Ancient Lives is an engaging and accessible textbook that introduces complete beginners to the fascinating worlds of archaeology and prehistory through sites of key significance and the world’s first civilizations. Opening with an introduction to the basic principles, methods, and theoretical approaches of archaeology, the book then provides a summary of world prehistory from a global perspective, exploring human origins and the reality of life in the prehistoric world. Later chapters explore the development of agriculture and animal domestication, and the emergence of cities and state-level societies across the globe. The new edition updates and reflects the latest thinking through numerous updates of case studies, discoveries, and advances in methods and theory. In addition to comprehensive revisions throughout the book, new sections on the relevance of archaeology to contemporary society and issues are included. Ancient Lives continues to be a comprehensive and essential introduction to archaeology and is an ideal textbook for students studying archaeology and prehistory for the first time.