Tales of Ancient Worlds (2022)
Stefan Milosavljevich
160 pages
Author Stefan Milosavljevich aims to change that understanding with his gorgeous book of our early history, Tales of Ancient Worlds. Subtitled Adventures in Archaeology, the book presents brief accounts of some of what archaeologists have discovered about our past, divided up into sections from The first humans, through to the pre-Columbian Age of discovery.
Milosavljevich covers both general topics, such as Your ancient family tree and The reign of horses, as well as specific discoveries, including The tower of Jericho and the mysteries of Stonehenge. He has selected his topics from points across the globe, and his tales describe both well-known and less familiar histories.
The level of his writing seems targeted at perhaps the older end of the tweens, but the book can easily be enjoyed by those a few years younger, if they find such things of interest and get help on some of the terms. Even adults will enjoy these tales; certainly I did, as I read it to my children, learning many new things about even the items I was already somewhat familiar with, and discovering histories I had been completely unaware of. Helpfully – for all age groups – challenging vocabulary specific to archaeology appear in bold font and are collected in a glossary at the end of the book.
Milosavljevich’s tales include what has been discovered and understood at the sites he describes, as well as some of the mysteries that remain at many of them. Without ever getting too technical, he gives a clear picture of the kinds of tools and techniques archaeologist use, as well as the careful process of exploring finds. Often he references the archaeologists who made the key discoveries, thus personalizing the account; by also including local archaeologists, he subtly makes clear that it was not just Western scientists who were central to the work.
In his descriptions, he keeps the tone light, finding ways to tickle a young person’s fancy while sliding in the science. Thus, in A Stink at the Bank he talks about a find at a location in the United Kingdom that was being excavated to build a banking building. During the digging a Viking city was discovered:
So many incredible finds were unearthed, including several hundreds of thousands of pieces of pottery and Viking houses – enough finds to open a museum. But by far the most intriguing (and stinkiest) was a preserved Viking poop!
In archaeology, a preserved poop is known as a coprolite. This medieval chocolate log was an absolute monster, 8 in (20 cm) long! Obviously this is a funny discovery, and you might think the archaeologists were unhappy to find it. But nothing could be further from the truth. Archaeologists can actually learn a lot from this brown gold. (127)
Nothing like a little potty humor to galvanize a youngster’s attention, as he then goes on to describe what can be discovered from such a find.
The large-format hardcover has wonderful drawings by Sam Caldwell, as evidenced by those accompanying the text of The Oldest Complaint Letter, below. As in the text, Caldwell includes drawings of the work and tools of archaeologists, as well as of particular artifacts, and humorously depicts aspects of the tales (as here the frustrated customer).
Tales of Ancient Worlds is a beautifully conceived and executed exploration of our history, and how archaeologists go about their work of uncovering it. Though targeted at tweens, readers of all ages can enjoy this book, and are likely to come away with a desire to visit the finds mentioned, and perhaps even consider a career in archaeology to reveal some of what remains to be discovered.
Other notes and information:
Have you read this book, others by this author, or even similar ones by other authors? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts.
Other of my book reviews: FICTION Bookshelf and NON-FICTION Bookshelf
No comments:
Post a Comment