"This book presents a plausible account of how thousands of unusually pure copper ore from Isle Royale in northern Michigan's Lake Superior was mined and shipped to Europe by the Minoans 4500 years ago during the Bronze Age, and how Stonehenge in England was used as an aid to Minoan celestial navigation back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean. The author proposes that Minoan ocean navigators used stone circles, particularly Stonehenge, to advance the science of celestial astronomy of Bronze Age navigation and trade"--

This book presents a plausible account of how thousands of tons of unusually pure copper ore from Isle Royale in northern Michigan's Lake Superior was mined and shipped to Europe by the Minoans 4500 years ago during the Bronze Age, and how Stonehenge in England was used as an aid to Minoan celestial navigation back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean. The author proposes that Minoan ocean navigators used stone circles, particularly Stonehenge, to advance the science of celestial astronomy of Bronze Age navigation and trade.

*Includes 30 pictures of Minoan art, ruins, and more. *Explains the links between Minoan culture and religion with the Ancient Greeks. *Details how the Minoans looked and dressed, and what a day in the life of a Minoan may have been like. *Explains the collapse of Minoan society, and whether it formed the basis for the myth of Atlantis Nearly 2,500 years after the Golden Age of Athens, people across the world today continue to be fascinated by the Ancient Greeks. But who did the Ancient Greeks look up to? The answer to that question can be found in Homer's The Odyssey, in which Odysseus makes note of "a great town there, Cnossus, where Minos reigned." It was perhaps the earliest reference to the Minoan civilization, a mysterious ancient civilization that historians and archaeologists still puzzle over, but a civilization that renowned historian Will Durant described as "the first link in the European chain." Nearly 2,000 years before Homer wrote his epic poems, the Minoan civilization was centered on the island of Crete, a location that required the Minoans to be a regional sea power. And indeed they were, stretching across the Aegean Sea from about 2700-1500 B.C. with trade routes extending all the way to Egypt. The Minoans may have been the first link in the "European chain," leading to the Ancient Greeks and beyond, but questions persist over the origins of the civilization, the end of the civilization, and substantial parts of their history inbetween, including their religion and buildings. The World's Greatest Civilizations: The History and Culture of the Minoans shines a light on this Bronze Age civilization, providing a comprehensive overview of the reign of the Minoans and their lasting influence on European art, culture, trade, and more. Along with a description of Minoan life and pictures of Minoan ruins and art, you will learn about the civilization some have dubbed the first Europeans.

*Includes 30 pictures of Minoan art, ruins, and more. *Explains the links between Minoan culture and religion with the Ancient Greeks. *Details how the Minoans looked and dressed, and what a day in the life of a Minoan may have been like. *Explains the collapse of Minoan society, and whether it formed the basis for the myth of Atlantis Nearly 2,500 years after the Golden Age of Athens, people across the world today continue to be fascinated by the Ancient Greeks. But who did the Ancient Greeks look up to? The answer to that question can be found in Homer's The Odyssey, in which Odysseus makes note of "a great town there, Cnossus, where Minos reigned." It was perhaps the earliest reference to the Minoan civilization, a mysterious ancient civilization that historians and archaeologists still puzzle over, but a civilization that renowned historian Will Durant described as "the first link in the European chain." Nearly 2,000 years before Homer wrote his epic poems, the Minoan civilization was centered on the island of Crete, a location that required the Minoans to be a regional sea power. And indeed they were, stretching across the Aegean Sea from about 2700-1500 B.C. with trade routes extending all the way to Egypt. The Minoans may have been the first link in the "European chain", leading to the Ancient Greeks and beyond, but questions persist over the origins of the civilization, the end of the civilization, and substantial parts of their history inbetween, including their religion and buildings. The World's Greatest Civilizations: The History and Culture of the Minoans shines a light on this Bronze Age civilization, providing a comprehensive overview of the reign of the Minoans and their lasting influence on European art, culture, trade, and more. Along with a description of Minoan life and pictures of Minoan ruins and art, you will learn about the civilization some have dubbed the first Europeans.

For the last 500 years, since Columbus "discovered" the New World, controversy has raged. Was he the first? Was there sustained travel and trade between Europe and North America, back at the dawn of America's history, 4500 years ago? How did the peopling of the Americas really happen? In this controversy, the ancient copper mines of Lake Superior (Kitchi-Gummi) have become an undeniable piece of hard evidence. There have been several books written about the tremendous amounts of pure copper that was set free by the glaciers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Isle Royal. There is undeniable proof of the mining and gathering of that copper in the distant past. Some researchers have flatly stated that whatever the amount mined, some of it had to have gone elsewhere. There simply seems to be no end (destination) of a copper trade on this continent. Many of you, local history buffs, students of ancient American history, anthropology, archaeology, and Native American studies, may have never heard of the ancient copper mines on Lake Superior. But for those who do know of them, the question was always there. Who dug approximately 5,000 copper mines 4500 years ago on Lake Superior's Isle Royale and adjoining areas? Why did they do it, and where is the copper now? How could 20 to 50 million pounds of copper be removed from this area in such a fashion, that it literally seems to have vanished. Who did the work and where did the copper go? It is significant that in the solving of this ancient puzzle, if Mediterranean area traders were involved, the accepted paradigm of the peopling of America must be changed. This book weighs in on this controversy. It does this in a straight-forward fashion. A simple case study of how these ancient mines came into existence, and the repercussions of the answer. The question of Diffusionism or Parallel Invention must at last be dealt with. This book, is part of your Ancient North American History, a subject that is as yet, in my opinion, not being taught.

Isle Royale and the counties that line the northwest coast of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are called Copper Country because of the rich deposits of native copper there. In the nineteenth century, explorers and miners discovered evidence of prehistoric copper mining in this region. They used those “ancient diggings” as a guide to establishing their own, much larger mines, and in the process, destroyed the archaeological record left by the prehistoric miners. Using mining reports, newspaper accounts, personal letters, and other sources, this book reconstructs what these nineteenth-century discoverers found, how they interpreted the material remains of prehistoric activity, and what they did with the stone, wood, and copper tools they found at the prehistoric sites. “This volume represents an exhaustive compilation of the early written and published accounts of mines and mining in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It will prove a valuable resource to current and future scholars. Through these early historic accounts of prospectors and miners, Halsey provides a vivid picture of what once could be seen.” —John M. O’Shea, curator of Great Lakes Archaeology, University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology

Thoroughly researched, Rodney Castleden's Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete here sues the results of recent research to produce a comprehensive new vision of the peoples of Minoan Crete. Since Sir Arthur Evans rediscovered the Minoans in the early 1900s, we have defined a series of cultural traits that make the ‘Minoan personality’: elegant, graceful and sophisticated, these nature lovers lived in harmony with their neighbours, while their fleets ruled the seas around Crete. This, at least, is the popular view of the Minoans. But how far does the later work of archaeologists in Crete support this view? Drawing on his experience of being actively involved in research on landscapes processes and prehistory for the last twenty years, Castleden writes clearly and accessibly to provide a text essential to the study of this fascinating subject.

“MENZIES [IS] PROPOUNDING ONE OF THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS IN THE HISTORY OF HISTORY.” —New York Times Magazine New York Times bestselling historian Gavin Menzies presents newly uncovered evidence revealing, conclusively, that “the lost city of Atlantis” was not only real but also at the heart of a highly advanced global empire that reached the shores of America before being violently wiped from the earth. For three millennia, the legend of Atlantis has gripped the imaginations of explorers, philosophers, occultists, treasure hunters, historians, and archaeologists. Until now, it has remained shrouded in myth. Yet, like ancient Troy, is it possible that this fabled city actually existed? If so, what happened to it and what are its secrets? The fascinating reality of Atlantis’s epic glory and destruction are uncovered, finally, in these pages in thrilling detail by the iconoclastic historian Gavin Menzies—father of some of “the most revolutionary ideas in the history of history” (New York Times). Meticulously analyzing exciting new geologic research, recently unearthed archaeological artifacts, and cutting-edge DNA evidence, Menzies has made a jaw-dropping discovery: Atlantis truly did exist, and was part of the incredibly advanced Minoan civilization that extended from its Mediterranean base to England, India, and even America. In The Lost Empire of Atlantis, he constructs a vivid portrait of this legendary civilization and shares his remarkable findings. As riveting as an Indiana Jones adventure, The Lost Empire of Atlantis is a revolutionary work of popular history that will forever change our understanding of the past.

Building on A People’s History of the United States, this radical world history captures the broad sweep of human history from the perspective of struggling classes. An “indispensable volume” on class and capitalism throughout the ages—for readers reckoning with the history they were taught and history as it truly was (Howard Zinn) From the earliest human societies to the Holy Roman Empire, from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Revolution to the end of the twentieth century, Chris Harman provides a brilliant and comprehensive history of the human race. Eschewing the standard accounts of “Great Men,” of dates and kings, Harman offers a groundbreaking counter-history, a breathtaking sweep across the centuries in the tradition of “history from below.” In a fiery narrative, he shows how ordinary men and women were involved in creating and changing society and how conflict between classes was often at the core of these developments. While many scholars see the victory of capitalism as now safely secured, Harman explains the rise and fall of societies and civilizations throughout the ages and demonstrates that history moves ever onward in every age. A vital corrective to traditional history, A People's History of the World is essential reading for anyone interested in how society has changed and developed and the possibilities for further radical progress.

The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age is a wide-ranging survey of a crucial period in prehistory during which many social, economic, and technological changes took place. Written by expert specialists in the field, the book provides coverage both of the themes that characterize the period, and of the specific developments that took place in the various countries of Europe. After an introduction and a discussion of chronology, successive chapters deal with settlement studies, burial analysis, hoards and hoarding, monumentality, rock art, cosmology, gender, and trade, as well as a series of articles on specific technologies and crafts (such as transport, metals, glass, salt, textiles, and weighing). The second half of the book covers each country in turn. From Ireland to Russia, Scandinavia to Sicily, every area is considered, and up to date information on important recent finds is discussed in detail. The book is the first to consider the whole of the European Bronze Age in both geographical and thematic terms, and will be the standard book on the subject for the foreseeable future.