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Ecology and archaeology
Journal of Archaeological Science 1978,5, 395-400
Book Reviews its Ancient Past and Uncertain Future. By Sir H. Godwin. 1978. 196 pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. &840.
Fenland:
Anyone whose work keeps him close to the land, whether as a farmer, or in the more academic spheres of ecology, geography or archaeology, probably has one particular type of landscape in which he feels spiritually at home. I must confess that for me this has not been the Fens. Nevertheless, I have seldom read a book which has captivated me more than this one did. We have all been aware, of course, that Quaternary Research at Cambridge had produced classical work on the history of the Fens, published in a series of scientific papers. At the end of his long and distinguished association with this work, Professor Godwin has stepped back to look at the whole canvas. He has painted a beautiful picture, tracing the development of the Fen basin in relation to the river courses, changing sea-levels and the resultant ecological changes. Over this he traces the life of prehistoric and later men in the area, relating settlement to the more stable ground laid down at various times. Much of our knowledge of these interrelationships sprang from the work of the Fenland Research Committee, a group of amateur and professional enthusiasts set up in 1932. Professor Godwin describes their activities, sometimes anecdotally, sometimes even nostalgically, but always with authority. He goes on to trace the continuing role of man in this landscape, a landscape whose fragility seems to have gone unappreciated until irreversible harm has been done to it. The treasures of natural history characteristic of the Fens are disappearing as the true Fenland environment is being altered by drainage, cultivation and the concomitant peat shrinkage and wastage; apart from a few reserves, which prove difficult to maintain, the original character of this countryside has already virtually disappeared. Professor Godwin has not set out to write a scientific text, but to give a readable account of the nature of the Fens and the changes which have gone on in them throughout the post-glacial period, integrating natural and anthropogenic influences into the story. He himself was obviously enthralled with the challenge and the sometimes unexpected results of this work and his feeling for it shows on every page. To those familiar with his scientific papers, this book puts his research and that of his colleagues in a living perspective and it must be required reading for all who take an environmental, archaeological OI even tourist interest in this remarkable corner of Britain. In a few years the value of the book may be particularly enhanced if the changes it foreshadows actually occur and destroy even those tenuous links with the past that still exist in the present landscape. Geofiey
Dimbleby
The Institute of Biology’s Studies in Biology no. 77. By Geoffrey W. Dimbleby. 1977. 55 pp. 19 illustrations. London: Edward Arnold. &34X) hardback; &l-50 paperback.
Ecology and Archaeology.
This is a valuable little book which does precisely what it sets out to do. The General Preface reminds us that this is one of a series designed to meet the needs of teachers and 395
396
BOOK REVIEWS
students to keep abreast of recent trends in biology. In his Preface the author draws attention to the fact that ecology forms a meeting point between environment and culture; he emphasizes that man is a member of the ecological community; and that study of his culture and behaviour cannot take place in isolation of his environment. The book shows how this can be done. There are eight chapters, an appendix and a list of further reading. Chapter 1, “Modern Archaeology embraces Ecology”, sets the scene, briefly outlining man’s place in the ecosystem. Chapter 2 describes the “Sources of Evidence”, and Chapters 3,4 and 5 describe the “Nature of the Evidence”, dealing successively with “The Physical Habitat”, “Plant Remains” and “Animal Remains”. In Chapter 6, “Synthesis”, we are shown-with site examples-the way in which the various bits of evidence can be brought together to build up a picture of the ancient environment. In Chapter 7, “Human Influence”, the history of the environment in selected geographical regions is outlined, with especial reference to man. Chapter 8, “Experiment”, outlines the ways in which experimental archaeology-especially the construction of earthworks and farms-can help in environmental work. An “Appendix” suggests various experiments which may be made by students. There is a short and useful list of “Further Reading”. The author covers a wide range but the potential reader should be advised that this is not a textbook of environmental archaeology (a book which is badly needed). It is only 55 pages long. This, however, is one of its strengths and makes it particularly valuable as an introduction for archaeology and biology students at the sixth-form and first-year university level, especially in courses where many other unfamiliar subjects have also to be assimilated. In addition it is written in an interesting and fully involved manner, is without the blundered jargon of many recent archaeological sciences, and contains plenty of useful pictures. John G. Evans
The Food Crisis in Prehistory. Overpopulation and the Origins of Agriculture. By M. N. Cohen. 1977. 341 pp. New Haven: Yale University Press. &lo-80. This work falls into three roughly equivalent sections, preceded by a short consideration of the problem of agricultural origins, and followed by a briefer concluding chapter. The first section discusses in more detail the place of theories of population pressure in explanations of the origins of agriculture, together with an examination of the archaeological measurement of such population parameters as growth and pressure. The second section outlines some case-evidence from the Old World, and the third gives cases from the Americas, at somewhat greater length. The style is cogent, the bibliography extensive, the index helpful, and the presentation eschews numerical or graphical data. The main arguments are in agreement with the propositions so influentially formulated by Ester Boserup in 1965 in her short book The Conditions of Agricultural Growth. As is well known, she argued in effect that many technological and economic features of agricultural societies, at the sorts of level which interest archaeologists and anthropologists, are functions of population growth and pressure, or density. Cohen invokes population as the main factor in the world-wide adoption of agricultural techniques. However, because “population” and its various states are far from simple concepts, and because good data are notoriously difficult to obtain for prehistory, we are not necessarily better off in an explanatory sense, with this argument. Nevertheless, one can feel some sympathy for the author’s intention to move on to a more generalized level of synthesis,
Book Reviews its Ancient Past and Uncertain Future. By Sir H. Godwin. 1978. 196 pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. &840.
Fenland:
Anyone whose work keeps him close to the land, whether as a farmer, or in the more academic spheres of ecology, geography or archaeology, probably has one particular type of landscape in which he feels spiritually at home. I must confess that for me this has not been the Fens. Nevertheless, I have seldom read a book which has captivated me more than this one did. We have all been aware, of course, that Quaternary Research at Cambridge had produced classical work on the history of the Fens, published in a series of scientific papers. At the end of his long and distinguished association with this work, Professor Godwin has stepped back to look at the whole canvas. He has painted a beautiful picture, tracing the development of the Fen basin in relation to the river courses, changing sea-levels and the resultant ecological changes. Over this he traces the life of prehistoric and later men in the area, relating settlement to the more stable ground laid down at various times. Much of our knowledge of these interrelationships sprang from the work of the Fenland Research Committee, a group of amateur and professional enthusiasts set up in 1932. Professor Godwin describes their activities, sometimes anecdotally, sometimes even nostalgically, but always with authority. He goes on to trace the continuing role of man in this landscape, a landscape whose fragility seems to have gone unappreciated until irreversible harm has been done to it. The treasures of natural history characteristic of the Fens are disappearing as the true Fenland environment is being altered by drainage, cultivation and the concomitant peat shrinkage and wastage; apart from a few reserves, which prove difficult to maintain, the original character of this countryside has already virtually disappeared. Professor Godwin has not set out to write a scientific text, but to give a readable account of the nature of the Fens and the changes which have gone on in them throughout the post-glacial period, integrating natural and anthropogenic influences into the story. He himself was obviously enthralled with the challenge and the sometimes unexpected results of this work and his feeling for it shows on every page. To those familiar with his scientific papers, this book puts his research and that of his colleagues in a living perspective and it must be required reading for all who take an environmental, archaeological OI even tourist interest in this remarkable corner of Britain. In a few years the value of the book may be particularly enhanced if the changes it foreshadows actually occur and destroy even those tenuous links with the past that still exist in the present landscape. Geofiey
Dimbleby
The Institute of Biology’s Studies in Biology no. 77. By Geoffrey W. Dimbleby. 1977. 55 pp. 19 illustrations. London: Edward Arnold. &34X) hardback; &l-50 paperback.
Ecology and Archaeology.
This is a valuable little book which does precisely what it sets out to do. The General Preface reminds us that this is one of a series designed to meet the needs of teachers and 395
396
BOOK REVIEWS
students to keep abreast of recent trends in biology. In his Preface the author draws attention to the fact that ecology forms a meeting point between environment and culture; he emphasizes that man is a member of the ecological community; and that study of his culture and behaviour cannot take place in isolation of his environment. The book shows how this can be done. There are eight chapters, an appendix and a list of further reading. Chapter 1, “Modern Archaeology embraces Ecology”, sets the scene, briefly outlining man’s place in the ecosystem. Chapter 2 describes the “Sources of Evidence”, and Chapters 3,4 and 5 describe the “Nature of the Evidence”, dealing successively with “The Physical Habitat”, “Plant Remains” and “Animal Remains”. In Chapter 6, “Synthesis”, we are shown-with site examples-the way in which the various bits of evidence can be brought together to build up a picture of the ancient environment. In Chapter 7, “Human Influence”, the history of the environment in selected geographical regions is outlined, with especial reference to man. Chapter 8, “Experiment”, outlines the ways in which experimental archaeology-especially the construction of earthworks and farms-can help in environmental work. An “Appendix” suggests various experiments which may be made by students. There is a short and useful list of “Further Reading”. The author covers a wide range but the potential reader should be advised that this is not a textbook of environmental archaeology (a book which is badly needed). It is only 55 pages long. This, however, is one of its strengths and makes it particularly valuable as an introduction for archaeology and biology students at the sixth-form and first-year university level, especially in courses where many other unfamiliar subjects have also to be assimilated. In addition it is written in an interesting and fully involved manner, is without the blundered jargon of many recent archaeological sciences, and contains plenty of useful pictures. John G. Evans
The Food Crisis in Prehistory. Overpopulation and the Origins of Agriculture. By M. N. Cohen. 1977. 341 pp. New Haven: Yale University Press. &lo-80. This work falls into three roughly equivalent sections, preceded by a short consideration of the problem of agricultural origins, and followed by a briefer concluding chapter. The first section discusses in more detail the place of theories of population pressure in explanations of the origins of agriculture, together with an examination of the archaeological measurement of such population parameters as growth and pressure. The second section outlines some case-evidence from the Old World, and the third gives cases from the Americas, at somewhat greater length. The style is cogent, the bibliography extensive, the index helpful, and the presentation eschews numerical or graphical data. The main arguments are in agreement with the propositions so influentially formulated by Ester Boserup in 1965 in her short book The Conditions of Agricultural Growth. As is well known, she argued in effect that many technological and economic features of agricultural societies, at the sorts of level which interest archaeologists and anthropologists, are functions of population growth and pressure, or density. Cohen invokes population as the main factor in the world-wide adoption of agricultural techniques. However, because “population” and its various states are far from simple concepts, and because good data are notoriously difficult to obtain for prehistory, we are not necessarily better off in an explanatory sense, with this argument. Nevertheless, one can feel some sympathy for the author’s intention to move on to a more generalized level of synthesis,