This groundbreaking book is the first to look at the beginnings of architecture from a global perspective. Starting with the dawn of human society, through early civilizations, to the pre-Columbian American tribes, Architecture of First Societies: A Global Perspective traces the different cultural formations that developed in various places throughout the world to form the built environment. Looking through the lens of both time and geography, the history of early architecture is brought to life with full color photographs, maps, and drawings. Drawing on the latest research in archaeological and anthropological knowledge, Architecture of First Societies also looks at how indigenous societies build today in order to help inform the past. Throughout the book "Encounters with Modernity" sections bring the reader up to date on some of the political issues that village life and its architectural traditions face today.  Here, the history of civilization becomes the history of cities through the time and space of global history.