in my litle town...

bought used copy of the Times World Atlas Of History in the weekend for a young person I know.
great book but the geographers/historians dont seem to be able to grasp the fact that Jericho was only Jericho because there was a spring and a well there and that Catal Huyuk was the centre of an obsidian trade.
it gets an oblique mention but it was far more important than that.
some of these historians seem to think that people just sat down and built a town because they thought it would be a good idea!