The Other Ancient Civilisations: Decoding Archaeology’s Less Celebrated Cultures

by Raven Todd DaSilva

Discover Other Civilisations and Cultures With Rich and Unique Histories

Journey through 15,000 years of history and discover fascinating ancient civilisations and cultures that may have been overlooked in history class with Raven Todd DaSilva, award-winning scholar, archaeologist, and creator of the popular archaeology online educational platform Dig it With Raven.

#1 Best Seller in Mayan History

Lesser-known ancient civilisations and cultures. Go beyond the popular stories of Greece, Rome, Egypt, the Inca and the Maya, and uncover the rich diversity of people that are often overlooked. From the world's first peace treaty to daring expeditions across the Pacific, learn about 20 ancient and historic cultures from around the world that have had monumental impacts on our modern world.

A more nuanced look at the ancient world. The Other Ancient Civilisations looks outside mainstream ancient civilisations and cultures and delves into astounding finds unearthed at archaeological sites around the world. Discover the archaeology that sheds light on the secret stories of the Nubians, Olmec, Xiongnu, Minoans, Akkadians, and many more. Each chapter delves beyond the rise and fall of each society, highlighting the lives of everyday peoples of the past. Discover who they interacted with and how they lived, and what we can learn from them.

How archaeologists decode ancient cultures from what they left behind. Packed with summaries of current archaeological evidence, detailed maps and striking images of astounding artefacts and archaeological sites, The Other Ancient Civilisations is an indispensable collection of fascinating stories and facts that have helped archaeologists change the way we understand history.

Inside discover:

A more in-depth understanding of lesser-know ancient cultures from around the world
An appreciation for the people who lived during these times and in these cultures—not just the great rulers and the monumental buildings left behind
A realization that ancient people were not that different from who we are today

If you’ve read books such as The Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World, The Lost World of The Old Ones, or 1177 B.C., you’ll love Raven’s The Other Ancient Civilizations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology, World History, Ancient History, Audiobook, Anthropology

350 pages, Paperback

First published October 29, 2024

Reviews

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like if you threw cooked spaghetti at a wall and went with what stuck. Each chapter has a little info, hopefully to encourage further research, but they follow neither a geographical nor historical order, or any order as far as I can see. If you told me this was 30 podcasts in a trench coat, I would 200% believe you.

[ari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feel like this bites off more than it can chew. Will maybe try reading again at another time.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Other Ancient Civilisations is definitely a must-read for both those who are fascinated with ancient civilisations and have an in-depth knowledge and for those who are just starting their journey into ancient historical civilisations. To be clear, this book is not meant to be an in-depth study of any of the cultures mentioned, but more of an introduction to some of the more obscure civilisations that existed in our past; it can be used as a launching pad into a more in-depth study if one wishes.

Even with a background in history, I love these kinds of books and have read several this past year. Focusing primarily on ancient cultures that are not discussed a lot in mainstream media, the book highlights around twenty ancient civilisations and includes maps and pictures of artefacts. Because I had the kindle edition, I went online to look up some of the colour photographs so I could study the photos in-depth, but that is just me as the photos were fine in the kindle version.

Although I was familiar with a lot of the chapters in this book, there were some that I had just heard about so it was nice to learn more about them. I even flagged the sources so I could do further reading in the future. A few that stood out to me were the Olmec, Xiongnu, Dilman, and Lapita civilisations, and I appreciated the knowledge and research that went into those chapters.

The writing style was clear and concise, and if you are new to reading historical non-fiction, you will find this book easy to read. That doesn't mean the author doesn't display her depth of knowledge and research, she just understands how to relay the information in terms that are easy to understand for people who don't have a deep knowledge of the material. I also enjoyed the fact the author didn't focus entirely on the royal families, but discussed the daily lives of people and how war interrupted their lives creating chaos and resentment at times. The focus was very much on the societies and how they all worked together, or did not function so well together, not simply on the elite.

The Other Ancient Civilisations had a nice, easy reading style that flowed very well from chapter to chapter. Even though it didn't go as in-depth as I would have liked, I did manage to flag a lot of things that interested me to do further research and the source material sent me on a hunt to order more books about these civilisations. And although the book doesn't go into enough depth for me, it was still fascinating reading and would be a great book for those who want to learn more about these cultures without being bogged down in details that can make the reading experience feel more like a textbook. Of particular interest are the opening vignettes that draw you into the society through the eyes of someone who lived during that time period and made the time period feel more alive.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Jen Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of some lesser known civilizations that often get overlooked (though I will note that when I taught World History, I taught some of these lesser known civilizations!). I can see myself using this book to assign small groups to read and report on to the class should I teach WH1 again. Each civilization is covered in a few pages, and includes photos of ruins and artifacts. Easy to pick up and read at leisure, and can be read in any order.

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Achieves precisely what it sets out to do, provides exposure to the layperson about civilisations that tend to fly under the radar. There is just enough information to pique interest but not too much to overwhelm the average person. However, the author's academic background is notable, as they still have a coherent referencing structure and make legitimate statements that provide sufficient context, which an academic working within this general discipline would seek and appreciate. For that, it's a great read either way. Accurate, trustworthy and easy to read.

For those academics out there, from one academic to another, it's also so clearly admirable that the author took on this project. Those of us in archaeology know how difficult it is to study certain civilisations precisely because there are lacking records and material culture (as the author mentions themselves). The author, undeterred, does an excellent job at finding all that is possible and coherently synthesizes and presents that information. Given this clear disadvantage of fragmentary record (and published literature even if material has been found in sites), there is a reason other authors do not try the same in their work. Honestly, it's just extremely impressive and I also recommend it to my students to get a base understanding of other cultures that most big names in archaeology ignore.

[Stephanie (Bookfever) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Other Ancient Civilisations is a must-read for ancient history fans. It's the perfect introduction to civilizations that get overshadowed by the more popular ones like ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc.This book has no less than twenty cultures from the ancient world to learn about, as well as maps and photographs of stunning artefacts. The maps and photographs are all in color even, which I was really amazed by because not all nonfiction books of this kind have maps, illustrations or photographs that are in color. I was definitely a fan!

I love these kind of books and the fact that it was about ancient civilizations that don't get talked about that often made me buy it as soon as I could. I also didn't hesitate to start reading it, even though it wasn't in my original TBR for November. The cultures the author talked about in the book spanned all over the globe and was a great variety. Did I want some chapters to be a little bit longer? Sure. Butin the end I can't complain because so many civlizations were talked about. Way more than I thought there'd be.

My favorite chapters of civilizations that were new to me were: chapter two: Dilmun, chapter eight: Lapita, chapter eighteen: Thule and chapter nineteen: Únětice. Of course it goes without saying that all chapters were really great and fascinating but those stood out to me the most. And I absolutely need a deep dive into them all now. I also loved that the book was very much about the regular people of these societies, which is something I feel drawn to more and more lately. Raven Todd DaSilva did an amazing job at spotlighting them at the start of every chapter.

The writing, unsurprisingly, was also excellent. It was an easy to read book that flowed well, making the book very much a page-turner that I finished in no time. Also, I wasn't initially familiar with the author's YouTube 'Dig It With Raven' but I'll have to go binge her videos for sure now. After reading her book I definitely want more!

[Tony Gualtieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A survey of "forgotten" civilizations across the globe that left artifacts and ruins but no written records. The author incorporates the latest research and has a lively style. The book is beautifully illustrated and each civilization's chapter opens with a map. They also open with an short vignette of an imagined day in the life a member of the group. While these cameos struck me as being aimed at younger readers, they did serve to remind one that these civilizations were inhabited by actual human beings.

[Lloyd Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book sets out to give some justice to civilizations that seem to have fallen out of mainstream attention. And, I think, DaSilva does a fairly reasonable job of drawing attention to about 20 different civilizations that have existed over a period of about 4,000 years...maybe more. I was already somewhat familiar with most of these places but certainly learned a lot more about most of them.
One of the things that struck me in reviewing the book was the paucity of information that archeologists have to work on. In so many cases they only have funeral sites and base all their conclusions on what they are able to salvage from funeral remains and these are the things that have not decayed or crumbled into dust. It’s obviously especially difficult when the group I question has no written records. And the jump in knowledge between no writing and writing is huge. And one has to wonder about the flight of fantasy that the archeologists indulge when they hypothesise about the reasons for the decline and fall of these civilizations or what caused them to arrive at this location in the first place. It certainly seems to me that thei9r speculations should be treated with great scepticism except where they have some additional scientific data to back up the proposals (such as climate records from soil samples).
I was especially curious about what got “civilizations” going in the first place and then what caused them to decline or cease to exist. It seems that nearly all the civilizations had some sort of excess wealth (either from agriculture or from a local resource such as copper or tin but they also had some sort of hierarchical societal structure. (Maybe the Indus Valley groups are a bit different but virtually all the others seemed to have these sort of characteristics). And they could collapse very rapidly from outside shocks like climate change...especially drought, earthquakes, or invasions. But equally they could collapse by internal revolutions where the elite were overthrown by a workers revolt....but the workers were unable to sustain the structures necessary for the flowering of the civilization. (The Olmecs appear to be an example of this though this book does not emphasise this aspect of cultural change).
One “Civilization that stuck me as being rather strange to include was the Thule or Inuit culture around norther Canada and Greenland. Why was this included? It didn’t really seem to have the same hallmarks of a civilization as the rest of the examples in the book. Though, as the author points out, the very term civilization is very subjective. And I’ve noticed that recently in Australia, there is an increasing tendency to refer to 60,000 years of the aboriginal “civilization”...which, to my mind anyway, is drawing a rather long bow. Yes humans survived for this length of time in Australia but so did the kangaroos. And neither group left much of a mark in terms of structures or organisation......let alone writing. Anyway, I guess one can pretty much define a civilization in any way you like. But why the Inuits? I wondered if it was because she had done research on this group but her main field of studies appears to have been in Egypt and the Middle East ....though she did graduate from a Canadian University. Anyway, it still seems a curious choice alongside all the others.
The other thing that I’ve been thinking about is that when you are trying to cover 20 different civilizations in a book of about 400 pages (including references) then you are only going to be able to get about 15-20 pages per civilization. So it’s really just a snapshot......and therefore, maybe a little superficial. I noticed this with the segment on the Olmecs and my recollection is that recent research points to a couple of social revolutions where the people didn’t disappear but they certainly got fed up with carving huge stone heads of their rulers ......but after a period of time....new rulers emerged (or maybe the old families came back).
But I liked the book and I’m happy to award it four stars. And I’ve tried to capture, below, a few of the nuggets that made an impact on me:
The term lost civilisation belittles and is disparaging to the people who created and thrived in these communities......Many times, these “civilisations” were never lost. These past peoples were known for millennia by their descendants.
The word civilisation is problematic and often misunderstood. What we define as “civilised” or not is often the result of looking through our biassed lens based on the values of the period in which we are living. All too often, the word was used to set up a distinction between societies around the world, creating a harmful environment where “civilised” societies are seen as superior to “non-civilised” ones......The word civilisation was first used in France in the 1700s, and by the middle of the century, it came to mean “the process of being civilised.” In the broadest sense, it was used morally to denote a contrast between “superior moral and intellectual” urban societies that conformed to Eurocentric ideals......Communities and societies are too complex to fit within a binary of “civilised” and “uncivilised.”
Chapter One Akkadians: The World’s First Empire
Sargon was cupbearer who rose to (and possibly usurped) power in the city of Kish. He then set out on a mission to defeat Lugalzagesi, the king of Uruk, around 2292 BCE. Through this defeat and subsequent battles with fifty other governors, Sargon unified southern Mesopotamia into a single state for the first time.....Much of this military action would have been to secure access to trade routes in order to guarantee the supply of precious materials such as wood, hard stones, and silver.......New system of government had to be developed.
Original rulers remained in their positions but now acted as governors......One of the major changes was the widespread adoption of the Akkadian language, born from the Sumerian cuneiform script.
The Akkadian Empire reached its greatest extent under Sargon’s grandson, Naram-Sin (c. 2254–2218 BCE). After his death, Akkadian power began to quickly disintegrate and the empire ceased to exist after the reign of his son, Shar-Kali-Sharri (c. 2217–2193 BCE).
The developing political instability within the Akkadian Empire attracted the attention of outside forces and was coupled with what appears to have been a devastating drought.
evidence for the worst dry spell of the past 10,000 years occurring just as the city was being abandoned.
This drought lasted three hundred years and was devastating to the Akkadians in northern Mesopotamia, who relied on irrigation for their agriculture.....Through their consistent military campaigns, the Akkadians were the first to incorporate multiple ethnicities, cultures, and societies into a single centralised state.
Chapter Four Great Zimbabwe: A Stolen Past
In 1891, James Theodore Bent, funded by the Royal Geographical Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, excavated at the site and declared that Great Zimbabwe must have been built by the Phoenicians or the Arabs.......It wasn’t until the early 1900s that proper, scientific archaeological investigations were undertaken at Great Zimbabwe......Gertrude Caton-Thompson in 1929 reaffirmed this claim. In Caton-Thompson’s report, she also added that Great Zimbabwe was of Bantu origin and dated to the mediaeval period.......It was not until recent decades, after Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980 and named itself after these great stone houses that defined its landscape and cultural history, that proper work in reclaiming its past could begin with fervour.
The city of Great Zimbabwe emerged in southern Zimbabwe from a local iron-producing agricultural community........The Mapungubwe state rose to prominence from 1100–1280 CE and thrived both locally and through international trade........Political power and centralisation then shifted three hundred kilometres north to Great Zimbabwe.
Rising to prominence around 1270 CE, Great Zimbabwe was the centre of a larger, powerful sector of allied ancestral groups.........Great Zimbabwe must have developed a system for collecting taxes to garner the wealth needed to build the massive stone structures
The site of Great Zimbabwe itself is just one of over two hundred sites in southern Africa that are home to monumental stone buildings......Great Zimbabwe was a major trading centre......[A] hoard was found in the residence of someone who was possibly a trader, it contained luxurious imported items such as a glazed Persian pot with Arabic script and
fragments of Chinese celadon pottery.....The popularly accepted date for the collapse of Great Zimbabwe is around 1450, when populations began to abandon the site,
Chapter Five Hittites: The Charioteers of Anatolia
The Hittites were one of the greatest powers in the Near East during the second millennium BCE........Forming an empire at their capital city of Hattusa in Anatolia (modern-day Türkiye) around 1600 BCE, they soon went on to conquer areas across Asia Minor, Upper Mesopotamia, and the Levant less than three hundred years later.....This absorption of other cultures became a defining trait of the Hittites.
The Hittites also adopted the practice of bringing back and worshipping deities from conquered territories to Hatti and referred to themselves as the “land of a thousand gods.”
The continuous campaigning coupled with Hatti’s constant shortage of manpower affected their ability to produce enough food......This strain on human resources seems to have been coupled with increasing food shortages and unrest in the vassal states towards the end of the empire.....The fall of the Hittites also appears to correspond with a mass migration that swept through Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, the coast of Egypt, and the eastern Mediterranean in the early twelfth century BCE: the Sea Peoples.
Juniper tree-ring samples studied from central Türkiye indicate that a devastating drought hit Hittite territory from 1198–1196 BCE, which some scholars believe could have been the main reason for the collapse of the Hittite Empire.......The Hittite Empire is thought to have fallen around 1180 BCE during the Bronze Age Collapse, a period of upheaval that saw the end of the Mycenaeans in Greece, and other Near Eastern kingdoms like Ugarit.
Chapter Six Indus Valley: A Bronze Age Utopia?
The Indus Valley, or Harappan spanned an area more widespread than the territories of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia combined.......With a population of perhaps one million people, numbers not seen again until the height of ancient Rome.
The Early Harappan Period, began around 4000 BCE, the Mature Period that marked the height of the Indus civilisation began in 2600 BCE
Evidence for a central authority can be seen in the standardised weights and designs of their seals, the extensive trading networks, as well as in the organised planning of platforms on which the major cities were built.
The Indus Valley civilisation has no identifiable evidence for a standing army, so a possible ruling class of priest kings,.....The Mature Period of the Indus Valley civilisation came to an end around 1900 BCE. After this date, references to Meluhha in Mesopotamian texts disappear, and the Indus civilisation began to decline......Dramatic shifts of the course of the Indus River over time would have flooded and destroyed some cities, while leaving others high and dry......Cholera is also suspected to have been present from the seepage of wastewater into drinking water......Cities and towns were abandoned, and rural settlements became more popular.
Chapter Seven Jomon: The Oldest Pottery in the World
The Jōmon period of Japan spanned over 10,000 years.......The word Jōmon is all-encompassing for the time and space before the invention of agriculture
It does not appear that the Jōmon people required or developed any distinct hierarchy or ruling class that set customs or exploited resources in their society. The vast diversity of resources along the archipelago and the high population density of the Jōmon could have made it difficult for a single group to do this. Instead, the Jōmon relied on the natural cycles of what their environment gave them, and organised their societies to allow for everyone (and everything) to thrive.
Chapter Ten Minoans: The Home of the Minotaur
Early Minoan society probably developed largely from the already-present Neolithic communities who most likely came from Anatolia and had inhabited Crete from around 7000 BCE........Around 1900–1700 BCE, they began exporting pottery and stone vessels, and other commodities like olive oil, cloth, and skilled workers around the Aegean, Egypt, and the Near East.......After 2000 BCE is when the large-scale building of local community and administrative centres began....In the middle of the fifteenth century BCE, most of Crete’s palaces and villas were destroyed apart from Knossos......Some believe that seismic activity dating to after the eruption in Thera could have devastated the coastal areas of Crete, leading to a decline in trade.....Another alternative is that a drought afflicted the island.......While there is little evidence for conquest, by the second half of the fifteenth century BCE, Crete was largely composed of Mycenaean city-states, and the written language shifted from Linear A to Linear B.
Chapter Eleven Mississippian: North America’s First City
Around 1050 CE, a migratory cultural event that has been described as a “Big Bang” occurred in the American Bottom......Cahokia was the largest pre-Mississippian settlement and in 1050 CE it underwent a rapid expansion, essentially becoming a centralised capital, and the first city in North America. In the decades following 1050 CE, its population increased five to ten times, .....This could only have been accomplished thanks to the addition of maize into the Mississippian diet and improved agricultural practices that created a food surplus,
Based on the archaeological evidence, it’s clear the events that took place on these mounds would have served to bring communities together.
The great theatrics and wealth displayed in burial mounds were balanced with other mortuary rituals, like sacrifices. Some mass burials were found to be filled with the bodies of executed women and men who were either shot with arrows or clubbed.
An expanding population of more sedentary farmers seems to have increased hostile relationships in the Middle Mississippian region......By 1200 CE, a large migration out of Cahokia and the American Bottom appears to have taken place, and by 1450 CE (if not earlier), much of the area including the central Illinois River Valley and the Ohio River and Mississippi River confluence was abandoned.....The Little Ice Age began around 1300, which would have brought on more unreliable swings in temperature
Chapter Thirteen Nabataeans: The Nomads Who Built a City
Diodorus describes the Nabataeans as pastoral nomads who fiercely protect their freedom, live in the open air, and have strict rules—punishable by death—to refrain from planting any grain or fruit-bearing trees, using wine, or building houses......Agriculture and cumbersome or immovable possessions would prevent them from disappearing into the desert when threatened by enemies, or else leave many of their goods vulnerable to destruction.
The Nabataeans could navigate the desert like no one else, and they dug large underground water reservoirs throughout the desert, lined with stucco and filled with rainwater to sustain them in the arid landscape, before sealing and marking them in a way recognisable only to them.
By the end of the fourth century BCE, Petra was already established as a political and religious centre, and the seat of the Nabataean royalty and nobility.
Items once seen as impractical to nomadic life and a threat to their freedom and security were now sought after and celebrated......Hundreds of rock-cut tombs dominate the landscape were mostly carved between the first century BCE and the first century CE during the height of the Nabataean kingdom.
The Nabataeans needed to ensure a constant water supply for their people to thrive. As a result, they built dams and cofferdams to capture rainwater from the torrential downpours that occurred in the winter months, and canals using the gravity system as well as pressurised ceramic pipes would bring in water from sources as far as seven kilometres away. Cisterns and reservoirs have been found all over Nabataean territory to store water and maintain a healthy supply.......After it was conquered by the Romans in 64–63 CE, it remained an independent state but had to pay tribute to the Roman Republic.
Chapter Sixteen Olmec: Land of Rubber and Colossal Stone Heads
The remains of Mesoamerica’s first identified civilisation are marked by the stone monuments that have survived......Later people referred to the people who inhabited the region as the Olmeca across Mesoamerica between around 1200 BCE to 400 BCE....By 1000 BCE, San Lorenzo’s time as a regional power had come to an end. The exact reason for its decline is unknown.
One possible explanation is that the river courses around the city had shifted around this time.....[This is something that I find a bit annoying with archeologists....they speculate but often their speculations are impossible to falsify (therefore non-scientific) or they are susceptible to testing ...eg in this case by geological surveys for prior streams.....but the testing is just not done. Anyway, elsewhere I’ve read that there is fairly good evidence that the “peasants” got fed up with the ruling class and overthrew them whilst continuing to live in the same areas...... but they were no longer carrying giant stone heads of the ruling class for hundreds of km].
By 400 BCE, the Olmec civilisation had come to an end. La Venta’s ritual centre and the surrounding villages around both there and San Lorenzo were deserted around the beginning of the fourth century BCE........The reason for such a drastic decline and for farming communities completely abandoning an entire region are not known, but environmental factors may have been a leading cause........[Again, pure speculation. Maybe it’s true but where is the evidence].
I liked the book...though maybe a bit superficial overall...but still a lot of interesting information. Four stars from me.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know that the Olmec got their name from the Aztec word 'Olman' (‘land of rubber’)? Or that the saddle is thought to have been invented by the Scythians in the seventh century BCE?

The Other Ancient Civilisations is a brilliant introduction to less mainstream ancient cultures! Raven Todd DaSilva has done all twenty incredible justice and I came away from each one wanting to know more - I've already gone down a rabbit hole researching Moche portrait vessels, which are so detailed researchers have identified individuals with conditions such as cleft lip and Down syndrome! Even if you have studied the ancient world for a while you will find something new in here. There were lots of names (such as the Nok and Marajoara) that I had never heard before, and even more (like the Inuit and Hittites) that I wanted to know more about.

I especially loved learning more about Inuit winter houses and how they adapted their lifestyle to the changing seasons, as well as all the other incredible feats of engineering, from the pioneering water management systems of the Nabataeans and Indus Valley, to the monumental earthen mounds of the Marajoara. It was also interesting to learn about connections between distinct cultures, along with how archaeologists know what they know, such as the range of burial practices across the port of Dilmun around the same time, which tells us that it held a diverse population who brought their individual cultural practices with them.

I loved the maps of the geographical area covered at the start of each chapter - they were super helpful for re-situating my brain. Each chapter also begins with a short fictional piece offering windows into the human stories that emerge out of material remains. We gasp as a Minoan bull leaper makes his first jump, crouch with a young Hittite girl watching her father train horses, and observe a Xiongnu child practice his sheep riding on the grasses of the steppe. I absolutely loved all of these! They are such a creative way to immerse us in the culture we are about to dive into, as well as highlight the individuals behind them.

Huge thank-you again to Raven and her publicity team for this gifted copy!

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of short chapters (about 15 pages per chapter) on 20 different second-tier civilizations. It gives some key details on their achievements, background, what we know of them, and how/why they decline. (Well, we usually get something on their decline, but not always). You get some decent geographic diversity, with all six inhabited continents mentioned. The organization is a bit random. I initially thought they were loosely chronologically organized, but no - -they're just in there.

Civilizations covered include: from North America the Mississippian Mound Builders, the Olmec, and the Thule early Inuit. From South America you get the Moche along the Pacific Coast and the Marajoara by the mouth of the Amazon. In Africa, you get Great Zimbabwe down south, the Nok in Nigeria, and Nubia along the Nile. From Europe you get the Unetice in the center of the Continent, the Etruscans in Italy, and Minoans on Crete. From Asia you get the Arab port of Dilmun, Sargon's Akkadian empire (that's the first chapter, actually), the Nabataeans in the Middle East, the Scythians by the Black Sea, Hittites in Anatolia, Indus civilization, Jomon (makers of the world's first pottery) in Japan, and Xiongnu by what's now Mongolia. In Oceania, you get the pre-Polynesian Lapita adventurers.

You learn a little bit about a lot, but nothing too huge on any. (Then again, you shouldn't expect mudh depth in a book laid out like this). It gets the job done.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does exactly what it set out to do, and I loved it!

As someone with very little foundational knowledge in archaeology, this book made for the perfect introduction to not just archaeology, but archaeology outside of the pitfalls of pop culture civilisations. This book is written as a tasting menu of civilisations, each chapter containing a new and unique society. Each chapter begins with a fictional glimpse into everyday life as a resident of the featured chapter. These had the effect of immediately throwing you into a vaguely familiar and yet still new society, and did a fantastic job of setting the scene of the chapters. I was almost disappointed that these sections weren't longer, but that's 100% my problem and not the book's problem.

The real meat of the chapters takes us through an overview of each civilisation. For how short the chapters are, the author does a fantastic job of condensing vast amounts of information into an easy-to-understand format, yet still captures the reader's imagination with how these societies would look and function. The addition of photos only enhances the reader's understanding of what's being described, with the bonus advantage of giving us a jumping-off point to do our own further research.

All in all, this book makes a perfect introduction to ancient civilisations and is great for both new and versed archaeology readers alike. If the blurb sounds like something you'd enjoy, I highly recommend it.

[Frode · Rating 2 out of 5]

Due to the subjects of the book, it was a cursory look at a number of little known ancient civilizations. The author obviously did her homework; the bibliography was pretty extensive. However, the only thread of continuity in the book was that all the groups were old and relatively obscure. For me it was a bit of a jumble. I get it; there just wasn’t much to go on for many of the groups she wrote about.

Each chapter began with a short fictional story that illustrated something about that society. She then gave what information was available through archaeology on who the people were, where they came from, when they began and ended, and why their society disappeared. There aren’t too many solid answers for many of those questions. OK, that’s why we really don’t know much about them.

There is an accompanying map for each civilization so that gives the reader an idea of where these folks were in the world. Usually there are some pictures of artifacts or maybe ruins. The author explains what is thought to be the organization of the society. Much of the information is surmised by looking at what is found in grave sites. Most of these groups either did not leave any written materials that survived, or their language at this point is not understood. The end result is the reader is given the present theory or theories about each society.

All in all, I think the author did what she could with the information she had, but the book just didn’t really appeal to me.

[Hoyt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, tasting menu of a book, giving the reader a quick introduction to twenty lesser known ancient civilizations. Since the text is only 315 pages long, that only leaves about 15 pages per civilization, so this only provides a brief introduction to each one. Luckily, the text is well referenced, so there are plenty of other sources to check out if you more in-depth info. Each chapter has a map showing the location of the civilization in question, and several full color photos of artifacts, ruins, sites, etc., so please don't try and read this on a black and white e-reader! As someone with little background in archaeology (apart from watching a bunch of Time Team), I was entertained by this book. I already knew a bit about some of the civilizations covered here, but others were completely new to me, and I'd like to learn more. Recommended for those with an interest in the topic.

[Patrick S Kelso · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book for someone wanting to learn some interesting tidbits about some societies that you've never heard of, or about a society that wasn't what you thought it was. I quickly built up a list of cultures I want to know more about and developed a new perspective on some cultures that I already thought I understood.

Raven Todd DaSilva writes like she presents on her YouTube channel (Dig It With Raven), with a combination of simple prose and dry wit that made the book even harder to put down.

Of particular interest was the vignettes at the start of each chapter that provide a glimpse into a possible life led by the people to be discussed.

[Augurey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good opportunity for you to discover civilisations you've never known about before, and to honour their time and spirit. It inspires you to research these people, their lives, their cultures, religions, and all that made them what they were during their times, powerful and resourceful.
I would've preferred additional information about each civilisation mentioned, and the resources where the information has been extracted, including scholars, researchers, historians and archaeologists' inputs.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice primer into some lesser known civilizations, but the organization feels a bit scattered as there’s not a central through line to follow or a centralized system for organizing the chapters (e.g. geography, chronology). Each chapter would start in a very enthralling way with a short fictionalized, human-oriented story to give you a sense of of the culture, but then would turn its had to more “telling” rather than “showing.” I supposed it is an scientific/history/archeological book, but I was hoping more for something like Four Cities which weaves it all together with great storytelling.

[Alma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book accomplishes exactly what it sets to achieve: to be an introduction, a starting point that gives you an overview of lesser-known civilisations all over the world. I would have welcomed an annotated bibliography or a list of recommended sources to continue learning about these ancient peoples, as the list of sources at the end is not divided by type of publication or civilisation they're about.

[Layla Sabourian · Rating 5 out of 5]

What stood out to me most about Raven Todd DaSilva’s The Other Ancient Civilisations was her ability to humanize history. Instead of just listing facts or archaeological findings, she brings these lesser-known cultures to life by beginning each chapter with a short fictional vignette. That narrative touch really helped me imagine the daily lives, struggles, and hopes of people we rarely hear about — like someone from the Xiongnu steppe or the Lapita seafaring communities.

[Mel Shield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would be 3 stars if the author didn't specify that this is a simple introduction to lesser known ancient civilisations, rather than a full briefing on them.

There doesn't seem to be an order to the civilisations presented, though I did note a lack of concrete information and more speculation for each civilisation. This suggests that there was some form of order, just not a geographic or chronological one.

Think I'll look more into the Scythians.

[Arman Qureshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fascinating introduction to 20 of the most interesting ancient civilizations I have had the pleasure of learning. His small investigations into each enlightens the mind enough to evoke a sense of further and future discovery of each incredible empire and culture penned in this fine work of historical literature.

[Matthew Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting overview of the lesser well-known ancient civilizations, although not all as obscure as may be presented, e.g. the Hittites or the Etruscans. Occasionally distracted by bad proofing as there are more typos and misspellings than I would ordinarily expect to find in a serious history book.

[Wade Grassman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly not an in depth treatise on various "lesser known" ancient cultures it provided an interesting introduction to several cultures I had been less aware of. The author produced a very readable account. Again probably not a great source for serious students of the mentioned civilizations, still a great primer for those of us interested.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A commentary on ancient civilizations that are not as well-known to the public, although they might have been more powerful or influential. These civilizations are located all around the world and include the Olmec and Inuit among many others. An interesting and informative read with maps of the civilization and pictures of finds made.

[Mi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK, I guess, for what it was. The author somehow managed to make her topic more boring than it should have been. The printed book is created in the 'print on demand' style, which I don't care for; the binding and strong glue makes it difficult to hold and read.

[Nadine]

I listened to the audio version. It’s interesting as a panorama and an introduction for further research, but it’s a pity that the narrator’s voice (the author) and tone weren’t for me, and I’m now happy that it’s over.

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what I was looking for as a fan of Raven's YouTube channel an definitely has inspired me to investigate some of these independently. Her writing definitely has a distinct voice that I recognized from her scripts. Great Read I could take in bite size chunks.

[Selwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, with a few typos and repeating statements that could be been sorted out with another proof read. Anyway, this didn’t really detract from the core message that there were a lot more “advanced” communities across history. I recommend it.

[Ana-Maria Bujor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found out a few interesting facts about some civilizations I knew about, as well as about quite a few I did not know about. It is good as an introduction to help you decide what more to study. It is very brief - just enough to start up one's curiosity.

[andy noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great introduction to the ancient civilizations that tend to be ignored as most focus in on ancient Rome, China etc. This is a great starting point for finding out about these forgotten civilizations

[Karen Carlson]

h/t twitter, sounds interesting.