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Principles of geoarchaeology, a North American perspective
400
Quaternary Science Reviews: Volume 13
organisms and lake histories in Chapter 6). There follow chapters on Human origins (in which tool typology is presented without the caveats which it increasingly attracts), global atmospheric circulation and, by way of conclusion, a chapter on environmental changes which stresses human impacts on the environment. The appendix is devoted to Quaternary dating methods and is concerned mainly with radiometric dating techniques. Other techniques are dismissed in a single page. Technically the book is attractive, notwithstanding my strictures about layout. With few exceptions the numerous maps and diagrams are clear and relevant, though Figure 3.7 is rather heavily shaded, Figures 3.9 and 3.10 should be on the same page or on facing pages for ease of c o m p a r i s o n , and Figure 3.8 on British glacial and periglacial zones needs updating. Not surprisingly, Figures 6.5, 6.7, 6.8 and 8.18 are over-reduced because like numerous others they have been squeezed into two thirds of a page in order to preserve the ridiculously inflated margins. It is surprising in a text about different environments that there are only three photographs all of indifferent quality. The 700-odd references are mostly correct but I would have preferred to see more of them incorporated into the text rather than the figure captions in order to help students to see more clearly which arguments are attributable to whom. I am conscious that this review is rather critical in places but I hope it will be construed as constructive criticism which might be taken into account for a second edition. Having warned students away from the chapter on Quaternary Glaciations I would be happy to recommend this as a valuable alternative source to Goudie (1992) for second year, low-latitude environment change courses, For higher level courses I would expect more searching discussions of controversial topics than are given here. Though it does not replace the earlier pioneering text, the 'southern, low-latitude perspective' and chapters on deserts, lakes and h u m a n origins in Q u a t e r n a r y Environments are a welcome change for northern hemisphere readers. Whether students are receiving value for money is arguable but the resolution of that matter lies in the hands of the publishers rather than the authors,
Principles of Geoarchaeology, A North American Perspective, by M. J. Waters (1992), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, U.S.A., 398 pp., ISBN 0-8165-0989-1. Some of the stated aims of this book are to cover geological and geomorphological aspects of archaeology (with specific reference to North America) in a way that would be understandable to an archaeological audience but not to provide a technical field manual for a an untrained reader. I thought that the book was very successful in covering its aims in a number of ways. The reader is treated to coverage of many fascinating sites and the geological and geomorphological methods that were used in their analysis and in understanding the processes that had controlled the depositional environments at those sites. The illustrations and archaeological examples used are very clear (the line drawings are good) and the background to the sites, which have been carefully chosen to illustrate the complexity of the stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments present at the sites, is expertly explained. I did find that many of the references to depositional processes and environments were to basic text books rather than to primary sources but this should pose few problems to the reader that may wish to take their research further. I would have preferred a more detailed coverage of some of the depositional environments that I felt were not given sufficient explanation (more detailed references would have assisted here). On the other hand the bibliography of archaeological material was extensive (and it was to primary sources) and therefore of great interest to an earth scientist. My impression was that the author has provided a concise and readable introduction to the geological and geomorphological contexts of North American archaeology and in doing so has provided a text book that many archaeologists wanting to delve into earth science would find of interest. A good book for introducing archaeology students to basic site geology but, as noted by the author, the material covered is principally North American and therefore many depositional environments that are commonly associated with archaeological material in other parts of the world could not have been covered within the scope of this book.
References Dawson, A.G. (1992). h'e Age Earth. Routledge, London. Dyke, A.S. and Prest, V.K. (1987). Late Wisconsin and Holocene history of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Geographic Physique et Quaternaire. 41. 237-263. Goudie, A. (1992). (3rd edn). Environmental Change. Oxford University Press. Jones, R.L. and Keen, D.H. (1993~. Pleistocene Environments in the British Isles. Chapman & Hall, London. Colin Whiteman Environmental and Earth Science Research Unit, UniversiO" of Brighton. Mithras House, Lewes Road, Brighton BN2 4AT. U.K.
Peter Coxon Department of Geograph3; Museum Building, Trinity College. Dublin 2. Ireland
Q u a t e r n a r y Proceedings, Series Editor: J. J. Lowe, Quaternary Research Association, London, ISSN 09-631895. When I read the first two v o l u m e s of Q u a t e r n a r y P r o c e e d i n g s (No. 1 R a d i o c a r b o n Dating: R e c e n t Applications and Future Potential. Edited by J. J. Lowe. 89 pp.: No. 2 Applications of Quaternary Research.
Quaternary Science Reviews: Volume 13
organisms and lake histories in Chapter 6). There follow chapters on Human origins (in which tool typology is presented without the caveats which it increasingly attracts), global atmospheric circulation and, by way of conclusion, a chapter on environmental changes which stresses human impacts on the environment. The appendix is devoted to Quaternary dating methods and is concerned mainly with radiometric dating techniques. Other techniques are dismissed in a single page. Technically the book is attractive, notwithstanding my strictures about layout. With few exceptions the numerous maps and diagrams are clear and relevant, though Figure 3.7 is rather heavily shaded, Figures 3.9 and 3.10 should be on the same page or on facing pages for ease of c o m p a r i s o n , and Figure 3.8 on British glacial and periglacial zones needs updating. Not surprisingly, Figures 6.5, 6.7, 6.8 and 8.18 are over-reduced because like numerous others they have been squeezed into two thirds of a page in order to preserve the ridiculously inflated margins. It is surprising in a text about different environments that there are only three photographs all of indifferent quality. The 700-odd references are mostly correct but I would have preferred to see more of them incorporated into the text rather than the figure captions in order to help students to see more clearly which arguments are attributable to whom. I am conscious that this review is rather critical in places but I hope it will be construed as constructive criticism which might be taken into account for a second edition. Having warned students away from the chapter on Quaternary Glaciations I would be happy to recommend this as a valuable alternative source to Goudie (1992) for second year, low-latitude environment change courses, For higher level courses I would expect more searching discussions of controversial topics than are given here. Though it does not replace the earlier pioneering text, the 'southern, low-latitude perspective' and chapters on deserts, lakes and h u m a n origins in Q u a t e r n a r y Environments are a welcome change for northern hemisphere readers. Whether students are receiving value for money is arguable but the resolution of that matter lies in the hands of the publishers rather than the authors,
Principles of Geoarchaeology, A North American Perspective, by M. J. Waters (1992), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, U.S.A., 398 pp., ISBN 0-8165-0989-1. Some of the stated aims of this book are to cover geological and geomorphological aspects of archaeology (with specific reference to North America) in a way that would be understandable to an archaeological audience but not to provide a technical field manual for a an untrained reader. I thought that the book was very successful in covering its aims in a number of ways. The reader is treated to coverage of many fascinating sites and the geological and geomorphological methods that were used in their analysis and in understanding the processes that had controlled the depositional environments at those sites. The illustrations and archaeological examples used are very clear (the line drawings are good) and the background to the sites, which have been carefully chosen to illustrate the complexity of the stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments present at the sites, is expertly explained. I did find that many of the references to depositional processes and environments were to basic text books rather than to primary sources but this should pose few problems to the reader that may wish to take their research further. I would have preferred a more detailed coverage of some of the depositional environments that I felt were not given sufficient explanation (more detailed references would have assisted here). On the other hand the bibliography of archaeological material was extensive (and it was to primary sources) and therefore of great interest to an earth scientist. My impression was that the author has provided a concise and readable introduction to the geological and geomorphological contexts of North American archaeology and in doing so has provided a text book that many archaeologists wanting to delve into earth science would find of interest. A good book for introducing archaeology students to basic site geology but, as noted by the author, the material covered is principally North American and therefore many depositional environments that are commonly associated with archaeological material in other parts of the world could not have been covered within the scope of this book.
References Dawson, A.G. (1992). h'e Age Earth. Routledge, London. Dyke, A.S. and Prest, V.K. (1987). Late Wisconsin and Holocene history of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Geographic Physique et Quaternaire. 41. 237-263. Goudie, A. (1992). (3rd edn). Environmental Change. Oxford University Press. Jones, R.L. and Keen, D.H. (1993~. Pleistocene Environments in the British Isles. Chapman & Hall, London. Colin Whiteman Environmental and Earth Science Research Unit, UniversiO" of Brighton. Mithras House, Lewes Road, Brighton BN2 4AT. U.K.
Peter Coxon Department of Geograph3; Museum Building, Trinity College. Dublin 2. Ireland
Q u a t e r n a r y Proceedings, Series Editor: J. J. Lowe, Quaternary Research Association, London, ISSN 09-631895. When I read the first two v o l u m e s of Q u a t e r n a r y P r o c e e d i n g s (No. 1 R a d i o c a r b o n Dating: R e c e n t Applications and Future Potential. Edited by J. J. Lowe. 89 pp.: No. 2 Applications of Quaternary Research.