Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archeology

Located in The Great Hall, in the Foundation Building, 7 East 7th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues.

Eric H. Cline, author of Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archeology, will have a free, public discussion of the history of archeology with Mark Adams, the journalist and author of Turn Right at Machu Picchu.

Three Stones Make a Wall traces the history of archaeology from an amateur pursuit to the cutting-edge science it is today by taking the reader on a tour of major archaeological sites and discoveries, from Pompeii to Petra, Troy to the Terracotta Warriors, and Mycenae to Megiddo and Masada. Cline brings to life the personalities behind these digs, including Heinrich Schliemann, the former businessman who excavated Troy, and Mary Leakey, whose discoveries advanced our understanding of human origins. The discovery of the peoples and civilizations of the past is presented in vivid detail, from the Hittites and Minoans to the Inca, Aztec, and Moche. Along the way, the book addresses the questions archaeologists are asked most often: How do you know where to dig? How are excavations actually done? How do you know how old something is? Who gets to keep what is found?

Eric H. Cline is professor of classics and anthropology and director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at George Washington University. An active archaeologist, he has excavated and surveyed in Greece, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the United States. His many books include 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Princeton).

Mark Adams is the author of Mr. America, which The Washington Post named a Best Book of 2009, and the New York Times bestseller Turn Right at Machu Picchu, which Men’s Journal recently selected as one of the Fifty Greatest Adventure Books of All Time. His work has appeared in many national publications, including ESPN: The Magazine, GQ, New York and the New York Times.