What archeologists actually do; the nature and scope of their work; misconceptions about the field; tracing the history of archeology, from its beginnings with the ancient Babylonian king Nabonidus to archeological luminaries of the 20th century.

Traveling to the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which are destroyed by the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius; the history of their excavation; the preservation of buildings, objects and human remains; discovering details of ancient Roman life.

Following the exploits of Heinrich Schliemann as he looks for Homer's Troy; learning about his dig through nine stratified cities; the finds; the debates over which city is Troy; tracing subsequent work at the site; examining the conclusions.

The history of finds in Mesopotamia; the 19th-century unearthing of the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud and Nineveh, with their libraries of cuneiform texts; contemplating the 20th-century discovery of the treasures of the "Death Pits of Ur".

Prehistoric archeology allows one to glimpse the earliest times in hominid and human history; learning about seminal 20th-century finds of hominids in Africa; discovering the figural cave paintings of Lascaux, Altamira and Chauvet.