ARCHEOLOGY 1397

growth of prehistory as part of the science of culture.

Numerous shortcomings take this work out of serious consideration even as a text for undergraduates. However, many of the results attained by prehistoric studies are clearly presented, and they are accompanied by numerous well chosen maps, plates, and line drawings. As such, the book is probably well suited for its intended English lay audience.

Science in Archaeology: A Survey in Prog- ress and Research. DON BROTHWELL and ERIC HIGGS, eds. Foreword by Grahame Clark. New York & Washington, DC: Praeger, 1970. 720 pp., figures, plates, maps, tables, index of sites, general index. $22.50 (cloth). [Second revised and enlarged ed.; First ed. 1963, Basic Books, NY. Rev. AA 66: 31.

Reuiewed by LESLIE FREEMAN University of Chicago

The first edition of Science in Archaeol- ogy was reviewed in these pages in 1964 by Heizer. For a critique of unaltered portions of the work, the reader should see that review. Some parts of the book have been substantially revised in this edition. In all, fourteen papers were entirely dropped from the old edition, and twenty-two completely new articles are added.

In the section on dating, a most useful addition is Miller’s new article on techniques for age determination of young and/or small samples. The fission-track method is suc- cinctly described by Fleischer, Price, and Walker.

In the section on environment, most papers added are worthwile. Vita-Finds paper on fluvial geology is a disappointment to anyone who expects a brief discussion of the variety of alluvial deposits and their importance for archeological interpretation. The three new papers in the botanical section are suggestive and stimulating. Two are based on New World materials, but the total of evidence from the New World in the book as a whole remains pitifully small. The new contributions on animals are individually excellent, except for Biggs’ article on “ethnological interpretation” of molluscs from human habitation sites, which is eth-

nologically naive. His argument that the discovery of further examples of semilunar laminae made of Cardium, Glycymeris and other species supports the suggestion by Castiglioni and Groid that these objects are fertility charms (p. 425) is logically too subtle for me.

Both new articles in the section on radiological and microscopic study are fine and Brothwell et al. present a most con- venient list of published radiographic studies of Pleistocene human skeletal material. The summary, by Cann, Dixon and Renfrew, of techniques for the determination of obsidian sources and their discussion of prehistoric obsidian trade routes are welcome additions.

In the new statistical section, I found Tugby’s article of little utility. It is more a discussion of the “philosophy of the sci- ence,” than a discussion of statistical methods. Hodson’s interesting paper surveys some recent work in clustering techniques. Kurten’s paper incorporates much of his classic article (dropped from this edition) on the cave hyena, along with some new materi- al on other species. The original study was such a concise and elegant statement that I quite regret that is has been revised. Broth- well sensibly calls for caution in applying statistical techniques. But, it is high time for someone to point out that the damage done in archeology by inept use of statistics is far less than that done by inept use of the trowel.

While there is no doubt that the revision is more useful in some ways than the first edition, it could still stand improvement. Since the objective of the editors is a general survey of natural science techniques of use in archeological studies, I find some included papers far too specifically focussed, some omissions strange, and the space devoted to other topics equally inexplicable. Human paleopathology can no longer be dealt with adequately in ten pages. In the section on animals, far too much discussion is given to large (especially domesticated) mammals and to molluscs. Much more should be said about Pleistocene rodents, insectivores, and carnivores, and some space ought to be devoted to amphibians and reptiles. A dis- cussion of beetles from prehistoric sites is certainly called for. Boessneck’s article on the osteological differences between sheep and goats is beautifully done and extremely

1398 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [ 73,1971 ]

useful but completely out of place in this book, glad as I am to have it. A survey of macro-botanical remains (other than wood) from non-agricultural occupations in the Old World is desirable, and a new section on sediment analyses and their application to climatic and environmental reconstruction is needed. Even without these improvements the book is uniquely valuable as a reference work for the prehistorian.

Shipwrecks and Archaeology: The Unhar- vested Sea. PETER THROCKMORTON. Boston & Toronto: Little, Brown (Atlan- tic Monthly Press), 1969, 1970. xviii + 270 pp., illustrations, 2 appendices, chap- ter notes and references, bibliography, index. $6.95 (cloth).

Reviewed by GEORGE I. QUIMBY Burke Museum, University of Washington

This is an interesting and useful history of marine archeology by one who was a partici- pant observer during the most important years of its development. The book is also a plea for national and international coopera- tion to save ancient shipwrecks from de- struction and looting by adventurers and pot hunters.

Ancient shipwrecks are important be- cause, as Throckmorton points out, a ship- wreck site in good condition is a better closed archeological site than most archeological sites found on land. All the material in a ship was in use the day the ship sank. At the moment, however, the potential for marine archeology is not being realized because of the scarcity of marine archeologists and the lack of funding. And meanwhile some four million skin divers are more destructive of the world’s existing shipwreck sites than all the forces of nature. Such a situation seem all the more unfortunate because now the technology of shipwreck site excavation is entirely comparable to the best standards of excavation on land.

Marine archeology has been developing as a subdiscipline of land archeology for about twenty years. Archeology under water was virtually impossible until the invention of the Cousteau-Gagnan aqualung in the 1940’s. Pioneer work by Taillez, Cousteau, Lamboglia, and others showed that systema-

tic excavation was technically feasible, but preservation of context, mapping, and on the site analysis was not up to standards of archeology on land. Most of the tools used in underwater archeology such as the airlift, underwater pressure jets, and underwater photography were developed in the 1950’s. Beginnings in underwater surveying were made by Lamboglia in 1958 and 1961 but the first really accurate plan of an amphora- bearing shipwreck was made in 1961 by George Bass on Wreck 3 at Yassi Ada in Turkey. And in 1962 the mapping tech- niques used by Bass were even better. The Yassi Ada expedition, according to Throck- morton “demonstrated that a complete ex- cavation of an ancient shipwreck was tech- nically feasible,” and that, “ships can be excavated to land standards even when they lie in deep water.” And, finally, in 1964 the Yassi Ada expedition made use of a two-man submarine and special photographic equip ment t o make an accurate map of Wreck 2. With the submarine and stereophotography there was done in one day the same kind of job that took twenty people three months to do in 1962. However, Peter Throckmorton aptly calls attention to the fact that in shallow water (less than fifty feet) he can do accurate mapping by triangulation and that is satisfactory and cheaper.

Peter Throckmorton’s book consists of seven chapters which are: The Sea Change: What A Shipwreck Is; Reefs, Archives, and the Age of Exploration; The Wreck of the Nautilus; The Antikythera Wreck: The Be- ginning of Marine Archaeology; Trial and Error: The Development of Marine Archae- ology; A’ + B2; and The Golden Pigs. The book is well and adequately illustrated.

If I were instructing a university course in archeology under water, I would use this book in conjunction with one by George Bass and another by Joan du Plat Taylor as the nucleus of the required reading.

New World Prehistory: Archaeology of the American Indian. WILLIAM T. SANDERS and JOSEPH MARINO. Foundations of Modern Anthropology Series. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall, 1970. viii + 120 pp., figures, maps, index. $4.95 (cloth).