In his Timaeus and Critias dialogues, Plato wrote of two ancient civilisations that flourished more than 9,000 years before his time. Socrates accepted the account as true, and modern archaeological techniques may yet prove him right.

In Plato, Prehistorian, Mary Settegast takes us from the cave paintings of Lascaux to the shrines of Catalhoyuk, demonstrating correspondences both to Plato's tale and to the mystery religions of antiquity. She then traces the mid-seventh millennium impulse that revitalised the spiritual life of Catalhoyuk and spread agriculture from Iran to the Greek Peninsula -- at precisely the time given by Aristotle for the legendary Persian prophet Zarathustra, for whom the cultivation of the earth was a religious imperative.

Fascinating and challenging, Settegast's approach is truly comprehensive and thoroughly researched, yet written in a jargon-free and engaging style.