ABSTRACT

Recent years have seen the publication of an increasing number of lavishly illustrated archaeological atlases. Some are designed principally for the academic or serious researcher. Many recent atlases, however, are intended for a wider audience. Most of these popular or semi-popular volumes are devoted to particular regions, especially to well-trodden areas with impressive ancient remains, such as Egypt or the classical Mediterranean. Several recent atlases, however, cover the archaeology of the whole world, and these enable us to compare the ways in which different peoples and civilizations of the past are presented to general audiences. The content and nature of six such atlases of world archaeology produced in Britain and France since 1974 provide detailed evidence of the cultural lenses through which European scholars and the public view the prehistoric world.