Books in the Cambridge Library Collection - Archaeology series

The journals of the foot soldier Bernal Diaz (1492-1584) are the fullest surviving eyewitness account of the Mexican conquest led by Hernan Cortes. In this first volume, Diaz recounts his first expeditions to the Yucatan coast and the beginning of his service in Cortes' army.

This two-volume work and its accompanying map (available to download at http://www.cambridge.org/9781108042109) were first published by the antiquary Sir William Gell in 1834. The book contains alphabetical entries on all the sites in Rome and its environs, with notes on their significance in ancient history and literature.

American philologist Edward Robinson (1794-1863), aided by his Arabic-speaking countryman Eli Smith (1801-57), first published this pioneering work of biblical geography in 1841. Following further research, an enlarged edition appeared in 1856. This 1867 three-volume third edition was slightly abridged but contained new maps and plans.

The British archaeologist Layard (1817-1894) discovered important evidence about ancient Mesopotamia and the Assyrian civilisation. This 1853 book describes his second expedition, which led to the identification of Kouyunjik as the Assyrian capital Nineveh. Volume 1 covers early stages of the excavations and Layard's journey to the Khabur region.

Boucher de Perthes (1788-1868) argued that humans lived in the Pleistocene period. He claimed to have discovered flint tools and human bones during excavations in the Somme Valley. Contemporaries doubted his findings but his work contributed to scientific discussions on human evolution. Volume 1 was published in Paris, 1847.

Following the Euphrates Expedition of 1835, the surgeon William Ainsworth (1807-96) was made leader of a second expedition through Asia Minor, northern Syria, Kurdistan, Persia and Armenia, of which this two-volume account was published in 1842. Volume 1 covers events up to the battle of Nezib in 1839.

This is the 1863 second edition of a seminal two-volume work by the Scottish archaeologist and anthropologist Daniel Wilson (1816-92). A pioneering scholar, Wilson brought the word 'prehistoric' into use in English. This richly illustrated work is split into four periods, from the earliest settlers to the Christian era.

Published in 1862, this is a seminal two-volume work in the study of early man. Scottish anthropologist Daniel Wilson (1816-92) moved to Canada, where studies of native tribes greatly influenced this work. Using archaeological and anthropological advances, he charts the development of man in the New and Old World.

The excavations of Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-94) provided important evidence about ancient Assyrian civilisation. Placing Mesopotamian history in the context of the more familiar biblical and classical worlds, this two-volume illustrated work of 1849 is a combination of archaeology, ancient history, anthropology and travel writing.

The Assyriologist Julius Oppert (1825-1905) made significant contributions to the decipherment of cuneiform Akkadian. This two-volume work, published 1859-63, describes the 1851-4 French expedition to Mesopotamia, which conducted important excavations at Babylon. Oppert reports on the journey, the archaeological results, and the deciphering of the cuneiform inscriptions.

William Martin Leake (1777-1860) was a British military officer and classical scholar. First published in 1835, these volumes contain Leake's account of four journeys in Greece, mingling an account of Greek and Turkish culture with descriptions of archaeological sites. Volume 1 contains two journeys undertaken in 1804 and 1805.

William Martin Leake (1777-1860) was a British military officer and classical scholar. These volumes, first published in 1830, contain Leake's authoritative topographical survey of the Peloponnese, describing two of his journeys and providing detailed descriptions of the archaeological sites. Volume 1 recounts his 1805 journey in the Peloponnese.

Samuel Birch published this two-volume, highly illustrated work on ancient pottery in 1858. Volume 1 covers the composition and techniques of the pottery of ancient Egypt and Assyria, with notes on Jewish Phoenician wares, and begins an examination of the techniques and art of the Greek ceramicists.

In this two-volume work, published in 1912, the Hungarian-born archaeologist Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) describes his second expedition to the deserts of Chinese Turkestan in 1906-8. Written for a non-specialist readership, and highly illustrated, Stein's account of his expedition and discoveries in the Dunhuang caves makes for fascinating reading.

From the finds in early cave shelters to the sophisticated metal and ceramic wares found in Bronze Age settlements and burials, this highly illustrated 1909 work by Eric Peet demonstrates the development of prehistoric society in a region generally much better known for the later achievements of the Romans.

This 1894 work is an introduction to the world of ancient Assyria. Beginning with the geography of Mesopotamia and with the early archaeological discoveries in the region, Sayce next describes the decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions and tablets, before describing religion, literature, and what can be deduced about everyday life.

In this two-volume 1901 work, Rogers provides a history of the Mesopotamian civilisations. Volume 1 contains discussions of the material and literary sources, the environmental resources, and the peoples and the chronology of the area, before beginning a narrative of Babylonian history, which closes with the end of the dynasty of Isin.

John Abercromby, a soldier and keen archaeologist, published this two-volume work in 1912. It is a chronological survey of British and Irish ceramics from the late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age, classifying these by type and geographical area, and examining the goods associated with them in burials.

Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (1857-1934) was a prominent English Egyptologist and scholar of Assyrian. This 1880 publication is a compilation of cuneiform inscriptions about the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (reigned c.681-669 BCE), with transliterations and English translations. It was the first scholarly study of this king.

William Martin Leake (1777-1860) was a British military officer and classical scholar. First published in 1821, this volume contains Leake's pioneering topographical reconstruction of ancient Athens. This book was regarded as authoritative for the structures of ancient Athens for most of the nineteenth century.

Born in Scotland, James Fergusson (1808-86) spent ten years as an indigo planter in India before embarking upon a second career as an architectural historian. This illustrated 1865 work, containing two lectures, presents his controversial views on the location of important religious buildings in Jerusalem.

Brown outlines best practice for the preservation of monuments and architectural and natural beauty. The second part, based on extensive secondary literature and official documentation, sets out how other countries run their historic monuments: in Europe, India, the Middle East and the United States.

Alfred Percival Maudslay (1850-1931) was a British archaeologist who is widely considered the founder of modern Mesoamerican archaeology. First published in 1899, this volume documents Maudslay's last expedition to Guatemala with his wife Anne Cary Maudsley, and contains detailed descriptions of the archaeological sites he had previously excavated.

Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) was a businessman and self-taught archaeologist best known for discovering the ancient city of Troy. This short book, published posthumously in 1891, describes his final excavations there, and vigorously defends his interpretations of the finds against allegations by Ernst Boetticher that his evidence was falsified.

C. T. Newton (1816-1894) was celebrated for his excavation of the tomb of Mausolus of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. This account from 1865 describes his archaeological investigations along the coast of Turkey between 1852 and 1859. Volume 2 covers the years 1855-1859.

Gottlieb Schumacher (1857-1925) was an American-born German civil engineer and archaeologist who was influential in the early archaeological explorations of Palestine. First published in 1888, this volume contains the results of a survey of the Golan Heights and describes the geography, culture and archaeological remains of the region.

This highly influential work, first published in 1849, is a translation of Jens Worsaae's important account of excavations and discoveries in Denmark. It was reworked by William J. Thoms to guide future excavations in Britain, where there were many useful similarities among finds and architectural remains from the Dark Ages especially.

Charles Roach Smith (1806-90) had a prosperous career as a druggist. This three-volume work, published 1883-91, reviews his activities as an excavator, collector, and co-founder of the British Archaeological Association. Volume 1 includes essays on the Saxon Shore forts, of which Roach Smith was a pioneering investigator.

Hermann Vollrat Hilprecht (1859-1925) was a leading German-American archaeologist and Assyriologist. This generously illustrated book, first published in 1904, describes the early British, French and American excavations in Assyria and Babylon during the nineteenth century. It provides a valuable retrospective account and evaluation of the archaeological beginnings of Assyriology.

Charles Thomas Newton (1816-1894) was a British archaeologist specialising in Greek and Roman artefacts. This study, first published in 1862, describes Newton's excavations of sites including the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, a wonder of the ancient world, and provides valuable insights into Victorian archaeological methods. Part 1 focuses on the Mausoleum.