Arranged thematically, the chapters reveal a vast array of incredible finds; most of the treasures and sites featured in the book were only discovered after years of committed searching and with the painstaking efforts by archaeologists, while some were chance finds. The book relates the dramas of excavation, details the items found and their significance, where they are now exhibited, and the importance of that site to our understanding of history. For example, In Cities and Dwelling Places, the story unfolds of Dolni Vestonice, in the Czech Republic: a prehistoric site where ceramics - and therefore Man's discovery of fire - have been dated at over 27,000 years. A discovery such as this helps to unravel the complex characteristics of our human development.