Reviews New Book Chronicle

12 Pages·2013·0.18 MB·English

Reviews
New Book Chronicle
Madeleine Hummler
BythetimethischronicleappearsAntiquity’sreviews tables.2012.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress;978-
sectionwillbeinthehandsofmysuccessor,Robert 0-19-515931-8hardback£20.
Witcher.Iwishhimasmuchpleasuredoingthejob The opening up of the People’s Republic of China
as I have had. It has been a great privilege to see and the rapid pace of development in that country
thousands of books pass through and to pick a few sincetheendoftheperiodoftheCulturalRevolution
toreportoneachquarter.Intheory,itisChristmas in 1976 has brought the material remains of its
everyday:thepostbringsanewbook,afreshview past to Western popular consciousness, through
from distant parts, on a period seldom familiar. In major exhibitions and through announcements of
realityithasoftenbeenhardtosaysomethingwhich spectaculardiscoveriessuchasthatofthe‘Terracotta
mightinterestthelayreaderratherthantheordained army’ in 1974. Over the past four decades research
specialist may want to know. I shall try once more, hasalsoresultedinhigh-qualitypublicationstargeted
bringingdispatchesfromChinaandaviolentEurope. at a Western readership: the five books summarised
here(ThearchaeologyofChinabyLILIUandXINGCAN
CHEN,Saltproductionandsocialhierarchyinancient
China China by ROWAN FLAD, The search for immortality
editedbyJAMESLIN,UnearthedbyANNETTEJULIANO
LILIU&XINGCANCHEN.ThearchaeologyofChina. and AN JIAYAO, and The Silk Road by VALERIE
From the Late Paleolithic to the Early Bronze Age. HANSEN)areallexcellentrecentexamples.
xxii+476 pages, 127 illustrations, 11 tables. 2012. Forarchaeologists,ThearchaeologyofChinaisamust,
Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress;978-0-521- whether interested in the prehistory of China—the
64432-7paperback£23.99,$36.99;hardback£65& book covers the period from the later Palaeolithic
$99. to 1000 BC—or just curious about that country’s
past in general. Here is where you can really begin
ROWANK.FLAD.Saltproductionandsocialhierarchy
tograspChina’shugediversity,ofregions,climates,
in ancient China: an archaeological investigation of
specialization in China’s Three Gorges. xxvi+285 economicstrategies,cultures,materials,societiesand
spiritualoutlooks.Itisabrillianttextbook,cramming
pages,68illustrations,15tables.2011.Cambridge:
invastamountsofinformationontheNeolithicand
Cambridge University Press; 978-1-107-00941-7
BronzeAge(7outofthe10chapters)andaworthy
hardback£60&$90.
successortoK.C.Chang’sThearchaeologyofancient
JAMESC.SLIN(ed.).Thesearchforimmortality:tomb
China which went through many editions between
treasuresofHanChina.xviii+356pages,470colour&
1963 and 1986. A generation on, his students LI
b&willustrations,4tables.2012.NewHaven(CT)
LIUandXINGCANCHENcontinuetochampionthe
&London:YaleUniversityPressinassociationwith
archaeology of China in a most lucid way, largely
TheFitzwilliamMuseum,UniversityofCambridge;
uncluttered (in the Bronze Age) from reference to
978-0-300-18434-1hardback£45.
the dynastic history of China (the main ones being
ANNETTE L. JULIANO with AN JIAYAO. Unearthed: Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin and Han in the second–
recent archaeological discoveries from northern China. firstmillenniaBC).Indeedtheyrefrainfromdirectly
xvi+176 pages, numerous colour & b&w equating archaeological complexes with dynasties,
illustrations.2012.Williamstown(MA):Sterling& preferring to stick with archaeological entities such
Francine Clark Art Institute: 978-0-875772-25-7; asErlitouandErligang(pp.258–59)toexplainthe
NewHaven(CT)&London:YaleUniversityPress; formation of early states in the Bronze Age. And
978-0-300-17967-5paperback£45. the book is the better for that, clear throughout
VALERIE HANSEN. The Silk Road: a new history. but not eschewing complex explanations. This is
xvi+304 pages, 58 illustrations, 16 colour plates, 6 in large parts due to its excellent structure: two
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Reviews
introductory chapters on the history of archaeology closingcenturiesofthesecondmillenniumBCledto
in China and its geography and a final chapter decentralisationandtheriseofregionalcentres.
addressingthequestionof‘Chineseness’bracketeight
The authors end by asking whether the rise
chapters arranged chronologically (one on the later
of civilisation in China has followed a unique
Palaeolithic,fourontheNeolithicandthreeonthe
trajectoryinChina,whetherthereissuchathingas
BronzeAge).Thesechaptersareverywellorganised,
‘Chineseness’, and if so whether this was politically
startingwithanexpositionofthemainquestionsand
engineered or environmentally conditioned. Their
theories, following with regional overviews and site
position is that China’s geography is certainly
orassemblagesummaries,whicharethendiscussed,
a determinant factor, but that contact with the
and ending with general conclusions. Each time
peoples of Central Asia and the Eurasian steppe
everythingiswellsummarisedandflaggedup(e.g.the
led to innovative adaptation in the Central Plain.
location,timeandmodeofdomesticationofplants
China’s ability to access a huge array of natural
and animals in chapter 4), supported by maps and
resources and control them through ritual practices
siteplansandillustrationsofassemblages.
led to a concentration of power, but changes in
the core/periphery equilibrium also led to collapse.
This book is the next best thing to being a
Li Liu and Xingcan Chen tend to agree with
student on the authors’ courses; by the end you
K.C. Chang’s notion that Chinese civilisation rose
feel better able to cope with the landscape—the
throughideologicalcontrol,asopposedtoeconomic
CentralPlain,YellowRiver,YangziRiver,thesouth,
power. This theme aligns with current disscussions
the north including Xingjian in the north-west for
of the importance of ideology in the rise of
example—and the myriad cultures and sites—e.g.
complex prehistoric civilisations elsewhere in the
thePeiligang,YangshaoorLongshanculturesinthe
world. Conversely, for China and elsewhere, the
Neolithic with sites such as Jiahu, Jiangzhai, Taosi
core/periphery model has as much to do with
and Liangzhu, or the Erlitou and Erligang cultures,
economic realities as with hierarchy reinforced by
withsitessuchasYanshi,ZhengzhouorPanlongcheng
ritual.
for the Bronze Age. But far from being a mere
chronological presentation, the text guides you The archaeology of China is a fount of knowledge,
throughtheformationofcommunitiesandsocieties, supported by a 50-page bibliography. The first
in increasing complexity but not necessarily in chapter, which gives a short history of archaeology
unilinear fashion. The authors balance continuity in China and its main themes, is informative but,
with innovation, for example among sedentary disappointingly,notillustrated.Herewecouldreally
hunter-gatherer-collectors who had a well adapted do with some visual aids in the shape of images of
broad-spectrum subsistence strategy but ‘invented’ excavationsandarchaeologists,maps,synoptictables
pottery and ‘domesticated’ rice and pigs among ortimelines.Thoughintheperiodchaptersdetailed
others (up to the end of the Early Neolithic tables of cultures, sites and maps are reasonably
around 5000 BC). In the Middle Neolithic (5000– plentiful,aninitialvisualoverviewwouldhavehelped
3000 BC) territorial and demographic expansion immensely.Perhapsthiswillappearinthenextedition
was accompanied by ideological control which whichthisbookwillundoubtedlyearn.
underpinned the emerging elites. Early urbanism, The paucity of excavation pictures is not confined
warfare, state-level societies appear among the to The archaeology of China. Nearly all the books
complex agricultural societies of the great rivers summarisedherefailtodeliveronthisscore.Though
systems in the Late Neolithic (3000–2000 BC), visually stunning, the two exhibition books (The
while elsewhere small communities stuck to their search for immortality and Unearthed) have general
broad-spectrumsubsistenceeconomy.Around2000 mapsoftombsbuthardlyanydetailedplans—which
BC a major collapse, perhaps environmentally wouldseemessentialwhendiscussingthedisposition
w
triggered,occurred,whichmeantthatintheensuing ofburialgoods—andthereareveryfew‘actionshots’
e
Bronze Age, the territorial states relied heavily on a from excavations which would help assess how the vi
e
monopoly over material resources, which also lead treasures of China were uncovered (there are some R
to colonisation, on hierarchical power and on the inUnearthed).Thoughahistorybook,Hansen’sSilk
control of ritual. These trends are seen to evolve Roadatleastgivesaflavourofhersites’settingsandshe
within a core/periphery framework, which, by the does include the occasional excavation photograph
(e.g. of stupa excavations recently at Niya or at
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Rawak from Aurel Stein’s archives). The general and even the spatial organisation and intensity of
lack of information on recovery leaves an uneasy activityontheproductionsitecanonlybepartially
feeling: either readers are being patronised (why understood from the sample. Much emphasis is
shouldmethodologynotbeinterestingtothegeneral placedondiversity,concentration,scaleandcontext
public?)orinformationisgenuinelymissing.Thisis of production, but with so many imponderables
understandablegiventheintensemediapressureand (including different recovery strategies elsewhere on
thefranticdevelopmentphasecurrentlyexperienced the mound), the sample is made to carry rather a
by China. This is hinted at on p. 74 of Unearthed: lotofweight.Forexample,thepersistentorientation
anundisturbed,complextomb,whichoughttotake of gullies (even taking two adjacent 10 × 10m
weeksormonthstoexcavateandrecordmeticulously, squares into account) is interpreted as evidence for
was “excavated day and night for several days”. To leadership, when other explanations (e.g. efficiency,
her credit, An Jiayao, in her essay in Unearthed on routine renewal of structures, terrain or tradition)
the development of archaeology in China over the seem equally plausible. The tens of thousands of
past 90 years (a good complement to Li Liu and animal bones—pig, deer, many wild mammals and
Xingcan Chen’s first chapter), is not afraid to draw abundant fish—are interpreted as the residue from
attention to the problems of archaeology in China salting fish and meat, including pickled rhino (p.
today:80percentofprojectsareinfrastructure-led, 197), presumably the defleshed bones discarded in
therearetoofewtrainedarchaeologists,lootingison situonthesaltevaporationsiteitself(?).Onewould
theincreaseand“theintensemediacoveragehasonly havelikedmoreonthedepositionofsuchmaterial,
madethesituationworse”.Sheendswithapleafor especially as rat bones (the most numerous) are all
“moreplannedarchaeologicalsurveysandexcavations consideredintrusive;intheabsenceoflivingquarters
coupled with the comprehensive multidisciplinary it is impossible to compare food consumption
study of cultural relics and ancient sites” to present with meat salted for storage or trade. Finally the
China’spast“withincreasingclarity”(p.163).Such presenceofhuntedanimalsisinterpretedasevidence
clarityisindeedneeded. for an increasing concentration on salt production
(becausehuntingislesstime-consumingthankeeping
It is interesting to set ROWAN FLAD’s investigation domesticanimals)butsincewedon’tknowwhatthe
of a Late Neolithic and Bronze Age salt production
supplymechanismsfortheworkforcewere,thismust
site at Zhongba on a tributary of the Yangzi River
remainconjectural.
intheThreeGorgesValleyagainstthebroadtrends
identified by Liu Liu and Xingcan Chen. Many Be that as it may, the author has teased much out
aspects find corroboration or development in Salt of his stratified sequence: there are three phases of
production and social hierarchy in ancient China. Neolithic and Bronze Age occupation in the form
Essentially Flad’s work is a meticulous analysis of ofpits,gullies,postholesandworkshopfloorsdated
a square 10 × 10m in extent and 10m deep to between 2470 and 200 BC by 31 radiocarbon
cuttingthrough59stratifiedlevelsexcavatedbetween dates (p. 77), in which three successive kinds of
1999 and 2002 in the mound of Zhongba. This briquetage vessels were recovered by the thousands.
was part of a larger rescue project conducted by Oraclebones(burntandmodifiedplastronsofturtles;
Chinese archaeologists of the Sichuan Institute of thepracticeevenhasaname,pyroplastromancy)are
CulturalRelicsandArchaeologyincollaborationwith frequentlyfoundinthethird,LateBronzeAgephase
Americanuniversitiesinadvanceoffloodingbythe andinterpretedasevidenceofritualpowercontrolled
reservoiroftheThreeGorgesDam.By2006nothing byspecialistsinuncertaintimes.Thesequencestarts
remainedof the 7000m2 mound, a specialistbrine- withlow-levelsaltproduction,perhapsseasonaland
salt evaporation site occupied from the mid third communityorkin-basedintheNeolithic,tobecome
millenniumBCtothetwentiethcenturyAD. acontrolled,quasi-industrialexploitationcarriedout
Admirable as Flad’s analysis and synthesis from by specialists producing salt and salted produce for
his intervention are, it is frustrating that the rest trade during the Bronze Age. There is much to
of the mound’s excavation is reported only very commendinthisbook,forexamplethediaryentries
summarily here. As a result, the detailed study of intheprologueandepiloguesettingthescenemost
a deep box through the mound raises as many vividly, and some frustrating elements such as the
questions as it produces insights. The location of lack of excavation photographs already mentioned,
the living quarters of the workforce are unknown, over-reducedsections(e.g.onp.71)and,aboveall,
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wantingtoknowmoreabouthowtherestofthesite not simply to ensure the well-being of the king in
functioned. For that, we shall have to wait for the the afterlife but to make sure that the ethereal and
finalreportbySunZhibin. the bodily spirits of the dead (the hun and the po)
werekepthappyinanincorruptbody,protectedby
RowanFlad’saccountendswiththebeginningofthe
jade.ThisiswellexplainedbyJamesLininanessayon
Handynastywhoruledanempirecoveringmostof
protectionintheafterlife.Healsocontributesanother
Chinabetween206BCandAD220.Han,formany,
two essays on hierarchy and jade suits in the Chu
is“quintessentiallyChinese”,aperiodinwhich“what
kingdom and on the place of the king of Nanyue
has come to be consideredthe Chinese ‘way of life’
coalesced...[into]asystemofimperialgovernment in the Han empire. These, as well as an essay by
...,theadoptionof‘Confucian’principlesofrespect JessicaRawsononartefacts,contactsandinfluences
anddutyincourtlifeandadministration...,amixed fromHanChina’sneighbours(CentralandWestern
Asia, Iran) are among the most illuminating essays.
state-privateeconomyincludinglong-distancetrade,
Somewhat disappointing were those on discoveries
aqualifiedopennesstoforeignideas,artsandbeliefs,
and excavations in the kingdoms of Chu and of
and a conception of the emperor [as having] a
Nanyue; I hoped to finally find out how such
semi-divine right to rule” (Timothy Potts, p. 3).
incrediblycomplexsitesweretackledbutmycuriosity
Thus begins the first of 12 essays in The search for
wasleftunsated.
immortality, the catalogue accompanying a major
exhibition of over 350 objects from Han China
Unearthed: recent archaeological discoveries from
staged at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge in
northern China is a more modest exhibition. It
2012, most ably edited by James Lin. The book is
showcasesjust16objectsfrom5sitesdatingtothe
sumptuous,aswastheexhibition(somestillvirtually
midandlaterfirstmillenniumADfollowingtheHan
visibleathttp://www.tombtreasuresofhanchina.org/).
period:threetombsites—theburialsofSongShaozu
Beingacatalogue(pp.85–320),thebookinevitably of the Wei dynasty (died in AD 477), of Lou Rui
dwells more on the superb craftsmanship, art and of the Qi dynasty (died in AD 570) and a Tang
ideology embodied in the artefacts from a series of dynastytomboftheeighthcenturyADfromFujiagou
nineroyaltombsorundergroundpalacescarvedinto village—arecomplementedbytwoBuddhistobjects
the hills around Xuzhou on the Central Plain of of the sixth and tenth centuries AD, a polychrome
China and from one spectacular tomb found intact stele and a stone reliquary. After The search for
in southern China in Guangzhou, the tomb of the immortality, which brings a whole new meaning to
king of Nanyue, than on extreme manifestations of thelabel‘madeinChina’,itisdifficulttobestunned
powerlikethe15sacrificedconcubines,servantsand by anything. Nevertheless the 2.4m high and 3.5m
kitchen staff that accompanied him. The catalogue wide stone sarcophagus of Song Shaozu built like a
is organised along themes for the tombs of the perfecttimberhouseandthebeautifullynaturalistic
kings of Chu at Xuzhou—relatives of the Han earthenwarefiguresofoxenandcamelsfromthetomb
emperorswhosemausoleahavenotbeenexcavated— of Lou Rui and Fujiagou village hold their own.
therefore containing “the highest level of material What Unearthed lacks in quantity, the book makes
cultureavailableforstudy”.Tolisttheseitemswould up in quality, with a good extended commentary
take pages; just think of everything including the byANNETTEJULIANOandtheoverviewon90years
kitchen sink, stone lavatory, bathroom, dance hall of archaeology in China by AN JIAYAO mentioned
(withexquisiteearthenwarefigurinesofdancersand above.Reproductionisexcellent,mapsaredetailed,
musicians,pp.126–35),weaponry,theaccoutrements and there are even (small) excavation photographs!
ofofficialdom,theearthenwareguardianstothetomb The impetus for the exhibition and accompanying
and the jade coffin, suits, veils, orifice plugs and book was the centenary of an expedition by
pendants designed for immortality. For the king of Sterling Clark (of Singer sewing machine fortune)
w
Nanyue’s tomb, the exposition presents the layout who travelled 2000 miles from Taiyuan in Shanxi e
of the tomb, from its pathway to the antechamber, to Lanzhou in Gansu in 1908–1909, collecting vi
e
6 chambers and storeroom, with artefacts described information on wildlife and geography on the loess R
and depicted thereafter. Highlights include another plateau of northern China. But unlike some of his
jade suit, silk printing plates and a lacquer folding contemporaries, most famously Aurel Stein, Clark
screen. Apart from showing off prodigious wealth did not excavate or collect anything, confining
and power, the Han burial goods were assembled himself to surveying, photographing and keeping
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notebooks. The opportunity for the Art Institute Tibetan,Uighur,Sogdian,Chinese,andbeliefssuchas
in Massachusetts which Clark founded to celebrate Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism,
the work of an expedition leader chiming with Daoism,IslamandChristianity.TheSilkRoadwas
current thinking about indigenous heritage was too indeed a most influential cultural conduit, but, at
good to miss, and the juxtaposition of Clark’s least from a historian’s point of view, perhaps more
journey with recent archaeological discoveries more of ideas and technologies than of volume of goods.
or less along his route works well. Above all it Hansen is particularly keen to convey that silk was
is the melding of cultures and beliefs in northern butonecommodityalongwithammoniumchloride,
China through the Silk Road with elements of aromaticsandspices,sugarandmetals,andthatpaper
ancestorworship,nomadictraditions,Confucianism, mayhavehadgreatercurrencythansilk.Sheinsists
Buddhism and Daoism that comes across most that the Silk Road trade “was often local and small
clearly. in scale” (p. 238), down the line from oasis city
to oasis city rather than in huge caravans over vast
ThoughanarteryforcontactbetweenChinaandthe distances.Nevertheless,trade,particularlywithIran,
Western world since perhaps around 2000 BC (see didtakeplace,bringingtheEasttotheWestandvice
LiLiu&XingcanChen,pp.337–44),theSilkRoad versa.
is probably best known in the first millennium AD
Cumulatively the five books summarised here have
becauseitbroughttheRomanandByzantineempires
made China more understandable to Western
into(remote)contactwiththeChineseHanandTang
scholars,thanksinparticulartoLiLiuandXingcan
empires. Particularly appealing to the imagination
Chen’s magnificent effort for prehistory. Antiquity
is the Central Asian stretch from the autonomous
has also done its bit in recent years, publishing
UighurregionofXinjiangtoSamarkand,conjuring
articles on the bone flutes from Jiahu (2004), the
up images of caravans carrying bolts of silk and
ornamentaltrousersfromSampula(2009),onErlitou
desiccated mummies in the Tarim Basin. The Silk
(2007) and bone-working at Anyang (2011), on
Road is a famous misnomer coined in 1877 by
the sites of Sanzuodian (2011) and Sanyangzhuang
FerdinandvonRichthofen,sinceitisnotaroadbut
(2012), on Palaeolithic China (2011, 2012), later
anetwork.Hereitisshown,byVALERIEHANSENin
hunter-gatherersandBronzeAgesettlementsystems
The Silk Road: a new history, to have been “one of
in southern China (both 2012), elite tombs at
themosttransformationalsuperhighwaysinhistory”
Majiayuan (this issue) and a number of much-
(pp. 5 and 234) both at once. This companionable
discussed contributions to the literature on early
butalsoscholarlyhistoryoftheSilkRoadiswrittenby
agriculturesince2007,includingthesiteofJiahuin
ahistorianwithaneyeforlandscapeandthematerial
thisissue.IfthesepublicationshaverenderedChina
past. Although based on documents primarily,
less‘Oriental’,less‘mysterious’,somuchthebetter;it
archaeological documentation is not neglected and
neverthelessremainsoneoftheplacesonearthwhere
her approach is one that archaeologists will find
manifestations of powerover people and ideas were
appealing: the book, which covers the period from
expressedattheirmostextravagant.
the second to the eleventh century AD, focuses on
seven locales, Niya and Loulan to the south of the
TaklamakanDesert,KuchaandTurfantothenorth
of it, Sogdian Samarkand in Uzbekistan, the Tang
capitalofChangAn(Xi’an)inChina,thelibrarycaves Violence
ofDunhuang,andfinallyKhotanwhichgivesherthe
opportunitytoexplorethemeetingofBuddhismwith RICKSCHULTING&LINDAFIBIGER(ed.).Sticks,stones
Islam. It is packed full of information conveyed and broken bones: Neolithic violence in a European
withalighttouch,weavingintotheexpositionevoca- perspective. xxvi+392 pages, 146 illustrations,
tionsofthelocalsceneoraccountsoftheadventures 33 tables. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 978-0-
of explorers from Marco Polo to Aurel Stein. The 19-95730-6hardback£80.
richesofthesourcesaretheretobeappreciated,from MAGSMCCARTNEY.WarfareandviolenceintheIron
letters recycled into funerary artefacts (e.g. shoes in AgeofsouthernFrance(BritishArchaeologicalReports
theAstanagraveyardnearTurfan),accountsofbolts International Series 2403). viii+148 pages, 113
ofsilkusedascurrency(p.103)totheheadymixof illustrations,31tables.2012.Oxford:Archaeopress;
languagesandscriptsincludingSanskrit,Khotanese, 978-1-4073-0998-9paperback£29.
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Stuff happens in the Neolithic. Prehistoric flower 16–17),butitmaybethatregional,comparativeand
power has been losing ground for decades, with contextualapproachestotheproblem,advocatedby
perhaps just the odd compassionate Neanderthal Rick Schulting and exemplified in his overview of
hangingonintheliterature.FamouslytheMinoans cranialtraumainmonumentalandnon-monumental
got nasty and the once placid European first assemblagesfromtheBritishIslesoutsidethesouth
farmers were just as capable of aggression, as (chapter13),isthewayforward.
mounting reports tell. Behind the euphemisms
of newspeak—interpersonal violence, conflict—or That warfare existed in the Iron Age is of course
the ghastly evocation of brutal events—think of not a matter of discussion, yet, despite plenty of
television documentaries where slow motion, rivers documentary and other sources referring to war, it
of blood and high-pitched wailing are apparently isstilldifficulttotraceitinthearchaeologicalrecord,
obligatory—or the clinical reporting of trauma— even in a region quite well known for bellicose
depressed fracture of the cranium, healed or not— events. This is what Mags McCartney attempts to
there is the reality of murder, vendetta, raid, rape, investigate in Warfare and violence in the Iron Age
abduction, honour and ritual killings, and (still of southern France, part of a doctoral dissertation
debatedfortheNeolithic)war.Theevidenceofthat submittedtotheUniversityofBelfastin2007.The
realityisextremelydifficulttogathercomprehensively book came out in 2012, but it looks as though she
andinterpretunequivocally.Sticks,stonesandbroken hastakenlittletimetoupdateherbibliography(apart
bones (a good title) makes this amply clear: the from inserting a couple of references to her own
scholars gathered together by RICK SCHULTING and work) beyond 2003, omitting for example Michael
LINDA FIBIGER pore over the question of violence Dietler’s Archaeologies of colonialism: consumption,
in the Neolithic all over Europe, from the Baltic entanglement, and violence in Mediterranean France
toGreeceandfromPolandviaGermanytowestern whichappearedin2010.Idon’tagreewithherclaim
andAtlanticEurope.Theirexcellentcontributionsare thattheIronAgeofsouthernFranceisrelativelylittle
quitenarrowlyfocusedonthephysicalandmaterial known to the English-reading public: for warriors
evidence; but that focus, mainly on cranial lesions and head cults it is likely to be the best known,
and arrowheads embedded in bone, is a strength. as shown for example by Ian Armit’s Headhunting
Onlyinthiswaycanwegetnearertounderstanding and the body in Iron Age Europe published in 2012
the scale and modes of conflict, whether “endemic and reviewed by Katharina Rebay-Salisbury in this
interpersonal violence” occurring frequently (e.g. in issueofAntiquity.FinallythesouthernFranceofher
central Germany or the Netherlands, chapters 10– titleisabitofanoverstatement,asherstudyfocuses
11), “sporadic” clashes “between young males” in quitespecificallyontheBouches-du-Rhoˆne.Butthis
Greece (chapter 14) or a “real climate of collective is no bad thing, since, as Schulting suggested for
violence”butnotfully-fledgedwar(inFrance,chapter the Neolithic, a local, contextual approach is more
12), perhaps fostered by the “youth bulge” (for likelytoteaseoutevidenceforwarfare.McCartney’s
example among the Pitted Ware communities of search, after preliminary chapters and an overview
Gotland, chapter 2). Well-known massacre sites of the documentary sources in chapter 4, takes the
such as those at Talheim in Baden-Wu¨rttemberg form of 10 case studies of indigenous settlements
and Asparn/Schletz in Lower Austria and the less dated to between c. 600 and 100 BC—Martigues,
well known site of San Juan ante Portam Latinam RoquepertuseandEntremontbeingprobablythebest
in northern Spain are treated carefully in their knownamongthem—wheresheseeksoutdirectev-
respective chapters (5, 6 and 15) as are the signs of idenceforhostilities(destructionlevels,fires,violent
manipulation of cadavers after death, for example deaths), indirect evidence for aggression (defences)
in the Lengyel culture of Poland (chapter 4) and signs of ‘socialisation for mistrust’ in the form
andatHerxheiminRhineland-Palatinate(chapter6, offragmentationofhouseholdsordifficultyofaccess
w
whichcontainsastrongrefutationofargumentsfor forexample.Shethenreviewstheiconographicand e
cannibalismmadebyBoulestinetal.inAntiquityin osteological data in chapters 6 and 7 (the famous vi
e
2009). Allied to such manipulations is scalping, for heads,niches,carvings,sculpturesandseatedwarrior R
which traces have been found in the eastern Baltic statuesofProvenceandLanguedoc),endingwithtwo
(chapter 3). Often signs are ambiguous, making it short chapters of discussion and conclusions where
almost impossible to distinguish between bellicose she concludes that “levels of warfare in the Lower
intentoraccidentaldeath(e.g.inPortugal,chapters RhoˆneValleyremainedbroadlyconstantduringthe
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sixth and fifth centuries, began to rise during the Walnut Creek (CA): Left Coast; 978-1-59874-426-
fourthandthirdcenturies,andreachedapeakinthe 2 hardback; 978-1-59874-427-9 paperback $27.95;
secondcentury”(p.119).Thebookhastheadvantage 978-1-59874-660-0e-book.
ofbeingshort,withinformationpresentedintabular NICHOLASBANNAN(ed.).Music,language,&human
form, but the author’s fragmented text makes it evolution.xii+345pages,16illustrations,CD.2012.
difficulttoread(anduntanglechickensfromeggs).A Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress;978-0-19-922734-
workinprogress,certainlynotafinishedbook. 1hardback£75.
In many ways the problems of assessing violence in KNUT ANDREAS BERGSVIK & ROBIN SKEATES (ed.).
pre- and protohistoric societies epitomise the joys Cavesincontext:theculturalsignificanceofcavesand
and travails of archaeological research: our data are rockshelters.viii+271pages,numerouscolour&b&w
samples from an unknown universe, inconsistent, illustrations&tables.2012.Oxford&Oakville(CT):
incomplete, biased by deliberate and accidental Oxbow;978-1-84217-474-6hardback£45.
deposition,opentoequivocalreadings,andyetstill Ю.Б. ЦEтлин/Y.B TSETLIN. Древняя керaмнкa.
abletotellcompellingstories.Howmuchnastiness
Теорuя u меmоðы uсmорuкокульmурно(cid:2)о
and fully-fledged warfare there was in pre-literate
nоðхоða/Ancient ceramics: theory and methods
Europe and elsewhere, time, increasingly accurate
of historical-and-cultural approach. 380 pages,
dating, better understood assemblages and better
numerous illustrations. 2012. Moscow: Russian
physical,chemicalandgeneticinvestigationswilltell.
Academy of Sciences Institute of Archaeology;
978-2-94375-134-9hardback.
Books received
JACQUES CONNAN. Le bitume dans l’antiquit´e. 269
pages,numerouscolour&b&willustrations&tables.
The list includes all books received between 1
2012.Arles:Errance;978-2-87772-504-0paperback
Septemberand1December2012.Thosefeaturingat €35.
thebeginningofNewBookChroniclehave,however,
notbeenduplicatedinthislist.Thelistingofabookin
thischronicledoesnotprecludeitssubsequentreview
European pre- and protohistory
inAntiquity.
ROMUALDSCHILD,HALINAKRO´LIK,ANDRZEJJACEK
General TOMASZEWSKI & ELZ˙BIETA CIEPIELEWSKA. Rydno, a
Stone Age red ochre quarry and socioeconomic center:
KENT FLANNERY & JOYCE MARCUS The creation of acenturyofresearch.468pages,310b&w&colour
inequality: how our prehistoric ancestors set the stage illustrations.2011.Warsaw:InstituteofArchaeology
for monarchy, slavery, and empire. xiv+631 pages, and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences;
72 illustrations. 2012. Cambridge (MA): Harvard 978-83-89499-90-5hardback120zł.
University Press; 978-0-674-06469-0 hardback MARTIN OLIVA. Pravˇek´e hornictv´ı v Krumlovsk´em
$39.95&£29.95. Lese: vznik a vy´voj industria´lnˇe-sakra´ln´ı krajiny na
MICHAEL SHANKS. The archaeological imagination. jizˇn´ı moravˇe/Prehistoric mining in the “Krumlovsky´
168pages,25illustrations.2012.WalnutCreek(CA): Les” (southern Moravia): origin and development of
Left Coast; 978-1-59874-361-6 hardback; 978-1- an industrial-sacred landscape (Anthropos, Studies
59874-362-3paperback$21.50;978-1-61132-784-7 in Anthropology, Palaeoethnology, Palaeontology
e-book. and Quaternary Geology 32 N.S. 24). 440 pages,
BJØRNAR OLSEN, MICHAEL SHANKS, TIMOTHY numerous illustrations & tables, 160 colour plates.
WEBMOOR&CHRISTOPHERWITMORE.Archaeology: 2010. Brno: Moravske´ Zemske´ Muzeum; 978-80-
thedisciplineofthings.x+255pages,26illustrations. 7028-360-5hardback
2012. Berkeley, Los Angeles (CA) & London: ALAINTESTART.Avantl’histoire:l’´evolutiondessoci´et´es,
University of California Press; 978-0-520-27416-7 de Lascaux a` Carnac. 550 pages, 43 illustrations, 9
hardback;978-0-520-27417-4paperback£24.95. tables. 2012. Paris: Gallimard; 978-2-07-013184-6
ETHAN E. COCHRANE & ANDREW GARDNER paperback€25.
(ed.). Evolutionary and interpretive archaeologies: a MATS ROSENGREN. Cave art, perception and
dialogue.361pages,28illustrations,7tables.2011. knowledge. xiv+169 pages, 6 illustrations. 2012.
(cid:2)C AntiquityPublicationsLtd.
312
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00048961 Published online by Cambridge University Press
Reviews
Basingstoke:PalgraveMacmillan;978-1-137-27196- plates, 26 tables. 2012. Uppsala: A˚stroms; 978-91-
9hardback£55. 7081-245-3hardback.
KAREN RUEBENS, IZA ROMANOWSKA & RACHEL CLAUDIA MINNITI. Ambiente, sussistenza e artico-
BYNOE (ed.). Unravelling the Palaeolithic. Ten years lazione sociale nell’Italia centrale tra Bronzo Medio
ofresearchattheCentrefortheArchaeologyofHuman e Primo Ferro (British Archaeological Reports
Origins(CAHO,UniversityofSouthampton)(British International Series 2394). viii+222 pages, 44
Archaeological Reports International Series 2400; illustrations,numeroustables(inItalianwithEnglish
University of Southampton Series in Archaeology summary). 2012. Oxford: Archaeopress; 978-1-
8). iv+176 pages, 100 b&w & colour illustrations. 4073-0987-3paperback£37.
2012. Oxford: Archaeopress; 978-1-4073-0995-8
JEAN MACINTOSH TURFA. Divining the Etruscan
paperback£30.
world: the Brontoscopic Calendar and religious
CHRISTOPHER PRESCOTT & HA˚KON GLØRSTAD practice. xxii+408 pages, 24 illustrations. 2012.
(ed.).BecomingEuropean:thetransformationofthird Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress;978-1-107-
millennium northern and western Europe. x+181 00907-3hardback£65&$99.
pages, 52 illustrations. 2012. Oxford & Oakville
J.H. CROUW. Chariots and other wheeled vehicles in
(CT):Oxbow;978-1-84217-450-0paperback£35. Italy before the Roman Empire. xxii+234 pages, 179
VALERIUSˆIRBU&CRISTIANSCHUSTER(ed.).Tumuli illustrations.2012.Oxford&Oakville(CT):Oxbow;
graves—statussymbolofthedeadintheBronzeAgeand 978-1-84217-467-8hardback£48.
Iron Ages in Europe/Les tombes tumulaires—symboles
EMMANUELEVACCARO.Sitesandpots:settlementand
dustatutdesd´efuntsdanslesaˆgesduBronzeetduFer
economyinSouthernTuscany(AD300–900)(British
en Europe (Proceedings of the XVI World Congress
Archaeological Reports International Series 2191).
Florianapolis 4–10 September 2011 Volume 2, vi+411 pages, numerous illustrations & tables.
Proceedings of Session 47) (British Archaeological
2011. Oxford: Archaeopress; 978-1-4073-0746-6
ReportsInternationalSeries2396).vi+92pages,46
paperback£65.
illustrations, 2 tables. 2012. Oxford: Archaeopress;
978-1-4073-0989-7paperback£23. FRANK VERMEULEN, GERT-JAN BURGERS, SIMON
KEAY & CRISTINA CORSI (ed.). Urban landscape
RALPH RO¨BER (ed.). Die Welt der Kelten: Zentren survey in Italy and the Mediterranean. xii+239
der Macht—Kostbarkeiten der Kunst. 552 pages,
pages,numerouscolour&b&willustrations.2012.
c. 700 colour & b&w illustrations. 2012. Ost-
Oxford&Oakville(CT):Oxbow;978-1-84217-486-
fildern: Jan Thorbecke; Konstanz: Archa¨ologisches
9hardback£48.
Landesmuseum Baden-Wu¨rttemberg 978-3-7995-
0752-3hardback€34&CHFr.45.90. BARBARACAVALIERE&JENNIFERUDELL(ed.).Ancient
art in the Mediterranean: the William D. and Jane
PETER S. WELLS. How ancient Europeans saw the Walsh Collection at Fordham University. 343 pages,
world: visions, patterns, and the shaping of the mind
numerous colour & b&w illustrations. 2012. New
inprehistorictimes.xviii+285pages,47illustrations.
York:FordhamUniversityPress;978-0-8232-4452-2
2012.Princeton(NJ)&Oxford:PrincetonUniversity
hardback$75.
Press;978-0-691-14338-5hardback$35&£24.95.
DUNCAN GARROW & CHRIS GOSDEN. Technologies
of enchantment? Exploring Celtic art: 400 BC to AD The Classical world
100.xx+376pages,106illustrations,9tables.2012.
Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress;978-0-19-954806- CHARALAMBOS BOURAS, MARIA IOANNIDOU & IAN
4hardback£80. JENKINS (ed.). Acropolis restored. viii+74 pages, 152
colourillustrations.2012.London:BritishMuseum
w
Press; 978-0-86159-187-9 paperback £25 (£22.50
e
Mediterranean archaeology members). vi
e
CAN BILSEL. Antiquity on display: regimes of the R
JAMES R. STEWART, edited by JENNIFER M. WEBB authentic in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum. xviii+282
&DAVIDFRANKEL.CorpusofCypriotartefactsofthe pages, 109 b&w & colour illustrations. 2012.
early Bronze Age Part 4 (Studies in Mediterranean Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress;978-0-19-957055-
ArchaeologyIII.4).xxxiv+240pages,30figures,26 3hardback£70.
(cid:2)C AntiquityPublicationsLtd.
313
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00048961 Published online by Cambridge University Press
Reviews
MAUREEN CARROLL & JOHN PETER WILD (ed.). ALESSANDRO DEMAIGRET.Saba’, Ma’ˆın etQatabaˆn.
DressingthedeadinClassicalAntiquity.176pages,85 Contributions a` l’arch´eologie et a` l’histire de l’Arabie
b&w&colourillustrations.2012.Stroud:Amberley; ancienne: choix d’articles scientifiques (Orient et
978-1-4456-0300-1paperback£25. M´editerran´ee 8). 618 pages, numerous illustrations.
ANTOINEHERMARY&CE´LINEDUBOIS(ed.).L’enfant 2012. Paris: De Boccard; 978-2-7018-0315-9
et la mort dans l’Antiquit´e III: le mat´eriel associ´e aux paperback.
tombesd’enfants.Actesdelatablerondeinternationale SABINA ANTONINI DE MAIGRET. South Arabian
organis´eea` laMaisonM´editerran´eennedesSciencesde art: art history in Pre-Islamic Yemen (Orient et
l’Homme(MMSH)d’Aix-en-Provence,20–22janvier M´editerran´ee 10). 207 pages, 181 b&w & colour
2011 (Bibliothe`que d’Arche´ologie Me´diterrane´enne illustrations. 2012. Paris: De Boccard; 978-2-7018-
etAfricaine12).464pages,numerousb&w&colour 325-8paperback.
illustrations & tables. 2012. Arles: Errance; 978-2-
87772-522-4paperback€39. Other Asia
MARTTI LEIWO, HILLA HALLA-AHO & MARJA
VIERROS(ed.).VariationandchangeinGreekandLatin RYAN J. RABETT. Human adaptation in the Asian
(PapersandMonographsoftheFinnishInstituteat Palaeolithic: hominin dispersal and behaviour during
Athens 17). vi+178 pages, 4 illustrations, 7 tables. theLateQuaternary.xii+372pages,73illustrations,
2012.Helsinki:978-952-67211-4-9paperback. 10 tables. 2012. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press;978-01-107-01829-7hardback£65&$99.
The Roman world NICOLECOOLIDGEROUSMANIE`RE.Vesselsofinfluence.
China and the birth of porcelain in medieval and
earlymodernJapan.192pages,14illustrations.2012.
JEFFREY A. BECKER & NICOLA TERRENATO (ed.).
London:BristolClassicalPress;978-0-7156-3463-9
Roman Republican villas: architecture, context, and
paperback£16.99.
ideology.vi+146pages,34illustrations,1table.2012.
AnnArbor(MI):UniversityofMichiganPress;978-
Australasia
0-472-11770-3hardback$60.
VICTORIAC.GARDNERCOATES,KENNETHLAPATIN
PATRICK VINTON KIRCH. A shark going inland is
&JONL.SEYDLwithMARYBEARD,ADRIANSTA¨HLI,
my chief: the island civilization of ancient Hawai’i.
ADRIANSTCLAIR&ANNIKABAUTZ.Thelastdaysof xviii+346 pages, 21 illustrations, 8 colour plates.
Pompeii.264pages,170colour&b&willustrations.
2012. Berkeley & Los Angeles (CA): University
2012.LosAngeles(CA):J.PaulGettyMuseum;978-
of California Press; 978-0-520-27350-6 hardback
1-60606-115-2hardback$39.95&£27.95.
£30.95.
TIMSTOVER.EpicandempireinVespasianicRome:a
newreadingofValeriusFlaccus’Argonautia.xii+244
Africa and Egypt
pages.2012.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress;978-
0-19-964408-7hardback£55.
DAVID W. PHILLIPSON. Foundations of an African
KENDRA ESHLEMAN. The social world of intellectuals civilisation: Aksum & the northern Horn 1000 BC–
in the Roman Empire. Sophists, Philosophers, and AD 1300. x+294 pages, 94 illustrations. 2012.
Christians (Greek culture in the Roman world). Woodbridge:Boydell&Brewer;978-1-84701-041-4
ix+293 pages, 2 illustrations. 2012. Cambridge: hardback£40.
Cambridge University Press; 978-1-107-02638-4
BARRY KEMP. The city of Akhenaten and Nefertiti:
hardback£60&$99.
Amarnaanditspeople.320pages,287colour&b&w
illustrations. 2012. London: Thames & Hudson;
Anatolia, Levant, Middle East 978-0-500-05173-3hardback£29.95.
DOUGLASJ.BREWER.ThearchaeologyofancientEgypt:
KARINACROUCHER.DeathanddyingintheNeolithic beyond pharaohs. xviii+200 pages, 75 illustrations,
Near East. xxii+372 pages, 39 illustrations. 2012. 6 tables. 2012. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress;978-0-19-969395- Press;978-0-521-88091-6hardback£60&$99;978-
5hardback£80. 521-70734-3paperback£18.99&$29.99.
(cid:2)C AntiquityPublicationsLtd.
314
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00048961 Published online by Cambridge University Press
Reviews
CLAUDE RILLY & ALEX DE VOOGT. The Meroitic tables, CD. 2012. Philadelphia (PA): University of
language and writing system. xii+252 pages, 9 Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthro-
illustrations,11tables.2012.Cambridge:Cambridge pology;978-1-934536-47-6hardback$59.95.
University Press; 978-1-107-00866-3 hardback £65 JULIAGUERNSEY.SculptureandsocialdynamicsinPre-
&$105. classicMesoamerica.xiv+233pages,103illustrations.
2012.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress;978-
1-107-01246-2hardback£65&$99.
Americas
W. CHARLOTTE ARNAULD, LINDA R. MANZANILLA
&MICHAELE.SMITH(ed.).Theneighbourhoodasa
JETTE ARNEBORG, GEORG NYEGAARD & ORRI socialandspatialunitinMesoamericancities.xii+344
VE´STEINSSON (ed.). Norse Greenland: selected papers
pages,63illustrations,9tables.2012.Tucson(AZ):
from the Hvalsey Conference 2008 (Journal of the
University of Arizona Press; 978-0-8165-2024-4
North Atlantic Special Volume 2). 196 pages,
hardback.
numerouscolour&b&willustrations&tables.2012.
Steuben(ME):JournaloftheNorthAtlantic;ISSN
1935-1984.Obtainablefromwww.eaglehill.us/jona.
WILLIAMA.LOVIS,ALANF.ARBOGAST&G.WILLIAM Britain and Ireland
MONAGHAN. The geoarchaeology of Lake Michigan
coastal dunes (Environmental Research Series 2). BARRYCUNLIFFE.Britainbegins.xii+553pages,292
xvi+235pages,77illustrations,6tables.2012.East colour & b&w illustrations. 2012. Oxford: Oxford
Lansing(MI):MichiganStateUniversityPress;978- University Press; 978-0-19-960933-8 hardback £30
1-61186-051-1paperback$35.95. &$45.
ROBERTS.CARR.DiggingMiami.xiv+296pages,88 ANDREW MEIRION JONES. Prehistoric materialities:
illustrations.2012.Gainesville(FL):UniversityPress becoming material in prehistoric Britain and Ireland.
ofFlorida;978-0-8130-4206-0hardback$29.95. xii+230 pages, 40 illustrations, 10 colour plates.
DEBORAH L. NICHOLS & CHRISTOPHER A. POOL 2012. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 978-0-19-
(ed.). The Oxford handbook of Mesoamerican 955642-7hardback£60.
archaeology.xvi+979pages,177illustrations,4tables. ANDREW MEIRION JONES, JOSHUA POLLARD,
2012. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 978-0-19- MICHAEL J. ALLEN & JULIE GARDINER (ed.).
539093-3hardback£110. Image, memory and monumentality. Archaeological
MICHAEL D. COE with photographs by BARRY engagements with the material world: a celebration of
BRUKOFF.RoyalcitiesoftheancientMaya.236pages, theacademicachievementsofProfessorRichardBradley
141illustrations.2012.London:Thames&Hudson; (Prehistoric Society Research Papers 5). xxxii+ 333
978-0-500-97040-9hardback£29.95. pages,109colour&b&willustrations,6tables.2012.
ANTONIAE.FOIAS&KITTYF.EMERY(ed.).Motulde Oxford&Oakville(CT):ThePrehistoricSociety&
SanJos´e:politics,history,andeconomyinaClassicMaya Oxbow;978-1-84217-495-1hardback£35.
polity. xiv+536 pages, 100 illustrations, 38 tables. MICHAEL J. ALLEN, JULIE GARDINER & ALISON
2012. Gainesville (FL): University Press of Florida; SHERIDAN(ed.).IsthereaBritishChalcolithic?People,
978-0-8130-4193-2hardback$79.95. placesandpolityinthelate3rdmillennium(Prehistoric
HATTULA MOHOLY-NAGY with WILLIAM R. COE. Society Research Papers 4). xxviii+ 340 pages, 127
Tikal Report 27, Part A. The artifacts of Tikal: illustrations,37tables,CD.2012.Oxford&Oakville
ornamental and ceremonial artifacts and unworked (CT): The Prehistoric Society & Oxbow; 978-1-
material (University Museum Monograph 127). 84217-496-8hardback£39.95.
xvi+260 pages, 246 illustrations, tables, CD. NIALL SHARPLES (ed.). A late Iron Age farmstead in w
e
2008.Philadelphia(PA):UniversityofPennsylvania theOuterHebrides:excavationsatMound1,Bornais, vi
MuseumofArchaeologyandAnthropology;978-1- South Uist. xviii+419 pages, 213 colour & b&w Re
931707-94-7hardback$100&£65. illustrations, 112 tables. 2012. Oxford & Oakville
HATTULAMOHOLY-NAGY.TikalReport37.Historical (CT):Oxbow;978-1-84217-469-2hardback£37.
archaeologyatTikal,Guatemala(UniversityMuseum LAWRENCEKEPPIE.Theantiquarianrediscoveryofthe
Monograph 135). viii+98 pages, 76 illustrations, 3 Antonine Wall. xiv+169 pages, 99 colour & b&w
(cid:2)C AntiquityPublicationsLtd.
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