Based on a wealth of archeological materials and written by a distinguised team of specialist, Volume I studies the origin of humankind and culture in Central Asia, from the Palaeolithic beginnings to circa 700 B.C., when foundations were laid for the constitution of the great Archaemenid Empire.The Bronze Age wirtnesses the first process of urbanization from the Indus to the Oxus, as well as intensive trading between the different areas. No less important are the nomadic pastoral tribes, such as the Aryans, whose history can, for the first time, be seen in true perspective in the light of recent archaeological research.