hancock's body of work over the past decades, namely a mind-dilating exploration of the mysteries of the past, amazing archaeological discoveries and profound implications for how we lead our lives today.

In this rich and surprising book, Frances F. Berdan shines fresh light on the enigmatic ancient Aztecs. She casts her net wide, covering topics as diverse as ethnicity, empire-building, palace life, etiquette, origin myths, and human sacrifice. While the Aztecs are often described as “stone age,” their achievements were remarkable. They constructed lofty temples and produced fine arts in precious stones, gold, and shimmering feathers. They crafted beautiful poetry and studied the sciences. They had schools and libraries, entrepreneurs and money, and a bewildering array of deities and dramatic ceremonies. Based on the latest research and lavishly illustrated, this book reveals the Aztecs to have created a civilization of sophistication and finesse.

The popular view that Stone Age Man was primitive and ignorant is shattered as the author reveals the remarkable accomplishments made before the dawn of history. The journey begins in ancient Egypt, where excavations at Abydos have unearthed hieroglyphs belonging to an age before the pharaohs. It continues to stone circles and burial chambers in Ireland which carbon dating proves pre-date Stonehenge by two millennia, to the world's first town, 9,000-year-old Catal Huyuk in Turkey, and to startling new research on the Ice Man, the 5,000-year-old mummy found in an Alpine glacier. The author discusses 11,000-year-old writing unearthed on the banks of the Euphrates, awe-inspiring cave paintings of Ice Age France, and the discovery of stone tools in Indonesia that proves that pre-Neanderthal man undertook sea voyages 700,000 years before the Kon Tiki.

Looks at the history and cultures of ancient Europe, and describes the artifacts and ruins left behind

An examination of archaeological controversies, with arguments showing evidence of prehistoric civilizations not recorded as part of human history. Are history books giving us the whole story? Or is civilization far more complex and older than we have been taught? Our school textbooks barely mention the 6,000-year-old Sumerian civilization, yet the latest archaeological findings at sites such as Jericho and, most recently, Gobekli Tepe in Turkey have been dated to 10,000 BC. Civilization goes back at least another 10,000 years, if we are willing to believe what our ancestors themselves claimed. The Lost Civilization Enigma reveals the truth about: Lost magnitudes to known cultures, such as the Bosnian Pyramids and the civilization of “Old Europe.” The fabled lost “golden” cities of South America and the Amazon, which are slowly being rediscovered. Fascinating examples of lost technology, such as the Antikythera Device. Atlantis and the fact that it was a real civilization. Analyzing the historical and archaeological record, best-selling author Philip Coppens demonstrates that there is substantial evidence that civilization is far older, far more advanced, and far more special than is currently accepted. Clearly, our history books have left out a great deal!