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Newitz looks at 4 ancient cities, Çatalhöyük, Pompeii, Angkor, and Cahokia, and examines the details of everyday life in these urban centres, instead of the major events that other historians tend to focus on.

I finished this book yesterday to wrap up the #FabulousFebruary readathon. Thank you for hosting @Andrew65!

I can‘t sleep thanks to this not-Covid-but-still-awful cold my dad brought me back from Europe, so I took advantage of my ereader‘s night-friendly backlighting and finished the Çatalhöyük segment of FOUR LOST CITIES. It‘s a great book so far; detailed enough to give you a good sense of these places and the scholarship surrounding them, but with a more popular than academic tone.

Next up: Pompeii.

Dovetails really well with the themes in Nomad Century. Cities are mutable and survive based on their infrastructure and political will. There's sort of a boom/bust cycle and deurbanism is an evolution that comes out of a need, or cities becoming too expensive. A key point is that cities are rarely actually lost, more that they evolve over time. Interesting insights and links, this has more food for thought than a "this will/must happen" bent.

Just started on this and already getting vibes overlapping with Nomad Century & An edible history of humanity. I'm hoping for some interesting take aways w.r.t. modern cities!

150/150 A Detailed and fascinating look at four "lost" cities, the Neolithic city of Catalhoyuk, the city of Pomeii (destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius), the megacity of Angkor in Cambodia and the native America city of Cahokia, why they declined and were ultimately abandoned by their citizens. If you're interested in archeology, anthropology or ancient history, I highly recommend it. 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

This was interesting. The author discusses what archeologists have discovered about four ancient cities. I picked it up because she covers Cahokia, which I have been interested in for years, but I learned about all four cities.

#Booked2022 Involves an Exploration

An introductory look at four pre-modern age cities. Newitz makes a great point that cities and civilizations are never “lost”, but rather they morph into something different as human needs/desires change. The author also does a great job trying to emphasize the lives of the common folks in each city. This was interesting if cursory. But a great starting point for anyone curious about archeology/anthropology.

I've felt crummy and down after my exams, so I treated myself to another little stack of books that made me want to read them immediately. I actually wanted to read Four Lost Cities from the library, but since they cut me off...

Anyway, I'll probably start with this!

One of the most quotable books I've ever read. Newitz made me tear up over an unknown woman who died in the eighth millennium, and I learned so much that I didn't know about the four cities Newitz visits. And at the heart of this book is an essential hopefulness about the resilience of humanity, which is surprising and refreshing these days.

I couldn't stop thinking about how I licked the bones of a deer that had been cooked for a feast in Cahokia 900 years ago. I wished I had been there to see the party, but this might have been the next best thing.