- Email: [email protected]
Technische und naturwissenschaftliche beiträge zur feldarchäologie
BOOK REVIEWS
243
organic materials, Winter presents the results of particle size determinations on samples of Chinese ink on early Chinese, Japanese and Korean paintings. Several different techniques used for preparing this ink in antiquity are known, and it would be of considerable interest if any degree of identification of this class of carbon pigments could be made. N. J. Seeley
Technische
und Naturwissenschaftliche
Beitrtige
zur Feldarchdologie.
Edward M. Wilkinson, Christopher E. Mullins, and Alain Tabbagh. 1974. 437 pp. Illustrated. Archaeo-Physica, Bd. 4. Cologne: RheinlandVerlag. The doctorate theses of the three authors, from Cambridge, Essex, and Paris Universities respectively, are here reprinted in exact facsimile to form volume 4 of the series ArchaeoPhysica. The first, “Techniques of data analysis: seriation theory”, deals with the archaeological aspects of the problem of seriation, together with the application of various mathematical techniques to its solution. The second, “The magnetic properties of the soil and their application to archaeological prospecting”, compares the performance of three field instruments in monitoring changes in magnetic susceptibility of soils, and relates laboratory studies on artificial and natural soils to the understanding of susceptibility enhancement in archaeological situations. The third thesis, “Methodes de prospection electromagn6tique applicables aux problemes archaeologiques”, compares surveys carried out on four sites using sinusoidal and pulsed magnetometers of conventional design, and investigates the use of a device for measuring the vertical component of a broadcast radio signal for magnetic surveying. It is perhaps a pity that in the case of theses, which by their very nature are likely to be of value only to workers in that specific field, selection was not made wholly on a subject basis rather than by inclusion of two virtually unrelated topics. N. J. Seeley
By M. J. Aitken. 1974. 2nd Edition, 291 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 57.75.
Physics and Archaeology.
The second edition of Physics and Archaeology is very welcome, even though the field is now covered in a number of ways by other works. Aitken is surely right in declining to spoon-feed the archaeologist, as he is then able to write so as to inform and interest the scientist as well as giving those non-scientist archaeologists who are prepared to take some trouble the background they need for fully understanding the techniques available. The considerable re-arrangement and expansion necessary in updating the book reflect new developments and new problems which have arisen in the methods described. It is particularly useful to see thermoluminescent dating, which was in its infancy when the first edition was written, dealt with more fully and authoritatively than in any comparable works. The chapter on radiocarbon dating contains a thorough discussion of calibration problems, which is valuable in the context of the somewhat tendentious writings on the subject in the archaeological literature. Reference lists are comprehensive, but their location at the end of each chapter is a nuisance.
243
organic materials, Winter presents the results of particle size determinations on samples of Chinese ink on early Chinese, Japanese and Korean paintings. Several different techniques used for preparing this ink in antiquity are known, and it would be of considerable interest if any degree of identification of this class of carbon pigments could be made. N. J. Seeley
Technische
und Naturwissenschaftliche
Beitrtige
zur Feldarchdologie.
Edward M. Wilkinson, Christopher E. Mullins, and Alain Tabbagh. 1974. 437 pp. Illustrated. Archaeo-Physica, Bd. 4. Cologne: RheinlandVerlag. The doctorate theses of the three authors, from Cambridge, Essex, and Paris Universities respectively, are here reprinted in exact facsimile to form volume 4 of the series ArchaeoPhysica. The first, “Techniques of data analysis: seriation theory”, deals with the archaeological aspects of the problem of seriation, together with the application of various mathematical techniques to its solution. The second, “The magnetic properties of the soil and their application to archaeological prospecting”, compares the performance of three field instruments in monitoring changes in magnetic susceptibility of soils, and relates laboratory studies on artificial and natural soils to the understanding of susceptibility enhancement in archaeological situations. The third thesis, “Methodes de prospection electromagn6tique applicables aux problemes archaeologiques”, compares surveys carried out on four sites using sinusoidal and pulsed magnetometers of conventional design, and investigates the use of a device for measuring the vertical component of a broadcast radio signal for magnetic surveying. It is perhaps a pity that in the case of theses, which by their very nature are likely to be of value only to workers in that specific field, selection was not made wholly on a subject basis rather than by inclusion of two virtually unrelated topics. N. J. Seeley
By M. J. Aitken. 1974. 2nd Edition, 291 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 57.75.
Physics and Archaeology.
The second edition of Physics and Archaeology is very welcome, even though the field is now covered in a number of ways by other works. Aitken is surely right in declining to spoon-feed the archaeologist, as he is then able to write so as to inform and interest the scientist as well as giving those non-scientist archaeologists who are prepared to take some trouble the background they need for fully understanding the techniques available. The considerable re-arrangement and expansion necessary in updating the book reflect new developments and new problems which have arisen in the methods described. It is particularly useful to see thermoluminescent dating, which was in its infancy when the first edition was written, dealt with more fully and authoritatively than in any comparable works. The chapter on radiocarbon dating contains a thorough discussion of calibration problems, which is valuable in the context of the somewhat tendentious writings on the subject in the archaeological literature. Reference lists are comprehensive, but their location at the end of each chapter is a nuisance.