Book Reviews 565

neous region, whereas it is in fact composed of quite distinct zones. [Th. Monod, “Les bases d’une division ghographique du do- maine saharien,” Bull. Inst. Fr. Af r . Noire, (B) , 30(1):269-288, janv. 1968, 1 fig., 1 carte; cf. the same author’s “Notes sur le harnachement chamelier,” ibidem, 29 ( 1- 2):234-274, janv.-avril 1967, 58 fig.] The good work of Helmut Ziegert constitutes a model of the sort of local inventory of which one would like to see more. Even if such works do not attempt to treat general problems and have a very modest objective, they are nonetheless very useful.

The absence of any bibliography, how- ever, is regrettable, because it is always trou- blesome to have to judge a book without knowing what documentation the author has himself consulted.

[Translated from the French by Sara Lind- holm and Terence Turner.]

Australian Archaeology: A Guide to Field Techniques. D. J. MULVANEY, ed. Manual 4. Canberra: Australian Institute of Abor- iginal Studies, 1968. 268 pp., illustrations, tables, chapter bibliographies. $2.50

Reviewed by RICHARD A. GOULD American Museum of Natural History

This volume reflects the quickened pace of Australian archeology in recent years. The editor and several of the contributors have led in establishing training programs for archeologists in Australia and in under- taking stratigraphic excavations throughout the continent. Appropriately, they have pre- pared a useful manual for fieldworkers in Australian archeology.

The ten articles in the volume, looked at individually, have considerable merit and deserve special attention from fieldworkers in Australia. They are oriented toward the peculiar problems of Australian fieldwork, although some describe methods that could be applied in other parts of the world.

In the lead chapter, “Field Research in Australia,” the editor stresses what 0. G. S. Crawford has called “Field Archaeology,” -that is, the location, surface survey, and mapping of sites-and he urges that “well intentioned fieldworkers” limit their activi- ties to this aspect of archeology unless they

(paper).

have the training, resources, and time to do scientific excavation. This is a reasonable so- lution to a dilemma that plagues archeolo- gists to varying degrees in different parts of the world, namely the role of the amateur. In some cases, people who claim to be ama- teur archeologists turn out, in fact, to be collectors or looters interested mainly in building private collections or in selling arti- facts. In other cases, they are willing to study archeology and do systematic and careful work. Mulvaney’s proposal that these latter people confine their efforts to field archeology reduces the potential dam- age that amateurs can do to a site by dig- ging it unsystematically, while still allowing plenty of scope for them to make significant contributions.

The articles by D. A. Casey (“Elementary Surveying for Australian Archaeologists”), R. Edwards (“Field Photography”), and F. D. McCarthy (“Recording Art on Rock Surfaces”) are closely tied to the idea of field archeology proposed by the editor. Each is a detailed “how to” article of use both to amateurs and professionals. This re- viewer found that Edwards’ notes on the photographing of Aborigines require some explanation as to why an archeologist might need to photograph Aborigines in the course of his research-the insertion of these notes raises the broad question of Aborigine eth- nography in relation to Australian archeol- ogy without answering it.

The articles by W. J. E. Webster (“Ultra- violet Research Techniques in Aboriginal Prehistory”) and K. C. Parsons (“Applica- tion of Modem Plastics to Fossil Casting Techniques”) contain much helpful infor- mation but, particularly in the latter case, are highly specialized. Parsons’ article would have been more appropriate in a journal of museum practices. Other contributions in- clude “The Recovery and Treatment of Bone” by N. W. G. Macintosh, “Conserva- tion in the Field and Laboratory” by W. R. Ambrose, and “The Collection and Submis- sion of Radiocarbon Samples” by H. Polach and J. Golson. This reviewer found Macin- tosh’s article the most interesting in the vol- ume, even though it and the others just listed depart from the idea of field archeol- ogy to deal with matters relating to site ex- cavation. Macintosh outlines the priorities

566 American Anthropologist [71, 19691

involved in recovering skeletal and fossil materials in Australia, providing what is in effect a strategy for archeologists to follow when they encounter such remains in their excavations. He is willing to say which spe- cimens require special care and which do not. His instructions to excavators are clear and specific and are based on the priorities outlined in his paper.

The final paper in the volume is a joint effort by D. A. Casey, I. M. Crawford, and R. V. S. Wright (“The Recognition, De- scription, Classification and Nomenclature of Australian Stone Implements: The Re- port of the Stone Implement Committee, 1967”). There is no attempt at a formal ty- pology of stone tools. Rather, the article fur- nishes a critical review of terms used to de- scribe Australian stone tools along with di- rections for describing and illustrating them. This paper shows candor and clarity, mak- ing it instructive for both amateur and professional archeologists.

While each article has merit, the volume as a whole lacks unity. It is not devoted ex. clusively to field archeology, and it is an in- complete guide for the scientific excavator. There might have been more interest shown in strategy and priorities throughout, in the manner of Macintosh’s article. I hope that a companion volume will appear one day to cover subjects like pollen analysis, stratigra- phy, and other important topics not dealt with here.

Man Discovers His Past. GLYN DANIEL, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1968. viii + 95 pp., 58 illustrations, 8 maps, important dates, notes, books for further reading, index. $5.95 (cloth). [lst U.S. ed.; first published in Great Britain in 1966.1

Reviewed by ROBERT WHALLON, JR. University of Michigan

Glyn Daniel has accomplished a difficult task quite well. By transcribing a series of five half-hour television programs done for the BBC, he has produced a short text that dashes over the history of archeology in its various aspects, yet is consistently informa- tive and seldom loses the reader’s interest, Naturally, such a brief summary can only skim the surface of the major trends, discov-

eries, and personalities in the development of archeology, and this book is definitely of a level for only his intended “wider and less specialist audience.” Words are not wasted, however, and we find, between the descrip- tions of historical trends in research, major discoveries and excavations, and contempo- rary methods and problems, space for the mention of more than fifty important figures in the history of archeology.

The text is well footnoted with references to general works and technical reports, There is an additional short list of “books for further reading.” The interested reader thus has more than ample guidance for his further pursuit of any subject discussed, an important and excellent feature of this small book. The illustrations, however, although abundant and of good quality, are not refer- enced in the text nor are they placed in a meaningful relation to it. The result is some- what confusing, as one sees irrelevant illus- trations on the pages one is reading and is later not sure that an illustration of a person or an object being discussed will be found on leafing back through the book.

The first chapter, “Stone, Bronze, and Iron,” presents a neat and full outline of the development of the series of classificatory stages; Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age, the foundation for so long now of our organization of the data of prehistory.

In Chapter 2 “The Antiquity of Man,” the famous struggle of the earliest Paleo- lithic researchers against beliefs in the cata- strophic flood and biblical chronology for acceptance of their evidence of the associa- tion of human remains and implements with extinct animals is told in a lively and inter- esting manner. This subject leads into an in- troduction of some of the modern dating methods at the end of the chapter.

The third chapter, “Lost Civilizations,” tells briefly of the discovery of the major Old and New World urban states and is fol- lowed by a chapter entitled “From Savagery to Civilization.” There is a certain disconti- nuity here in this ordering of chapters, which some may feel might better have been reversed. The fourth chapter is, in any case, based on the old evolutionist scheme of sav- agery, barbarism, and civilization and is