Designed to appeal to the detective in every child, this examination of archaeology features a series of case studies, ranging from our earliest African ancestors to the Garbage Project recently carried out in the USA. In each of these, the reader is given the background to a particular archaeological project and presented with the various clues on which possible interpretations will depend; then a fuller account is given, with analysis of how the particular conclusions were reached. There follows a section that studies how various kinds of evidence, such as painting, pots and tombs, have helped archaeologists to develop a fuller understanding of different cultures and civilizations throughout history.