* a coherent, flowing story, written in short, punchy chapters, rich in examples, each dealing with major questions making it suitable for complete beginners in archaeology
* shows how such contemporary issues such as biological and cultural diversity, gender, and climate change have deep roots in the human past
* creates student interest in the human past as reconstructed by multidisciplinary research, including archaeology, anthropology, biological anthropology, ethnohistory, and many other disciplines
