The ancient civilizations of the world, the first social structures in which culture and religion were born, are the subject of this comprehensive, wide-ranging encyclopedia. The work of over thirty international experts, including Colin Renfrew, O.R. Gurney, Richard Leakey and many other leading academics in the field of ancient history, The Penguin Encyclopedia of Ancient Civilizations provides a fascinating overview of the prehistoric world and a detailed analysis of separate ancient civilizations. The art, architecture, language, mythology and chronology of early societies as diverse as ancient Egypt, Troy, India, West Asia, South America and Europe are fully discussed, and there is a special section of references for further reading. Structured to enable the reader to draw together contemporary events and to locate geographically connected civilizations, like those that flourished in Mesopotamia, the encyclopedia contains over 300 illustrations and twenty-eight maps.