Human prehistory and the first civilizations

Part I. Introducing human prehistory

In the beginning

Our earliest ancestors

The first human diaspora

The first Europeans

The Neanderthals

The origins of Homo sapiens sapiens

The great diaspora

The world of the Cro-Magnons

Artists and mammoth hunters

The first Americans

The Paleo-Indians and afterward

Part II. After the Ice Age

The first farmers

Why farming?

The first European farmers

Farming in Asia and settling the Pacific

The story of maize

The origins of states and civilization

Sumerian civilization

Ancient Egyptian civilization to the Old Kingdom

Ancient Egypt : Middle and New Kingdoms

The Minoan civilization of Crete

The eastern Mediterranean world

Part III. The Harappan civilization of South Asia

South and Southeast Asia

Africa : a world of interconnectedness

The origins of Chinese civilization

China : Zhou to the Han

Southeast Asian civilizations

Pueblos and moundbuilders in North America

Ancient Maya civilization

Highland Mesoamerican civilization

The origins of Andean civilization

The Inka and their predecessors

Epilogue.