Lamberg-Karlowski - a recognized specialist in the ancient civilizations of the Near Boston, conducted field work in Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman; Sablov is a connoisseur of archeology in Mexico and Central America, the head of excavations in the Mayan culture zone. This predetermined both the geographical and chronological framework of the book. On the basis of the latest scientific data and personal experience of the authors, it gives a wide and objective picture of the development of the most important civilizations of the ancient world in two independent and far distant from each other in time and space centers of high culture of the Old and New Worlds.