History of Civilizations of Central Asia (Vol. 1)
by A.H. Dani and V.M. Masson

Vol 1 of the history of civilizations of central Asia traces the history of man in this vast region from the Palaeolithic beginnings to circa 700 B.C. when the foundations for the formation of the great Achaemenian Empire wer laid. The earliest history of man is evidenced by the discovery of Stone Age tools which are presented as part of the background of Peking Man while the stage of food production is now abudantly represented from Turkemenistan and Tajikistan to the Indus Valley. Above all the great civilzation of the Bronze Age speaks of the first process of urbanization from the Indus to the Oxus and betokens intensive trading between the different areas.