Three Stones Make a Wall

Takes you on fascinating, enriching visits to excavation sites around the world, bringing each to life in a way that will have you remember and treasure the people involved and the artifacts uncovered. Highly recommended! --DIG Magazine Interpretation will always be essential to archaeology, and Three Stones Make a Wall is a masterpiece of historical interpretation. --Dominic Green, Minerva Magazine Personal and highly readable. . . . Cline writes with a passion to communicate his love of archaeology to future generations. --David Gill, Bryn Mawr Classical Review [A] stellar global history of the field. . . . The book is hard to put down, so engagingly written that it will appeal to a wide audience. . . . Readers will be left with a trove of new knowledge about archaeology and also a sense of wonder that such seemingly mundane objects as stones, bones and pot shards can tell us so much about our forebears. --Nancy Roberts, CatholicPhilly.com This survey of many of archaeology's most important sites covers a range of exotic (and familiar) locations around the world. The author's specialty is the Aegean Bronze Age, but he discusses discoveries as diverse as pre-modern human remains in Africa to Incan cities in Peru to the Terracotta Army in Xi'an. It's particularly fascinating to read how various groups attempt to spin archaeological discoveries to support their own narratives. And amateur archaeologists will surely find the 'how-to' sections irresistible. --Andrew Harper Staff, Best Summer Reads A good story involves mystery and adventure and is seasoned with comic touches. The popular quartet (soon to be quintet) of Indiana Jones films succeeds largely because it follows this formula, but readers who prefer the real-life equivalent should be equally pleased with Eric Cline's book. It's a compendium of fascinating stories. . . . That people worldwide have ancestors of whom they can be proud, and whose achievements they can and must work to honor and preserve, is indeed a message for our time. Cline conveys it with a blend of earnestness and good humor, vivid descriptions, and conversational style. His book deserves to be widely read and its call to action heeded. --Valerie H. Pennanen, Christian Century There are a number of texts on the market published by some of the most well-known names in the field which summate and evaluate the history of archeology but none that narrate so well the sites and excavations and personally comment on the contemporary evolution of the discipline as much as Three Stones. This volume is an impressive . . . Addition to any collection. --Samuel Pfister, The George Washington University Undergraduate Bulletin of Ancient Studies [Three Stones Make a Wall] is well written and will be an easy read for students and interested laypeople. . . . This latest contribution reflects [Cline's] lifelong passion for the field. --James M. Weinstein, Ancient History Bulletin Written with vigour, authority, and wit, this antidote to dry volumes of worthy debate is a welcome reminder that archaeology can-and should-be told in a way that is exciting, fresh, and fun. --Current World Archaeology [A] gripping tale of archaeology's greatest wonders. --Simon Caterson, Sydney Morning Herald A fun, informative, and scholarly read. --Frank Freeman, Washington Free Beacon A well-turned, five-point guide to archaeological inquiry. . . . [The book] tenders a broad, fleshy survey of archaeology's history and big finds, as well as the bones and sinews that make the field so fundamental to our human story. Cline's enthusiasm is a force of nature, just bridled enough to pause and consider certain critical genetic sequences in the strands of archaeology's DNA, those that fashioned the field's chromatic stories and venerable truths. --Peter Lewis, Minneapolis Star Tribune The seasoned anthropologist-adventurer Eric H. Cline does his best to re-burnish the lost glow of archaeology by collecting several stories of remarkable discoveries in a single well-written volume. The book goes a long way toward reviving the idea that the past, rather than being buried and gone, is the last and greatest frontier of human exploration. --New Criterion Eric Cline is a seasoned archaeologist, and he makes history come alive in this nonfiction look at some of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made. From Pompeii to Troy, Cline gives an insider look at these famous digs, blending history and science in a way that's guaranteed to keep your attention from the first page. Not only does he take you through the history of the discovery itself, but he also shows you exactly how the dig was managed in the first place. If you've ever wondered how archaeologists function - from where to dig, how to do it, or what comes next - then you'll want to pick up a copy of Three Stones Make a Wall as soon as you possibly can. --Rachel Carter, BookTrib Enjoyable and wide-ranging. --Andrew Robinson, New Scientist This ambitious project is to be warmly welcomed. [Cline] writes clearly, informatively and enthusiastically and tells a good story, often illuminated by personal experiences from working on site. . . . As a general, up-to-date and excellent value introduction to the world of archaeology and the past it reveals, it can be counted a success. --Peter Jones, Classics for All Wonderfully engaging. . . . Archaeology has developed over the last two centuries into one of the great human sciences. It steadily expands the known history of humans on earth and thickens our knowledge of human diversity. Cline is fortunate to be a leader in this remarkable profession and readers are lucky that he knows how to write about it with precision and joy. --Robert Fulford, National Post Eric Cline . . . doesn't disappoint in his terrific new book. --Steve Donoghue, The National Intensely readable. . . . Cline is a winning spokesman for his field, with a warm and generous voice evocative of the best university lectures. . . . More than a few readers may feel a sudden urge to rush out to a nearby mound or midden, with spade and trowel in hand. --James Romm, Wall Street Journal One of CHOICE's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2017