A Cultural Encyclopedia of Lost Cities and Civilizations

This volume explores the span of human history-and plenty of prehistory-searching out prominent and fascinating examples of cities or broader civilizations that shifted from a position of influence to a lack thereof. The accelerating threat of climate change challenges us to analyze our own communities' relationships with the wider world and to contemplate their very existence. This single-volume cultural encyclopedia examines lost cities and civilizations from every region of the globe and dated throughout human history. Arranged alphabetically, the compilation allows both students and general readers easy access to detailed entries on specific lost cities and civilizations. Throughout the geographically and chronologically diverse entries, such themes as colonization, migration, and especially climate change are developed and analyzed. Supplementing the main entries are sidebars detailing mythological cities and Investigative Boxes examining present-day cities on the brink of extinction. These round out the book's focus on disappearing cultural centers and reveal the robust relevance this material has to a world facing the crisis of climate change. This volume explores the span of human history-and plenty of prehistory-searching out prominent and fascinating examples of cities or broader civilizations that shifted from a position of influence to a lack thereof.The accelerating threat of climate change challenges us to analyze our own communities' relationships with the wider world and to contemplate their very existence. This single-volume cultural encyclopedia examines lost cities and civilizations from every region of the globe and dated throughout human history. Arranged alphabetically, the compilation allows both students and general readers easy access to detailed entries on specific lost cities and civilizations.Throughout the geographically and chronologically diverse entries, such themes as colonization, migration, and especially climate change are developed and analyzed. Supplementing the main entries are sidebars detailing mythological cities and Investigative Boxes examining present-day cities on the brink of extinction. These round out the book's focus on disappearing cultural centers and reveal the robust relevance this material has to a world facing the crisis of climate change.Includes 25 sidebars outlining the significance of mythical cities created by the human imaginationSupplies 86 in-depth yet accessible entries on lost civilizations that can be read on their own or systematicallyExplores such themes as colonization and migrationInvestigates the present-day crisis of climate change through the historical perspective of extinct communities "Provides the reader with alphabetical entries on lost cities and civilizations and includes subsections: Overview: Geographic Location, Original Inhabitants, Historical Background, Culture and Society, City's Demise, Recent Discoveries and Current Status, and Bibliography. The entries-as well as the investigative boxes and sidebars-come from every region of the globe and include a broad timespan, panning all of human civilization from several millennia BCE to the present"-- Provided by publisher. Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of Entries 8 Geographic Guide to Entries 10 Preface 12 Introduction 14 Maps 17 A–Z Entries 22 General Bibliography 346 About the Authors and Contributors 348 Index 350