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Reviews houses” and utilize “a higher degree of interior finish” (p. xvi), reflecting a growing preference for specialized spaces linked to privacy, socia- Edited by Charles R. Ewen bility, and display. Later in the century these smaller homes were gutted and refit with newly configured spaces that “simultaneously isolated and linked” the rooms, reflecting movement Building Environments: Perspectives through and “communication of segregated in Vernacular Architecture, Volume X social zones within the house” (p. 13). KENNETH A. BREISCH AND ALISON Marla R. Miller’s essay, “Labor and Liberty K. HOAGLAND (EDITORS) in the Age of Refinement,” articulates nicely University of Tennessee Press, with Herman’s piece, exploring the desire for separation of family and workers as refinement Knoxville, 2006. 477 pp., 180 figs., and gentility clashed with issues of labor and bib., index, $32.00 paper. liberty. Focusing on one household, she reveals multiple remodeling campaigns that served The newest volume in the Perspectives in to “expand and elaborate” formal spaces and Vernacular Architecture series, Building Environ- remove work areas from the public eye (p. 16). ments, continues a tradition of assembling well- This work, Miller convincingly argues, provided written and crafted essays that challenge readers greater privacy to family members and separated to think creatively about the built environment. the owners’ “peers” from workers (p. 20). Editors Kenneth Breisch and Alison Hoagland In “The Double House in New England,” have compiled a diverse, interdisciplinary, and Charles Parrott dissects the many variations of fascinating group of essays, drawn from the this ubiquitous multifamily dwelling type. He annual Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF) demonstrates that while often constructed for conference, that considers the ways in which the economic reasons, this plan was not just for physical and social/cultural environment connect the lower working classes; “it was considered and react and profitably explore the multiplicity fit housing for people from virtually the entire and directionality of these interactions. Draw- social spectrum” (p. 33). Parrott characterizes ing on a wide range of topics, settings, and the double house as “an architectural middle ideas, the book is divided into four thematic ground between the row house and the detached sections that engage the “everyday buildings house …” (p. 33). and common landscapes in the United States In the final essay in Part I, “Housing the and abroad” (p. xv). The essays in these sec- Worker,” Kingston Wm. Heath addresses tions hold together well in addressing thematic another common type of multifamily housing. foci and exploring the double entendre in the His exhaustive study of Bedford, Massachusetts, book’s title: building environments or building triple-deckers in the early-20th century examines environments. a building type that was “heavily geared to a In Part I, Reexamining New England Houses, working-class market” (p. xvi). The triple-decker the authors rethink the “character and evolution” responded to the need for housing industrial of a number of common New England house workers, particularly immigrants, who sought types, using new approaches for examining work in the city’s expanding industrial sector. and understanding these places and spaces (p. With three individual apartments stacked one on xvi). In “Smaller Urban Houses of the North- top of the other, it quickly became “the city’s ern Shore,” Bernard Herman deftly charts the predominant residential building form” (p. 48). transformation of smaller urban houses in Contrasted with tenement apartment buildings 18th-century Massachusetts. At mid-century, he and row houses, the triple-decker offered a self- writes, owners tended to “expand their one-room contained, single-family-like quality, critical fire

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):159–162. Permission to reprint required. 160 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 161 protection, and some defense against the spread shelters. The house, they conclude, was an “artful of disease. blending of two traditions …” (p. xvii). In Part II, Buildings in their Social Contexts, In “A Service Machine,” Lisa Pfueller David- the essays span an enormous range of building son delves into large commercial hotels of the types and geographic settings, while being held 1920s, looking at the transformation of spaces together by their “explorations of architecture’s and services to accommodate new groups such interaction with its social context” (p. xvi). as “single women, automobile tourists, and local Louis P. Nelson, in “Anglican Church Building,” patrons attending social functions” (p. xvii). unravels major changes in church architecture in Adopting concepts of modern hotel manage- 17th- and 18th-century Jamaica. The Anglican ment, firms like E. M. Statler sought to wel- Church in Jamaica, he argues, was a powerful, come women guests by reshaping public spaces, local political institution, and this is reflected attract tourists with new parking garage facili- in and reflective of choices made in church ties, and “gain revenue from the steady stream design and construction. As the island’s politi- of visitors and locals taking advantage of the cal power shifted from urban centers to outlying semipublic spaces of the hotel” (p. 123). rural plantations, Nelson finds, Jamaican build- Part III, Methods for Understanding Build- ers adopted the cruciform plan, providing direct ings, contains five essays that offer a “variety visual links to the former power of the Spanish of approaches to vernacular architecture that are Catholic church and offering additional structural either somewhat unusual or have been gener- protection in the face of destructive hurricanes. ally under-explored by practitioners …” (p. The display of power and authority imbedded in xvii). Jeroen van den Hurk’s “Architecture of these new churches was critical for reinforcing New Netherland Revisited” draws on building white authority in a social setting where whites contracts to develop a more accurate sense of were in the distinct minority. the architectural landscape of early New Neth- In “The Myth of Agricultural Complacency,” erland. As the region’s extant building stock is Kirk E. Ranzetta investigates the cultural dimen- generally 18th century, van den Hurk argues that sions of tobacco cultivation in 19th-century careful reading of these legal documents pro- Tidewater Maryland. He discovers that rather vides a critical body of evidence for reconstruct- than being a static form, the tobacco barn was ing 17th-century buildings. His careful transla- continually modified by farmers adapting to tion and analysis of these records allows him to unstable market and growing conditions and speculate on the area’s framing system(s) and struggling against agricultural reforms like crop finishing details. Van den Hurk also explores diversification. Ranzetta explains that tobacco how these contracts might have been read by cultivation and curing was “an intensely indi- non-Netherlandic carpenters in the region. vidualized and often intuitive process,” and In “Impermanent Architecture in the English farmers made regular, small adjustments to their Colonies of the Eastern Caribbean,” Roger system of cultivation and curing that are evident H. Leech also mines documentary records to in their barns (p. xvii). recover early structures. Examining “compen- “In the Lodge of the Chickadee” tells an sation claims for buildings lost during a 1706 intriguing story of the late-19th- to early-20th- hurricane,” he finds “evidence for a surprising century home of Crow chief Plenty Coups. number of earthfast dwellings” in the Carib- Authors Thomas Carter, Edward Chappell, and bean (p. xvii). Leech also utilizes extensive Timothy McCleary explore the evolution of the archaeological data and an examination of the house from a simple horizontal-log building to Hermitage, a surviving earthfast building in a more complex, multiroom structure. On the Nevis, to piece together this story. He discov- interior, the house was crafted to support the ers that earthfast construction was not just for social and political organization of the tribe, impermanent structures, and may actually have while its exterior mitigated between the tribe been the preferred building style in hurricane- and federal government. While seemingly holding prone areas like the Caribbean. little in common with the traditional Crow tipi, Using a novel methodological approach, Travis the authors’ close reading uncovers features that McDonald excavates the small architectural connect Plenty Coups’ house with earlier nomadic interstices of Poplar Forest to explore everyday 160 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 161

life in this household. His “Rat Housing in the material remains of these “fisheries” and Middle Virginia” utilizes architectural, archaeo- drawing on extensive ethnographic research, he logical, and ecological approaches to analyze the traces the story of how the largest freshwater material collected by and stored in rats’ nests fishery “sustained itself and adapted to changing within the house. The study demonstrates the circumstances over 125 years” (p. 218). potential for these “features” to yield artifacts Susan W. Fair’s essay, “The Northern Umiak,” (bits of fabric, paper, rope, etc.) that when examines a common skin-covered boat used by combined with other evidence provide “fleet- northern Native people. The boat was tradition- ing glimpses of everyday life” and contribute ally used for hunting and considered especially to broad interpretive and explanation of human safe in Arctic waters. When turned on its side culture (p. 177–178). on the shore, it also served as shelter, carving Susan L. Buck’s “Paint Discoveries” also studio, and ceremonial center. It is this archi- takes an archaeological approach, analyzing paint tectural role that Fair explores in detail, looking colors in the Aiken-Rhett House kitchen and at the ways in which these multiuse structures slave quarters in Charleston. With little historical functioned to reinforce intergroup identity, as material on the “secondary” spaces of the house, an invitation to trade and symbolic boundary Buck employs “paint archaeology” to trace the separating host and guest, and as deterrent to development of these structures, providing hostile groups. “insights into the changing appearance of slave In “Reverence and Resistance in a Lithuanian spaces during the 19th century” (p. 185). Her Wayside Shrine,” Milda Baksys Richardson stratigraphic explorations uncover brilliant colors investigates the tradition of fascinating totemic and faux finishes similar to those in the main structures, examining the implications and uses house, leading her to speculate about material of this type of folk art during the Communist sources. Her evidence of “colored washes and period. Combining pagan and Christian imag- faux finishes” in slave spaces challenges cur- ery, early wayside shrines represented Lithuanian rent museum interpretation that generally depicts religious and ethnic identity. Richardson argues stark “sanitized white-washed” walls. that a renaissance of building these structures Bryan Clark Green’s essay, “At the Edge of in the 1970s “contravened the pan-Soviet athe- Custom,” focuses on the architectural career of istic ideology” (p. 249). The overtly religious Thomas R. Blackburn, an antebellum Virginia “architectonic chapel” structures of the past, she carpenter and architect. Reading Blackburn’s notes, were replaced in the early-20th century sketchbooks, drawings, and correspondence, with “totemlike sculptural poles, often with Green carefully lays out Blackburn’s training encoded political messages” (p. 250). and practice. Blackburn’s interest in design Pamela H. Simpson’s “Cereal Architecture,” blossomed while working on the University of provides a fine-grained look at extraordinary Virginia as a carpenter. Studying with Jefferson examples of crop art and grain palaces. Ini- and his assistants, he benefited from access to tially created for festivals of thanks for abun- their extensive architectural libraries. Blackburn’s dant harvests in drought times, she notes that career illustrates the fluid nature of the “craft” they developed into sophisticated community and “profession” of building at this time (p. and regional promotional schemes reflect- 209), resulting in a blurring of traditional ing Gilded Age exuberance. Simpson relates boundaries between vernacular and academic that the “industrial revolution had profoundly architecture. changed western society, from scarcity and want In Part IV, Beyond Buildings, the editors to excess and desire,” and that these examples have assembled a fine group of essays that of cereal architecture were both intended to move from a focus on buildings to coastal land- impress and serve as ritual objects of plenty and scapes and fascinating architectural sculpture. In bounty (p. 277). “Great Lakes Commercial Fishing Architecture,” The editors of this volume are to be con- Michael J. Chiarappa presents a nuanced look at gratulated for organizing and shepherding these commercial fishing on Lake Michigan, exploring essays into a coherent whole that benefits from the interconnections between the environment, both the continuities and disjunctions among the economy, and culture of the region. Reading individual pieces. Breisch and Hoagland have 162 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 163 exercised balanced editorial control, allowing detailed micro level and synthetic macro level. the voices of the individual authors to be heard Yet, buildings are not the whole story here. The while at the same time maintaining a connect- essays in this volume seek to engage buildings ing narrative style. Each of the chapters is filled as social places and spaces but fully populate with excellent illustrations, adding richness and their stories with people—owners, users, work- detail to the essays. Minor complaints include ers, and passersby. The articles also draw on a the lack of editorial consistency in the caption- wide range of disciplinary approaches and ways ing of the figures, making some of the graphics of conceptualizing “building environments” that more useful than others, and the poor quality add immeasurably to their usefulness for schol- of a few images. ars. There is much rich food for thought in While these collected essays follow VAF’s this volume for the historical archaeologist tradition of thinking about vernacular archi- and anthropologist, as well as for geographers, tecture as “less a kind of building than an material culture scholars, architects, architectural approach to looking at buildings,” they also historians, and a host of other practitioners. push and extend the boundaries of studying the built environment in terms of geographic reach, DONALD W. LINEBAUGH chronology, typology, and methodology (p. xv). GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING, AND Buildings continue to dominate the discussion PRESERVATION in this volume but are considered and presented UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND within richly contextualized settings—at both a COLLEGE PARK, MD 20742 162 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 163

An Archaeological Guide to British on The Society for Historical Archaeology’s Ceramics in Australia, 1788–1901 “Standards and Guidelines for the Curation of ALASDAIR BROOKS Archaeological Assemblages” (reproduced in full as Appendix D). Brooks makes an important The Australasian Society for point about the need to (ideally) keep all of Historical Archaeology and The the ceramics assemblage from a site and not to La Trobe University Archaeology practice deaccessioning or “culling ceramics or Program, Sydney and Melbourne, other materials from assemblages both before Australia, 2005. 87 pp., 62 figs., and after analysis” (p. 24). Deaccessioning is index, $35.00 paper. a common practice on Australian sites, usually for cost reasons, which, as Brooks shows, can result in skewed interpretations. This work is an essential reference for any Chapter 4 is the real practical heart of this archaeologist or archaeology student working publication, considering issues of ware, decora- with British ceramics from late-18th or 19th- tion, form, and dating. It is extensively illus- century sites in Australia. It also provides very trated with photographs of British ceramics, useful comparative material for those working often from Australian archaeological excavations. outside Australia on similar period material. This chapter includes brief descriptions in the Alasdair Brooks has considerable experience in form of a glossary of the various common and material culture and ceramics analysis not only uncommon ware types, decoration (patterns), in Australia but in the UK and the USA as and forms (shapes) of British ceramics. Many well. He has drawn on that extensive knowledge of the pieces selected for photographs are com- to produce a highly practical guide to the identi- plete or almost complete, but occasionally the fication of ware, form, decoration, and dating of piece is really too small to provide a sense of primarily 19th-century British ceramics, which the overall pattern, such as the Two Temples also provides a theoretically informed guide to pattern shown in Figure 4.37. Overall, the book the interpretive issues of economy, status, func- is illustrated with 55 black-and-white images tion, and meaning. of different ceramics, which could have been The book opens with a wide-ranging review a problem because color is often an important of ceramics analysis in historical archaeology identification feature for ceramics. This has been in Britain, the USA, and Australia, at least cleverly solved by providing an accompanying part of which is clearly derived from Brooks’s CD-ROM that reproduces all of the images in PhD completed at the University of York in color in the same order that they appear in the 2000. This chapter primarily concentrates on text—an excellent feature and almost worth the the Australian sources and provides a brief but purchase price alone. useful introduction to what is a very extensive Chapter 5 considers analysis and interpreta- literature, as Brooks himself acknowledges. tion, which as Brooks claims, is not to suggest Chapter 2 critiques the traditional analytical that there is “one sole and narrow ‘correct’ model for ceramics discussed by Clive Orton, analytical path” but is intended to help remind Paul Tyers, and Alan Vince (1993) and historical archaeologists of the importance of provides an alternative model for ceramics thoughtful interpretation (p. 56). With regard analysis consisting of a two-level structure of to the interpretation of function, it is an indict- identification and analysis that is based on the ment of Australian historical archaeology that fundamental premise that “if basic identifications the paucity of examples as well as the lack are incorrect, all subsequent analysis will be of discussion of function-based analysis have faulty” (p. 1). Chapter 3 provides guidance forced Brooks to use an example drawn from a on processing, cataloging, and curation of reanalysis of glass bottles by Martin Carney. His ceramics assemblages, which draws heavily point is that good interpretation has to be based

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):163–164. Permission to reprint required. 164 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 165 on accurate quantification, adequate description, which includes a reproduction of the registra- and the correct attribution of function. One of tion marks used between 1842 and 1883 as the real strengths of this chapter is Brooks’s well as an extensive bibliography. Overall, the discussion of the symbolic and ideological text is clearly printed and mistakes are few, meanings of ceramics. It draws extensively on except that the texts of pages 34 and 35 are in Susan Lawrence’s work on gender and identity reverse order—the text of page 35 should be using ceramics from a whaling-station site at on page 34 and vice versa. Despite the fairly Adventure Bay in Tasmania and a gold-mining high cost of $35 for what is a relatively slim site at Dolly’s Creek in Victoria. Nevertheless, volume (87 pages), which has proved a problem despite the excellent work of a few historical with ASHA special publications over the years, archaeologists like Lawrence, he makes the very this is a must-have work for anyone working in valid point that “issues of meaning have hith- Australian historical archaeology. erto been an under-represented part of ceramics analysis in Australia” (p. 67). MARK STANIFORTH There are four very useful appendices, DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY FLINDERS UNIVERSITY including a list of British pottery manufactur- ADELAIDE, SA 5001 AUSTRALIA ers known in Australia and a pottery timeline, 164 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 165

Invitation to Vernacular Architecture: pushing into uncharted territory because they A Guide to the Study of Ordinary were looking at communities that had not Buildings and Landscapes been studied previously and confronting a whole new range of ordinary building types. THOMAS CARTER AND ELIZABETH Existing frames of reference were of little use COLLINS CROMLEY in assessing the ordinary architecture these University of Tennessee Press, surveyors encountered, and the term vernacular Knoxville, 2005. 152 pp., 90 figs., increasingly began to be used to describe those index, $19.95 paper. buildings that did not fit neatly into customary stylistic categories. There are many good reasons for studying Buildings, like other material objects, often ordinary buildings: they can offer firsthand evi- express the values of the culture that cre- dence that has largely remained untainted by the ated them. Yet, buildings are complex artifacts interpretations of others; they can relate stories that can be difficult to decode, especially for of people who left no other records; they can beginning students and those unfamiliar with express and shape cultural values; and they can architecture. Thomas Carter and Elizabeth Col- reveal the most unarticulated aspects of every- lins Cromley attempt to address this issue with day human behavior. How does one begin to their book, described as a “crash course” in ver- study architecture that is so ordinary that noth- nacular architecture studies. The first volume in ing has been written about it? The best place to the Vernacular Architecture Forum’s educational start, as Carter and Cromley explain, is with the series promoting the study of vernacular archi- buildings themselves, although the authors admit tecture, Invitation to Vernacular Architecture: A that one of the drawbacks of studying buildings Guide to the Study of Ordinary Buildings and is that they survive unevenly and are therefore Landscapes aims to provide an accessible and not always representative. Fieldwork also takes regionally broad introduction to the study of a lot of time and effort. vernacular architecture based on the model of In their second chapter, the authors offer a James Deetz’s pocket-sized Invitation to Archae- method for studying ordinary buildings. As with ology (1967). At just 95 pages of text, exclusive any other research project, one starts by defining of notes and bibliography, the brevity of Invita- the problem and then gathering evidence. Carter tion to Vernacular Architecture makes it suitable and Cromley recommend four basic steps: pre- for classroom use. liminary research, a field reconnaissance survey, The book is organized as an introduction, architectural investigation, and extensive archival five chapters illustrated with photographs and and ethnographic research. They explain each line drawings, and a checklist of sources. As step briefly but focus mostly on architectural the authors observe, the field of vernacular documentation: what to record, how to mea- architecture studies came of age during the 1970s sure it, and how to read a building’s physical and early 1980s. While traditional architectural fabric by considering clues such as construction history concentrated on great works by leading technology and finish. Readers will need to have architects, vernacular architecture studies focused some knowledge of architecture, as terms are on everyday buildings. The notion that a broader occasionally introduced but not defined, and the range of buildings was worthy of study emerged book lacks a glossary. The authors also interject partly from the populism of that era, partly several caveats, urging readers to get out and from the lessened emphasis on connoisseurship document buildings right away but advising in architectural history, and partly from the them to learn about the cultural preferences statewide building surveys mandated by the and historical availability of building materials National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. in their area before they can interpret building Architectural surveyors soon found themselves fabric effectively.

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A brief chapter entitled “A Framework for of Printed Media on Vernacular Architecture, Analysis” discusses time, space, form, function, and Field Survey Techniques and Documenta- and technology as categories of architectural tion Methods, provides a useful starting point analysis. Readers learn the importance of looking for anyone interested in reading further. The for pattern in vernacular architecture and how to publication dates of many of the works listed consider not just the building’s physical fabric here concentrate in the late 1980s, reflecting but also its history of ownership and occupancy, the vigor and vitality of vernacular architecture its spatial organization, its functions, its type studies during that period. and style, and the construction technologies Invitation to Vernacular Architecture will be that were used to produce it. of interest to anyone who wants to learn more In their fourth chapter, the authors discuss the about ordinary buildings, from students to prac- importance of theory in architectural interpreta- ticing archaeologists and architectural surveyors. tion and how the kinds of questions asked can Although the book assumes its readers will have shape the result. The chapter neatly summarizes some knowledge of architecture, one of its the existing scholarship and the questions it greatest strengths is that it provides a concise addresses, showing how various scholars have statement of the field of vernacular architecture interpreted vernacular architecture. For example, studies today. The two final chapters and the scholars have studied how building types can bibliography are especially useful. The book’s inform community and gender relationships, how emphasis on documentation at the outset could style has been used to reinforce class distinc- prove somewhat intimidating to readers who tions, and how materials and techniques connect have no architectural background and little idea with ethnicity and migration patterns. of what could be important to look for or why The final chapter applies the methodology they should devote so much time and effort to outlined earlier to a single ordinary building the documentation process. Still, by offering in Buffalo, New York. The authors demonstrate a brief and mostly accessible crash course in how to build an architectural narrative by con- vernacular architecture and a fine introduction sidering type, materials and construction tech- and supplement to the existing scholarship, nology, plan and space, arrangement of space Invitation to Vernacular Architecture makes a over time, style, and the building’s relationship welcome contribution to the field. to the broader cultural landscape. A topical bibliography, with citations organized under GABRIELLE M. LANIER headings such as Theory in Vernacular Archi- DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY tecture, Vernacular Design Process, Influence HARRISONBURG, VA 22807 166 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 167

Chinese American Death Rituals: tongs, or triad lodge brotherhoods, sponsored Respecting the Ancestors death rites. These organizations shared the SUE FAWN CHUNG AND PRISCILLA common goal of trying to gain influence over Marysville’s growing Chinese population. One WEGARS (EDITORS) of the most visible death rites was Bomb Day. AltaMira Press, Walnut Grove, CA, This holiday, still celebrated by the Chinese 2005. 320 pp., figs., bib., index, American community of Marysville, involves $34.95 paper. feasting, sword work, and exploding numerous firecrackers around the Daoist temple. Chace says holidays such as Bomb Day solidified In Chinese American Death Rituals, Sue Marysville’s Chinese community. Chung and Priscilla Wegars connect eight essays The next essay, by Wendy Rouse, is “Archae- about late-19th- through early-21st-century Chi- ological Excavation at Virginiatown’s Chinese nese American death rituals in the Western Cemeteries.” Rouse describes the contents of United States. The essays examine the caretak- two Chinese cemeteries outside Virginiatown, a ing of graves, funerals, and holidays. These late-19th-century mining camp in northern Cali- death rituals are very much for the living. Chi- fornia. The city’s white residents were so resent- nese Americans in many states share common ful of Chinese immigrants that they expelled customs surrounding death. These include Chinese bodies, dead and alive, from the town. “feeding” the dead by leaving specific types of Virginiatown’s Chinese designed their separate, food and drink and leading elaborate proces- isolated cemeteries in accordance with the prin- sions to alert the community that someone has ciples of feng shui. They usually buried people died. Such rituals are conducted in groups and in omega-shaped graves (Ω) with their heads allowed individuals to bond with their commu- facing small hills. Yet, the Chinese sometimes nity. Chung and Wegars introduce the collection veered away from traditional burial practice. with a bibliography of works on the origins of They buried some people in Western clothing Chinese death rituals. Then they shift to a brief such as jeans. This is indicated by the presence history of feng shui, or geomancy, an ancient of metal rivets in coffins. Virginiatown Chinese practice with Confucian and Daoist roots. also placed Western grave goods such as U.S. The first essay is Wendy L. Rouse’s “What coins and European American-style tobacco We Didn’t Understand: A History of Chinese pipe stems with the dead. This indicates that Death Ritual in China and California.” Rouse the Chinese here chose to imitate whites even writes that groups in 19th-century China such as when whites were openly hostile to them. large families or closely knit villages developed Sue Fawn Chung, Fred P. Frampton, and unique rites with prayers that combined Confu- Timothy W. Murphy’s “Venerate These Bones: cian, Buddhist, and Daoist beliefs. Individuals Chinese American Funerary and Burial Prac- typically immigrated to the United States alone tices as Seen in Carlin, Elko County, Nevada,” and then formed community associations to complements “Archaeological Excavation” by bury and care for their dead. These community examining a similar Chinese cemetery in Carlin, associations used similar rites for all persons of a late-19th-century railroad hub in northeast Chinese descent. Nevada. Like Virginiatown, Carlin had a sepa- In “On Dying American: Cantonese Rites for rate Chinese cemetery, which was located in Death and Ghost-Spirits in an American City,” town only two blocks east of the public cem- Paul G. Chace explores the role of community etery. All of the bodies in the Carlin Chinese associations. Chace focuses on the associations cemetery are male. Many were buried in high- of Marysville, a northern California gold quality redwood coffins. The Carlin men were rush town, which became a regional Chinese also sometimes buried in Western clothing and center. In Marysville, district associations and with Western grave goods.

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Terry Abraham and Priscilla Wegars’s the use of a Chinatown Western-style marching “Respecting the Dead: Chinese Cemeteries and band. In the late-19th century and early-20th Burial Practices in the Interior Pacific North- century, families hired the Chinese Boys Band west” looks at the history of Chinese American and the Cathay Club Band. The sole surviving cemeteries in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and band today is the Green Street Brass Band. This British Columbia. Abraham and Wegars note band plays mostly Western military and hymnal a common feature in these cemeteries: the music and none of its members are of Chinese “burner,” a brick or masonry structure in which descent. people burned spiritual tributes. The authors are Roberta Greenwood’s “Old Rituals in New upset because many of the cemeteries are not Lands: Bringing the Ancestors to America,” well preserved. investigates Chinese Americans’ history of trans- Chung and Reiko Neizman’s essay, “Remem- ferring human remains. Greenwood says that in bering Ancestors in Hawai’i,” looks at Chinese the late-19th and early-20th centuries, Chinese American cemeteries on Oahu and Maui. Many Americans sent their ancestors’ remains back to of the Chinese Americans buried here worked China. They buried them in family cemeteries. on pineapple or sugar plantations. Each grave Now Chinese Americans are increasingly exhum- has a unique marker associated with the indi- ing their dead in China and bringing them to vidual’s death. The earliest markers are written America. They want the chance to visit their in Chinese; the middle markers are written in a ancestors more often. mixture of Chinese and English; the most recent Death Rituals is a very useful book for markers are written only in English. Today, Chi- archaeologists and historians. This collection nese American associations maintain the cem- teaches researchers how to collaborate on simi- eteries. Many of the cemeteries are located in lar topics. Death Rituals will perhaps inspire the middle of plantation fields. its readers to create new resources such as a Linda Sun Crowder’s chapter, “The Chinese manual on how to excavate Chinese American Mortuary Tradition in San Francisco China- cemeteries. town,” is about the colorful, exuberant funeral processions in San Francisco’s Chinatown. JESSICA ZIMMER Crowder explains that San Francisco Chinese DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Americans employ flamboyant practices such as GAINESVILLE, FL 32611 168 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 169

Rockingham Ware in American both the specific instances of its use as well as Culture, 1830–1930: Reading the broader social contexts of its time. Historical Artifacts Chapters 2, 3, and 4 outline the history of the ware type itself. Although made in more JANE PERKINS CLANEY than 80 vessel forms and found in many University Press of New England, different archaeological contexts, Rockingham Lebanon, NH, 2004. 256 pp., 55 ware’s popularity was limited to a few figs., append., bib., index, $29.95 communal vessel forms. It usually accounts paper. for a very small percentage of archaeological ceramic assemblages. Only five different vessel forms/categories were present in any number in the archaeological assemblages examined: In Rockingham Ware in American Culture, teapots, spittoons, pitchers, mixing bowls, 1830–1930, Jane Perkins Claney makes a pow- and nappies; each came in a variety of sizes erful argument for historical archaeology’s util- and with a variety of decorative patterns. ity in interpreting the meanings of past material While found on sites of all types, the ware’s culture through its interpretive focus on artifacts’ patterned distribution in terms of vessel form use lives. Specifically, Claney examines this and decoration was found to differ according ceramic ware in terms of its symbolic engen- to several factors. The remainder of the book dered and class meanings in urban and rural examines how Rockingham ware was employed 19th- and 20th-century American contexts. in expressing identity through a discussion Noting that she herself comes from outside the of the nested factors of gender, class, and realm of historical archaeology, the text details residence. the author’s attempt to broaden the interpreta- In chapter 5, the differential usage of tion of this ware from those typically produced Rockingham vessel forms and decoration within material culture studies, that is, from according to gender is examined. Drawing decontextualized art object to an interpretation on the considerable literature regarding the of its use and significances in context. integral relationship between 19th-century Claney examines the ceramic ware in terms ideals of womanhood and tea serving, Claney of its manufacturing and marketing history in argues that the popularity of Rockingham ware the first half of the book, while in the second teapots decorated with the Rebekah-at-the-Well she discusses its potential symbolic meanings motif was tied to such broader social trends. through an examination of the contexts of 131 In contrast, Rockingham ware pitchers were archaeological sites from which 768 Rock- primarily associated with men and typically ingham vessels were recovered. In chapter 1, depicted hunt scenes. These vessels, often “Reading Historical Artifacts,” Claney situates presented as gifts, “filled gender-specific roles the study as a “material system study,” which, analogous to Rebekah-at-the-Well teapots; they quoting Lu Ann DeCunzo (1986), “begin[s] were male accoutrements that expressed and with an item of material culture (or a class of reinforced the prevailing image of masculinity” items) and move[s] outward to the constellation (p. 91). Finally, Claney discusses the third most of associated objects, people, places, processes, popular Rockingham ware form, the spittoon, performances and ideas” (p. 15). She recounts noting that, although typically considered the various sources of information regarding a “male” item of use, historical accounts ceramic use in the past and emphasizes that do mention its use by women as well. The with the inclusion of archaeologically derived fact that the discussion of gender includes data, studies incorporating a variety of sources conceptions of both femininity and masculinity may effectively connect material culture with is notable, as many considerations of gender

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):169–170. Permission to reprint required. 170 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 171 for this period tend to focus exclusively on or teapots. In particular, mixing bowls tended essentialized feminine gender roles within the to be found on middle-class rural sites. Claney domestic sphere. argues this derives from the “old English” Claney refines her discussion of the gendered dining style used by farm families that involved distribution of Rockingham vessel forms to placing serving dishes on the table from which include conceptions of social class in chapter individuals helped themselves—using vessels 6. Breaking down the sample of archaeological typically considered related to food preparation sites studied into classes based on the head of as tableware. Again, the choice of Rockingham the household’s occupation, she finds that most vessels rather than cheaper yellowware to use lower class sites had Rockingham teapots, as tableware reflects the Victorian emphasis on while middle-class sites instead tended to have specialized dining items in connoting respect- pitchers. As Rockingham was one of the least ability. expensive ceramic wares of the time, lower- This book provides an excellent discussion class households likely used Rockingham tea- of the links that can be made between a single pots because they were affordable and allowed category of material culture and the broader them to differentiate between their dining and social context of the period, and it effectively tea wares, a key part of presenting an image argues the case for historical archaeology’s of Victorian respectability. The popularity of the utility in such endeavors. Focused as it is on Rockingham pitchers in middle-class contexts, in macroscale interpretations of identity, however, contrast, may have been due to the masculine hegemonic notions of engendered, class- and connotations of the hunt imagery, which Claney residence-based dimensions are highlighted. suggests overrode class-based affiliations. Future historical archaeology studies will be Chapter 7 includes discussion of a third able to utilize this text while focusing on the dimension of identity, urban versus rural resi- microscale, thereby adding nuance and texture dence. While noting that class appeared to be to this necessarily broad discussion. the most influential factor in selecting Rock- ingham ware forms, in general, rural sites pre- KIM CHRISTENSEN dominantly possessed food preparation vessels DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY (especially mixing bowls) and very few pitchers BERKELEY, CA 94720-3710 170 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 171

The Line of Forts: Historical per supermarket in North Adams and were Archaeology on the Colonial never excavated. The sites of Fort Pelham and Frontier of Massachusetts Fort Shirley fared much better over time. Fort Pelham was dug by Daniel Ingersoll and field MICHAEL D. COE schools from the University of Massachusetts, University Press of New England, Amherst, in 1971 and 1972, while Fort Shirley Hanover, NH, 2006. 248 pp., 52 was excavated by Coe and volunteers from Yale figs., append., bib., index, $19.95 University and elsewhere in summer 1974. paper. It is a tribute to Coe’s persistence—and his fascination with life in 18th-century Massachu- setts—that his final report on Fort Shirley and Fort Pelham was published 32 years after he Michael Coe is best known for his ground- left the field. This book is much more than a breaking research into the great Maya and simple site report. True, Coe does an excellent Olmec civilizations of Mesoamerica. In this job in describing excavated features, artifact extremely readable, well-illustrated volume, types, and field strategy, but he also includes Coe turns his attention to the remains of two a lengthy historical overview of the conduct 18th-century forts located near his farm in of the French and Indian War; integrates much western Massachusetts. In a masterful fashion, information from contemporary journals, muster he interweaves archaeological findings with the rolls, and personal correspondence; and is at his history of the six prominent families, the so- best when describing “Daily Life in the Line of called “River Gods,” who wielded near-absolute Forts” (chap. 7), which is an excellent blending power west of the Connecticut River in the of history and excavated material culture. Coe mid-1700s. Greatest among these was the Wil- successfully integrates muster rolls with account liams family that “provided the leading officers books, evidence for food and drink, and infor- of the forts and ran the commissary system that mation about personal hygiene, recreation, and supplied them” (p. x). Williams College was religion. This definitely helps the soldiers “come founded by a legacy left by Ephraim Williams, alive” in a very personal way. Jr., who once commanded the line of forts and At the site of Fort Shirley, Coe excavated was later killed in the Battle of Lake George less than one-third of the blockhouse site in 1755. (which had measured 60 ft. on a side), along The line of forts was constructed by the with drainage ditches, barracks areas, and one English across the northern Berkshires in the of the fort’s wood-lined wells. At Fort Pelham, 1740s, and the largest fort, Fort Massachusetts, Ingersoll’s much larger excavation exposed a was built in 1745 in North Adams, near the majority of the site, including the remains of a western end of the line. The next fort to the large barracks structure for which nail densities east was Fort Pelham, also built in 1745 in were plotted in an effort to determine the con- the town of Rowe; and Fort Shirley, built in figuration of the building. Comparing findings at 1744, 5 miles to the east in the town of Heath. both Fort Shirley and Fort Pelham, Coe notes These were small log forts, essentially palisaded that almost none of the material culture at these blockhouses with garrisons of only 40–50 men, frontier forts was locally made and that the that were intended to protect the Massachusetts militiamen who served at these forts were not settlers from attacks by the French and their just “Natty ‘Hawkeye’ Bumppo types”; rather, Indian allies. While Fort Massachusetts may they were well-provisioned Englishmen “living appear more intrinsically interesting because it on the outer fringes of the empire” (p. 115). was repeatedly attacked by far superior forces Coe refers to the flood of consumer items into of Indians and French, its remains now rest the forts as “The Consumer Revolution on the underneath the parking lot of a Price Chop- Massachusetts Frontier” (p. 136).

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The drawings and discussions of excavated In conclusion, Michael Coe has done a artifacts are well done, and Coe also includes superb job of blending primary sources with his an analysis of “Military Foodways at Fort archaeological findings, and it is amazing how Pelham” by Joanne Bowen (Appendix 1), list- one summer’s dig some 32 years ago became ings of “Paleobotanical Remains” (Appendix the catalyst for so much historical research 2), a detailed historical summary of all of the and interpretation, culminating in this attractive forts in the line of forts (Appendix 3), and a volume. Along the way, Coe has told the story lengthy series of “Biographical Sketches” that of settling the frontier in western Massachusetts, summarize many of the principal protagonists and his very polished writing style makes this who served at the forts (Appendix 4). He also an enjoyable case study. reproduces in its entirety the journal of Lieu- tenant John Hawks who served at the line of DAVID R. STARBUCK forts in 1756–57 and whose daily journal entries DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY present a good sense of some of the dangers PLYMOUTH, NH 03264 encountered while scouting on the frontier (Appendix 5). 172 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 173

Ground-Penetrating Radar limitations of the technique and some common for Archaeology sources of data misinterpretation. It is important LAWRENCE B. CONYERS for consumers to understand the limitations and the potential for misinterpretation of GPR AltaMira Press, Walnut Grove, CA, data because geophysical techniques are often 2005. 224 pp., 63 figs, ref., index, oversold. Archaeologists are then left with $32.95 paper. disappointing results and unmet expectations. The introduction to GPR is followed by an in-depth discussion of velocity analysis: its The title of this book might lead readers importance, proper field procedures to obtain to believe it is a how-to guide for designing it, and finally a dialogue of laboratory methods ground penetrating radar (GPR) investigations at to directly measure soil properties and thus archaeological sites. Instead, readers are more extract velocity information. Many readers will widely introduced to the technology and the find this section to be outside of their scope application of GPR for use in archaeological of interest, but the flow rebounds as they are investigations. Lawrence Conyers states that the moved through the process of filtering GPR goal of this book is “to introduce all types of data. For those learning to understand and work archaeological researchers to the power of GPR with GPR data, filtering tends to be one of the and to inform and guide those who hope to use, most complicated elements. Yet, Conyers is able or have already used, these techniques in their to provide a concise and clear explanation of work” (pp. 2–3). The eight chapters of this text these techniques. smoothly guides readers through the technology, Conyers addresses GPR data interpretation, processing, and interpretation of GPR data. The which is the most important element of this technical focus and emphasis on data acquisition process for the archaeological consumer of GPR and processing is pointed more to archaeologi- results. It is necessary for the archaeologist to cal researchers, who will either carry out their play an active role in the interpretation of geo- own GPR investigation or who will provide physical data. Before tackling the details of the direct oversight to the acquisition of GPR data, interpretation, a thorough discussion of synthetic rather than to the archaeological consumer of modeling is presented. Although often incredibly GPR data. The author missed the opportunity to helpful, synthetic modeling is time consuming, widen the scope of his audience by excluding complicated, and rarely affordable within most an emphasis on archaeological case studies and budgets. Once completing this instruction, read- optimal field acquisition techniques. ers are pleasantly met with a clear and inter- The text begins by introducing some esting discussion of data interpretation that is history of geophysical techniques and classic illustrated with wonderful field examples. types of geophysical investigations, guiding This book is designed to inform archaeologists readers through the transition of these classic how to be good consumers of GPR investiga- investigations into the field of archaeology. tive services and contains a clear presentation Conyers clearly explains the book’s purpose: of useful technical information as well as some “This book is not intended to be a complete great examples of true case studies. Conyers ‘how-to,’ step-by-step manual” (p. 7). After a goes to great lengths, however, to discuss tech- brief introduction to the GPR method and the nical details and processes that go beyond the role it can play in archaeological investigations, scope of educating a consumer. His presenta- a straightforward discussion of GPR theory is tion of the limitations of the GPR method is presented along with a succinct explanation valuable and informative. He also includes an of data acquisition. This discussion leads into important discussion of the benefits to analyzing a lengthy account of the behavior of radar data in different presentations. The referencing energy in the subsurface, thus highlighting the is impressive and incredibly useful for the more

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):173–174. Permission to reprint required. 174 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 175 interested readers. It would have been even more This book is a wonderful resource for archae- helpful to include references to equipment and ologists studying the GPR technique, but stan- software manufacturers. The author introduces dard consumers of GPR results may find it too some types of products available but provides theoretical. Such consumers should accompany no manufacturing information. Too much space the reading of this book with a collection of was given to the explanation of soil properties archaeological geophysics case studies. and modeling, and consumers would be left better informed with a more detailed discussion KATE MCKINLEY of data interpretation, the importance of anomaly GEL GEOPHYSICS, LLC 2040 SAVAGE ROAD discrimination, data comparisons to true excava- CHARLESTON, SC 29407 tions, and more investigation examples. 174 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 175

Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology trends, guiding theories, and personalities (both L. ANTONIO CURET, SHANNON LEE Cuban and North American) that characterize how DAWDY, AND GAVINO LA ROSA archaeological endeavors were conducted in each stage. Also included is a comprehensive overview CORZO (EDITORS) of the antiquities laws that were emplaced during University of Alabama Press, each period. The section dealing with post-North Tuscaloosa, 2005. 264 pp., $26.95 American archaeology contains a fascinating paper. history describing how academic programs in anthropology and archaeology evolved under socialism, along with the institutions that were Contrary to what American hubris might created to support the field as well as protect lead people to think, Cuba has not remained archaeological resources. completely isolated from the world during the Berman, Febles, and Gnivecki discuss in detail past four decades that the U.S. embargo has the formative years of Cuban archaeology: the been imposed. It has been isolated, however, institutions and agencies that arose as a result of from America not only in terms of embargoed the revolution, education and training programs, products but also in the exchange of scholarly publications, and the impact on archaeological information. The text under review is an effort research of the USSR’s withdrawal in the early by the editors to breach the embargo and expose 1990s. What is most profoundly conveyed in American readers to the contributions being this essay is the determination the Cuban people made to archaeology by both Cuban archae- have, in the face of tremendous political and eco- ologists and American archaeologists who col- nomic challenges, to forge ahead with research laborate with them in Cuba. Their stated goals and publication of their archaeological endeavors are to (1) “Provide a historically and politically and to continue to educate future scientists, as informed review of Cuban archaeology, giving well as the public, in the importance of their equal time to the Cuban perspective”; (2) national heritage. “expose a North American audience to another Domínguez’s article, “Historical Archaeology archaeological world”; and (3) “present the in Cuba,” reflects on the development of histori- results of some of these recent collaborations cal archaeology in Cuba, focusing on contribu- and to begin a conversation, or dialogue, that tions made by research projects and restoration can provide a foundation for future coordinated in Old Havana. Before the 1960s, research was efforts” (p. 8). based on “the rubric of Colonial Archaeol- The book is divided into two sections. Part ogy” (p. 65), utilizing the contact period and 1 chronicles the history of Cuban archaeology plantations with a view toward restoration with contributions from Ramón Dacal Moure and preservation. In the 1960s, the methodol- and David Watters; Mary Jane Berman, Jorge ogy became more scientific, but retained the Febles, and Perry L Gnivecki; Lourdes S. underlying desire to preserve, protect, restore, Domínguez; and Marlene S. Linville. Part 2 and renew the use of historic structures in a provides a sampling of the significant archaeo- socially conscious way. Domínguez’s enthusiasm logical research that has been undertaken in for the richness and diversity of Old Havana’s Cuba with chapters provided by Jorge Ulloa archaeological potential is contagious. Hung; Roberto Valcárcel Rojas and César A. Linville takes readers back in time to the pre- Rodríguez Arce; Pedro Godo; Gabino La Rosa history of Cuba in her essay, “Cave Encounters: Corzo; and Theresa Singleton. Rock Art Research in Cuba.” She describes the Moure and Watters essay, “Three Stages in long history of rupestrian archaeology (the study the History of Cuban Archaeology,” provides a of items made of rock or inscribed on rock) clear context for the evolution of archaeological on the island, discussing some of the varied pursuits in Cuba with an excellent synopsis of the sites discovered and the personalities who have

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):175–176. Permission to reprint required. 176 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 177 studied them. A lengthy table of Cuban rock art The resistance of escaped slaves, cimar- includes 46 significant sites by type of art, color, rones, is the topic of La Rosa Corzo’s essay, motifs, artifacts, burials, site locations, cultural “Subsistence of Cimarrones: An Archaeological attribution, and date. The material provided in Study.” One mountainous area, the Alturas del this article would be tremendously valuable to Norte de La Habana-Matanzas, has been the any student of Caribbean prehistory. focus of research on cimarrones settlement pat- In “Approaches to Early Ceramics in the terns. La Rosa Corzo describes the evidence of Caribbean: Between Diversity and Unilineality,” subsistence patterns found within 5 of the 25 Ulloa Hung introduces readers to some of the sites discovered in these mountains. The results varying theoretical approaches and interpreta- support historical records regarding the theft tions of ceramics analysis in the Caribbean. of pigs, chickens, ducks, and dogs by raiding He also provides the results of relatively new ex-slaves from plantations and raise further research being conducted in Cuba in collabora- questions about the diet of slaves who were tion with the National Geographic Society. This not fortunate enough to escape. La Rosa Corzo thought-provoking essay critiques and re-evalu- calls for further interdisciplinary research to ates the criteria that have been used in the past answer questions about other foods consumed, to interpret the development of ceramics usage like fruits and vegetables, the remains of which throughout the Caribbean. can be more difficult to identify. Mortuary practices can be very informative of In “An Archaeological Study of Slavery at a a society’s social structure. Valcárcel Rojas and Cuban Coffee Plantation,” Singleton discusses Rodríguez Arce report on what appears to be an her work at Cafetal del Padre, located in elite cemetery in their chapter, “El Chorro de western Cuba. The slave village at this planta- Maíta: Social Inequality and Mortuary Space.” tion was surrounded by a wall and contained Their study is comprehensive, covering not only approximately 30 to 45 bohios or residences. grave goods but also bioarchaeological data She focuses on the lifeways of slaves on the from which they infer that the occupants of this plantation, including their domiciles, demo- site were relatively healthy. As a result of their graphic information, and independent activities analysis, the authors propose that the cemetery involving subsistence farming—the production exhibits both the presence of “institutionalized of goods for personal use or trade. She also social inequality and elements of community discusses artifacts representative of creative cohesion, characteristic of egalitarian groups” expression, entertainment, or spiritual nature. (pp. 144–145). Their study was well planned, From the data Singleton has collected, she their methodology sound, and the results infor- interprets a subtle form of resistance by slaves mative about the beginnings of hierarchization that is characterized by their informal slave in Cuba’s prehistoric agricultural age. economy. The archaeology of plantation slavery Godo presents the preliminary results of his is very popular among historical archaeologists, research into the use of symbols and systems of and this essay is an important contribution to symbols expressed on the ceramics of prehistoric an understanding of slaves’ lives. agricultural cultures in “Mythical Expressions in Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology represents the Ceramic Art of Agricultural Groups in the an important step forward in the exchange of Prehistoric Antilles.” His research is informed by scholarly information between a broader audi- the works of Ferdinand Saussure, Umberto Eco, ence of North American and Cuban archaeolo- Claude Lévi-Strauss, and others, with emphasis gists and those who are interested in the field. placed on cognitive significances of the turtle, It has the potential to dispel many myths and the frog, and the crying figures found in diverse misunderstandings held on both sides of the regions of Cuba as well as other areas of the Florida Straits, and it competently achieves the Antilles. This preliminary work is a significant goals of the editors. contribution to continuing efforts to understand the cosmology of prehistoric societies in the TINA R. GREENE Caribbean. DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY GREENVILLE, NC 27858-4353 176 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 177

Boomtown Saloons: Archaeology field and lab methods employed at one of the and History in Virginia City saloons. The body of the text systematically KELLY J. DIXON addresses both the buildings that housed the saloons and saloon life itself. Chapter 1 pro- University of Nevada, Reno, 2005. vides the historical context for each the four 219 pp., 79 figs., bib., index, $34.95 saloons. Chapters 2 and 3 explore architectural cloth. elements of the saloons, with chapter 2 sum- marizing external architecture and chapter 3 exploring the building interiors. The next three On the 29 March 1976 cover of New Yorker chapters can be loosely framed as an investiga- magazine was a drawing by Saul Steinberg, tion of saloon life. Chapter 4 explores what the called “View of the World from 9th Avenue.” people of Virginia City were eating and drinking The work represented New Yorkers’ myopic in the saloons, while chapter 5 explores what sense of place where the bulk of their world the clientele was eating and drinking out of—in consists of a few city blocks, while the remain- other words, the serving wares of the saloons. der of the United States (extending from New Chapter 6 presents the archaeological evidence Jersey westward) is an essentially undifferenti- of other social activities in saloons, such as ated empty space. Steinberg’s work quickly gambling, smoking, etc. The final chapter is became something of an iconic image that many an innovative discussion of the use of forensic urban centers on both the east and west coasts science in historical archaeology. parodied with their own versions of willfully What makes this book so distinct is its capac- nearsighted perceptions of the U.S. As someone ity to serve as an introduction to historical who now teaches and practices historical archae- archaeology as well as a challenge to examine ology in the inland northwest, this image of a race, class, and gender-based stereotypes about vast emptiness does come to mind when looking life in the American West. The book is extremely for historical archaeology books that focus on readable; Dixon’s conversational writing style excavations done somewhere between the eastern will make Boomtown Saloons an excellent entry and western seaboards of the U.S. In that vein, to historical archaeology for students and others Kelly Dixon’s work is a most welcome addi- who are interested in the past. This work uses tion to the comparatively unexplored historical a wider array of material culture than is found archaeology of the American West. in most historical archaeology books. In addi- Dixon’s work is a comparative study of materi- tion to the expected discussion of bottles, bones, als recovered from the excavation of four saloons and ceramics, Dixon also manages to incorporate that were in operation from roughly the 1860s artifact-based discussions of lighting, architectural until the mid-1880s in Virginia City, Nevada. elements, games, smoking, and DNA analysis, Two of the saloons were Irish owned, one Afri- among other topics. Beyond potentially serving as can American owned, and one German owned. an introductory text, the book is a fairly nuanced Beyond the novelty of a comparative saloon study of life in the frontier West. Through the study, what makes this work so intriguing is saloons, Dixon presents what many will find to that the patrons of these saloons represented a be an unexpected picture of frontier life. It was broad spectrum of Virginia City’s population, thus a community where class intersected with race presenting a unique opportunity to explore the in ways that generally contradict popular percep- interplay of race and class in a frontier setting. tions of the West, showing among other things The book consists of seven chapters plus an the strong sense of Irish pride in the face of introduction and conclusion. The introduction relative deprivation, the surprising opulence of presents a synopsis of what historical archae- the African American-owned saloon, and gener- ology is, an overview of public archaeology ally how a multiethnic community socialized on in Virginia City, and an explanation of the the frontier.

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):177–178. Permission to reprint required. 178 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 179

Overall, the breadth of this work is to be text. Someone interested in faunal analysis can commended, but by covering a great deal of turn to this work for specific comparative infor- ground in a fairly short book, some inconsisten- mation on saloon faunal assemblages, but the cies do appear from time to time. Of particular ceramicist or glass specialist will have to locate concern is how archaeological data is presented. the related technical reports for full summaries Chapters 4 and 5 discuss materials that form of the glasswares and ceramics recovered from the core of much of what historical archaeolo- each of the saloons. gists study, namely glass, ceramics, and bone. Despite such concerns, it is important to In some instances, considerable detail is given; keep in mind the fact that this is a “big pic- in others, data are only presented in the most ture” book, meaning that the goal was to use general terms. This is most apparent in chapter archaeology to highlight the complexities of 4 where the section on intoxicating beverages settling a boomtown and to ultimately chal- (pp. 74–87) is laden with generalities. The text lenge some of the most pernicious stereotypes refers to the “largest quantities of intact bottles” about life in the 19th-century West. In that or the “highest number of ... ,” but actual num- regard, this book is a rousing success; it is a bers are given in only a few instances. These work that is an important step towards filling generalities are immediately followed by a sec- in Steinberg’s metaphorical empty spaces of the tion entitled Animal Bones and Saloon Meals American West. (pp. 87–95), where multiple bar charts present bone frequency and meat cut counts (along with MARK WARNER explanatory footnotes on methods of analysis). DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND JUSTICE STUDIES While ultimately these inconsistencies do not UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO detract from the arguments being presented, MOSCOW, ID 83844-1110 they may curtail some ancillary uses of the 178 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 179

Writing Archaeology: Telling Stories book idea and explains the market, the odds about the Past of success, and the requirements of a win- BRIAN FAGAN ning idea. The chapter on writing a proposal discusses required elements and the ways in Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA, which publishers make decisions. Chapter 5 2006. 173 pp., ref., $24.95 paper. covers relationships between writers and editors. It also discusses the pros and cons of getting an agent. Not until chapter 6 is there guidance The short version of this review is simply about writing the first draft. This sequence of this: Writing Archaeology should be required chapters provides a clue to those outside the reading for archaeologists. Whether crafting a book trade about what is actually involved in book, an article, a chapter or anything else the process. Fagan’s advice that writing needs to that is meant to inform either colleagues or be a daily habit rings true, if inconvenient! The the public about archaeology, writers will find chapter on revision discusses strategies for revis- this book useful and audiences of the resultant ing the manuscript. It is a little sobering to read improved products will be thankful that Brian that “You’ll probably do through at least four Fagan’s advice was taken seriously. drafts before you feel that you have achieved Fagan probably has more experience in writ- the final one” (p. 120). Fagan provides some ing about archaeology than any other living “writing mantras,” however, such as “passion, archaeologist, and he has provided a career’s passion” and “above all, write, write, write” to worth of advice “on self-discipline, on the help authors survive the process. The final chap- habit of writing, and on the process of having ter about writing a book is entitled “Production an idea and turning it into an article or a book” and Beyond” and is a reminder that there is a (p. 11). There are nine chapters and a very lot of work even after writing—copyediting, useful section on resources. The references are proofing, indexing, and marketing. useful too as they include many of the trade The final chapter before a brief conclusion books published about archaeology. Each chap- is on writing textbooks. Textbooks are different ter has an associated writing rule. For example, from trade books, not least because they require the one for chapter 7 (“Revision, Revision”) is regular revision on a three- or four-year cycle. that “Revision is the essence of good writing. One of the bits of advice for textbook revision Listen to criticism and leave your ego at home.” is relevant, regardless of the product: “Check This rule calls attention to the importance of that the themes and narrative flow together in self-discipline and hard work that Fagan empha- a seamless whole and make sure you have not sizes throughout the book in a helpful rather been diverted into irrelevant detail” (p. 154). than daunting way. Most of the chapters have inset text boxes The chapter on articles and columns is about with highlights pulled out so that they can be writing for magazines and newspapers rather easily found again without rereading the whole than for academic journals. Writers will find chapter. There is no advice specific to writing ideas for where to submit as well as what for the Web, which is somewhat different than to submit. They will also learn about how to static media discussed here and is a growing behave as they become a participant-observers requirement for archaeological work. It requires in the deadline-defined world of publishing. (It a slightly different approach due to the nature does strike this reviewer that a little anthropo- of the Internet. Because much of the advice logical training can help one to maintain per- about constructing a story with plot and passion spective in that world.) is relevant and transferable, it is not a major Chapters 3 through 8 cover the process of omission in the book. writing a book for the general market. The To provide both models and cautions, Fagan “Genesis” chapter is about coming up with the describes some of the books that have been

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):179–180. Permission to reprint required. 180 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 181 published in archaeology as well as his own There is also the business and culture of publish- experience. As archaeologists have turned more ing. Writing Archaeology: Telling Stories about attention to the value of offering their work the Past helps would-be authors negotiate both and insights to a general readership, they have aspects of this part of a public archaeology. struggled with the translation of their work from jargon into more accessible prose. Seldom BARBARA J. LITTLE do they realize that there is more to “getting the 6 PINE AVENUE TAKOMA PARK, MD 20912 story out” than just being able to tell it well. 180 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 181

Viking Empires on Lindisfarne, Wearmouth, and Jarrow have ANGELO FORTE, RICHARD ORAM, long been used by scholars to stereotype AND FREDERIK PEDERSEN Scandinavians as swift, brutal, and avaricious in their encounters with North Atlantic islands Cambridge University Press, and people. Viking Empires presents a more Cambridge, England, 2005. 447 pp., nuanced study of the diversity of Scandinavian 70 figs., bib., index, $ 40.00 cloth. cultures and historical developments with the consideration of other aspects of the age, such as territorial expansion, mercantilism, Viking Empires, authored by scholars of and colonialism. The authors present their European history, Scottish medieval history, and detailed historical analysis in chapters arranged commercial law, presents a new and detailed according to the chronology of Viking raiding, synthesis of 500 years of Scandinavian history colonization, and political activities in the and culture. Through the interweaving of his- North Atlantic (England, Ireland, Scotland, torical sources, archaeological data, and schol- Orkney, Shetland, Greenland, Iceland, and North arly critique, Angelo Forte, Richard Oram, and America). The text strongly emphasizes that Frederik Pedersen trace the roots of Viking eco- Scandinavian activities in these foreign lands nomic, political, and cultural expansion from the were not isolated geographic or political events Roman defeat at Teutoburg Forest in A.D. 9 to but were complexly entwined within larger the later incorporation of Scandinavian kingdoms processes of migration, ethnic interaction, and into Christian European states of the late-13th nation building. century. The resulting analysis places the Viking Viking Empires is an historical text in which Age and Scandinavian kingdoms as major play- the authors’ larger historical and cultural analy- ers in the formation of early modern Europe sis is enhanced by the consideration of archaeo- and the fate of the Holy Roman Empire. logical sites and material culture. The chapters Viking Empires aims to dismantle errant and are richly detailed in providing accounts of often homogenous, views of early Scandinavian northern conquests, influential Scandinavian history and culture. As early as the 1st century rulers, and the critical analyses of chronicles, A.D., Roman military, territorial, and economic annals, sagas, and poems. The authors discuss expansion involved highly skilled Scandinavian archaeological findings from the earliest chapters mercenaries and brought an influx of mate- in which they specifically identify a pattern of rial and monetary wealth to northern regions. increasingly few weapon sacrifice sites, wealthy The authors maintain that Scandinavian social, interments, and fortifications in southern Scan- political, and economic interactions with the dinavia from the late-5th to late-8th centuries. Roman Empire led to increasing social dif- They argue that these patterns need not be ferentiation within households and settlements, interpreted as regional demographic or economic marked agricultural and territorial expansion, crises but, instead, could reflect early political and an increase in regional communication and centralization. Such a suggestion is intriguing, political consolidation through the construction although archaeologists will require that these of infrastructure such as roads and defensive assertions need further substantiation with more works. The development of renowned Scandi- detailed and comparative analyses of regional navian ship design with dropped keels and sails archaeological records—indeed, a monograph- further enabled the expansion of Viking raiding, length detailed study in itself. trading, colonization, and ultimately led to the Archaeological data, material culture, and emergence of independent and politically power- iconography are more convincingly incorporated ful northern kingdoms. in later chapters in which a discussion of such The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle accounts of the finds as the Skuldelev vessels and iconographic late-8th and 9th-century Scandinavian raids interpretation of the Bayeux Tapestry reveal

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):181–182. Permission to reprint required. 182 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 183 details of the true power behind Scandinavian homogenizing the diverse nature and experi- expansion, the famed Viking ships. ences of the different Scandinavian kingdoms. Two highly detailed, but surprisingly separate, An important outcome of this analysis is the chapters are presented on the renowned method text’s recognition of the diversity of numerous of Scandinavian expansion: shipbuilding and sea- ethnic groups and kingdoms that Scandinavians faring. Chapter 5 evaluates the diverse historical encountered on their territorial and commercial sources, archaeological data, and iconography journeys. For this reason, Viking Empires is just commonly used as sources of information on as much a study of the history and culture of Scandinavian shipbuilding, ship design, and the the Anglo-Saxons, Picts, Irish, and Scots as it role of sail in territorial expansion, mercantilism, is about the history and culture of diverse Scan- and cultural interactions. Chapter 12 continues dinavian groups. the examination of Scandinavian seamanship Viking Empires is rich in historical detail from a perspective bound to those factors and presents a new perspective of the western integral to northern seafaring culture: sailing expansion of Scandinavian culture from the 1st conditions, navigation, and a consideration of to late-13th centuries A.D. Through the analysis distance and sailing rates. The latter chapter of diverse historical sources and supplemented critically evaluates the findings of experimental by select archaeological data, the authors ulti- archaeology and the extent to which reconstruc- mately provide a wide-ranging, yet detailed, tions of the early Scandinavian vessels enhance study of the complexities of society, economy, what is known from the literary sources such and politics in western Europe, the British Isles, as the Grænlendinga Saga, Flateyarbók, and and North Atlantic islands. This text is particu- Konungs Skuggsjá. larly useful not only in its contribution to the The authors encourage readers to be critical study of northern and Scandinavian cultures in of early historical sources and aware of the the European migration period and Viking Age larger social and economic context in which but also as a study that can be strongly inte- they were written. Early classical writings con- grated into courses on historical analysis, culture cerning the north and Scandinavian peoples were contact, and ethnohistory. Overall, the resultant more political than ethnographic, and one of the text is an important and substantive addition to strengths of the text is its ability to confront recent archaeological exhibitions and historical the various sources on their analytical strength studies of Viking Age history, culture, and social towards understanding larger social processes. transformation. While consolidation and expansion of Scandi- navian kingdoms were recorded in numerous KATHARINE WOODHOUSE-BEYER annals and chronicles across Europe and the DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY BROWN UNIVERSITY North Atlantic, the authors warn that such PROVIDENCE, RI 02912 sources are nonetheless biased and sporadic, 182 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 183

Before the Mast: Life and Death parasites; and detailed research about the aboard the Mary Rose vessel, the crew (DNA), chemical analysis of JULIE GARDINER AND MICHAEL J. medicines, and the like. A short conclusion suggests future research. ALLEN (EDITORS) A wide-ranging bibliography presents research The Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth, on comparative material in other collections as England, 2006. 760 pp., figs., index, well as other sources. The references allow $100.00 cloth. researchers to identify additional resources relating to 16th-century material culture, thereby supplementing textual information. The At last, the complete Mary Rose artifact outstanding presentation of a complex array of assemblage is available. This huge book is not artifacts is aided by excellent line drawings and something to read as if it were a text. It is a photographs, good enough to allow replication reference work, par excellence, and once an of items. Distribution information about where initial perusing is completed, it will be read the various artifacts were found is included and as research is needed. Before the Mast is the interpretations suggested. fourth of five volumes reporting on the Mary With so many different artifact classes rep- Rose, King Henry VIII’s flagship that sank 19 resented, only a few can be discussed in a July 1545. Discovered in 1971, the site under- brief review. The large sample size for many went more than a decade of excavation before artifact types makes the detailed research very the vessel was raised in 1982. The text exceeds fruitful. As one example, the large number of other reports on sunken vessels with large col- wooden bowls, dishes, and platters sheds light lections, some of which are still in the report- on makers, official, royal, and individual mark- writing stages. The impressive coverage was ings. This section on turned woodenware begins made possible by funding from the Mary Rose with discussion of how the block of wood was Trust that allowed publishing multiple volumes chosen and fitted to a lathe as well as what about the ship. Before the Mast sets a standard types of tools were used to do the cutting, for reporting that will be hard to match. complete with woodcuts and modern efforts to Differential preservation caused the loss of duplicate the work. A comparison with museum most iron, horn, flesh, and vegetable fibers. collections adds important elements noted on What survived is still an outstanding cross sec- Mary Rose examples. tion of Tudor material culture with implications Nearly half of the 60 bowls are the subject for English and sailor lifeways a century before of detailed examination. More than half of the and after the sinking. This is the single most bowls are marked in one way or another. At important collection of Tudor artifacts because least 134 dishes and platters have decorative the materials are firmly dated and in context. turning, but only 23 display any markings. The fantastic array of artifacts is backed up This is a shift away from the bowls, on which with well-reasoned interpretations of shipboard even bowls “with crude knife cuts … would life based on recovered specimens, museum serve to instantly distinguish one bowl from examples, and documentary sources. another.” Most markings are probably “made by The book is divided into two major parts: the individual owner of the bowl” (p. 481). This ship contents and scientific studies. The part is somewhat simplistic because many “individual on ship contents includes clothing, personal marks” seem to include an arrow, possibly possessions, medical materials, music, money, indicating official navy issue, if not ownership. tools for daily repairs, furniture, food, and Some bowls (4) and dishes (5), have an H brand stowage. The part on scientific studies includes that is thought to be a royal mark. Numerous evidence for provisioning the ship; a section bowls (and many other objects) have a broad on shipboard conditions involving pests and arrow, today’s British military identification,

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):183–184. Permission to reprint required. 184 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 185 although the arrow is often obscured by The containers include wooden casks, chests, additional, individual markings. Finally, there is boxes, and baskets. These are discussed in at least one possible maker’s mark on a bowl terms of materials, construction techniques, and a tankard lid, ascribed to one Ny Cooper. contents, and distribution. It is possible to Clearly, with so many similar objects on board, make statements about how containers for marking personal property became important for stowing gear and supplies were arranged in identification. Since these marks appear in use the hold, often including assessments about as early as 1545, finding them on any military their contents and from them, possible owners. site should not be surprising and may help Containers from other decks provide evidence clarify thoughts about marks found on more of stowing gear ready for use. recent military sites. This text is an impressive tour de force, but it The chapter on clothing and textiles draws is not the final word. As a report, it can stand from numerous experts in the field. With some alone, but the many comparisons with museum items, shoes, and jerkins, for example, there is collections show new research avenues. There is no problem with small sample size. Nearly 50 also a plea for help in identifying unique items. jerkins and at least 330 footwear items were The Mary Rose Trust is to be congratulated for found. The physical detailing and interpretive reporting this material in a form suitable for the information is very good and so amply illus- general public. Archaeologists, historians, muse- trated that reconstruction is a simple matter. In ologists, and living historians should all have fact, it almost seems as if reconstruction is a Before the Mast on their bookshelves. project goal because reproduced clothing ele- ments are included as illustrations. The distri- LAWRENCE E. BABITS bution of finds associated with skeletal material PROGRAM IN MARITIME STUDIES EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY throughout the ship says something about the GREENVILLE, NC 27858-4353 last minutes of the Mary Rose. 184 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 185

Detention Castles of Stone and Steel: Pennsylvania plan prison, the exorbitant costs Landscape, Labor, and the Urban associated with this scheme quickly encouraged Penitentiary Rhode Island officials to adopt elements of the Auburn system. As early as 1845, communal JAMES C. GARMAN workshops were added to the compound, with University of Tennessee Press, subsequent rebuilding programs undertaken Knoxville, 2005. 256 pp., 35 figs., from 1851 through 1855 and again during the refs., index, $37.00 cloth. 1860s (pp. 87–90). Garman’s volume offers a comprehensive documentary study of the stark disjunctures between ideal penal designs Ever since Michel Foucault first mesmerized (including those championed by Michel Foucault) the social sciences with his quasi-historical Dis- and the partial, opportunistic, pragmatic, or cipline and Punish (1977), institutions of con- indifferent modifications that more typically finement (and prisons in particular) have been characterize the built institutional environment. inextricably linked with the material expression More significantly, Garman’s work exposes a and experience of power. But despite this pas- growing symbiosis between industrialized labor sionate (and frequently lurid) fascination with and institutional confinement over the course both the architectural fabrication and sociologi- of the 19th century. As unfree labor was itself cal process of institutional discipline, only a few transformed into an essential disciplinary mecha- archaeological studies of penal sites have been nism, prison administrators struggled to estab- undertaken and even fewer published. James lish profit-generating prison industries. Drawing Garman’s study addresses that lacuna, offering upon archival sources, Garman traces the rise an intriguing glimpse into the material world of and fall of a scheme for the manufacture of an early-American penitentiary—the first Rhode decorative ladies’ fans within the Rhode Island Island State Prison. State Prison. Established as assembly-line style Operating from 1838, the prison was originally production, fan manufacture was uniquely suited constructed as one of the new monumental to the semiskilled, repetitive taskwork, and reformist institutions established during the rigid surveillance required for the management Jacksonian era. With a distinctive “carcereal of prison labor. Despite early returns, the fan enthusiasm” gripping the young nation, enterprise proved an expensive failure, doomed, passionate debates raged amongst American as Garman observes (pp. 140–144), through a social welfare advocates and state legislators combination of negligent and inflexible institu- over the optimal designs for the progressive tional bureaucracy, inconsistent distribution net- (or reformed) institution. Two competing models works for finished commodities, and intentional rapidly emerged to guide the architecture and inefficiencies or “foot-dragging strategies” (p. internal operations of these new “palaces for 146) adopted by inmate workers. felons.” While the purist Pennsylvania (or This last point illustrates one of the strongest separate) plan required a perpetual isolation of elements of this volume. By approaching inmates for the duration of confinement, the resistance as a “contestation of power” (p. fiscally pragmatic Auburn (or congregate) plan 175) rather than direct reactionary response to assigned inmates to daily periods of silent labor domination, Garman is able to advance beyond within communal (and frequently industrial) the traditional (and somewhat simplistic) workshops inside the penal compound. Despite binary models typically adopted by Foucaultian the lofty rhetoric and ideal templates, Garman’s devotees. In a particularly revealing “Geography detailed archival work reveals the institutional of Resistance,” Garman maps collective patterns history of the Rhode Island State Prison as of resistance across excavated architectural a model of “haphazard development” (p. features by locating “intra-institutional” offenses 65). Although original designs called for a from 1872 through 1877 according to specific

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):185–186. Permission to reprint required. 186 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 187 activity zone (p. 170). His results suggested female incarceration may have also influenced a clear focus of contestations, with 60% of the “haphazard development” of the prison. all recalcitrant behaviors occurring within the Garman’s arguments could also have drawn penitentiary workshops. Documented infractions more fully upon the materiality of incarcera- ranged from challenges to the code of silence tion. In this respect, a strength of the volume and refusal to work, to outright destruction (its sophisticated engagement with archival of prison property. Garman further reads the sources) may also be its flaw. When mate- efficacy of inmate resistance through continuous rial culture does appear, it tends to consist of modifications of the workshop structures, the either architectural features (drains or structural built environment itself providing a durable foundations) or items from museum collections record of administrative responses to convict (examples of the decorative fans). Where are the insubordination. Designs for fireproofing, excavated assemblages created by the convicts elaborated cobble-stone pathways, and even the themselves? Did the inmates not leave their own addition of eight “dark cells” to the basement material signature within this prison? Does the of the west wing are all read as examples of scarcity of such analysis reflect the absence the diverse power contestations that ultimately of artifacts or the limited comparative scope shaped the Rhode Island State Prison. His book of Garman’s study? A diverse literature on provides a worthy example of the situational, institutional confinement currently exists, with opportunistic, and essentially reciprocal nature of a growing number of both architectural and power relations under institutional confinement. archaeological studies of 19th-century penal A few problems do hinder the scope of sites emerging from Australia, Ireland, France, Garman’s study. One obvious oversight relates Great Britain, and indeed, America. Perhaps to the general lack of attention to female a broader engagement with these comparative incarceration at the prison, with only mere projects might have suggested ways to inte- hints at the constant institutional presence of grate excavated assemblages into analysis or female inmates scattered in passing throughout interpretations. Again, the strength of Garman’s the manuscript (for example, p. 145). Although volume (its richly detailed site history) may also dedicated female penal institutions were reflect its limits. not established until a generation after the Despite these obstacles, this volume ultimately closure of the Rhode Island State Prison, the offers new scholarly insight into an aspect of accommodation of convict women (and their America’s recent past. By illuminating both the dependant children) was a major source of profound role of unfree labor and the dialectical anxiety for civic leaders and social reformers nature of social power through this fine-grained throughout the 19th century. Given the shadowy case study, Garman offers new theoretical direc- presence of female inmates at this penal site, tions to the study of penal incarceration. Garman’s research would be enhanced by a properly sustained analysis of their institutional ELEANOR CONLIN CASELLA experiences or at least by a brief consideration SCHOOL OF ARTS, HISTORIES, & CULTURES UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER of how the passionate international debates over MANCHESTER M13 9PL ENGLAND, UK 186 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 187

Preserving Western History already within the American West, students in ANDREW GULLIFORD (EDITOR) these classes will sometimes have preconceived University of New Mexico Press, opinions on these topics, and the essays will either support or challenge their positions. Albuquerque, 2005. 415 pp, 163 To create an introductory text about the figs., index, $34.95 paper. multifaceted history of the American West, Gulliford called on the expertise of more than 35 contributors across 11 sections. These sections As the first of its kind, Andrew Gulliford’s focus on the diversity inherent in the West, conglomerate volume, Preserving Western His- and contributions ranged from archaeological tory, focuses on the necessary role of public investigations at the Little Bighorn Battlefield history in today’s American West by bringing National Monument by Douglas D. Scott together an impressive variety of essays ranging to discussion of public policy and the Sand from the archaeological to the ethnographic. It Creek Massacre site, authored by former is the expressed intent of the editor to pres- Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. ent a volume that provides the foundations and Additional sections focus on the inclusion of introduction to a public history regime situated normally muted participants in the mainstream firmly in the rich texture of lands west of discussions within western history texts. the Mississippi River. This volume is a direct Some of the most informative and intriguing response to the bounty of such public history essays in the volume come from historians texts set amongst the eastern states. Gulliford and ethnographers dealing with the roles of and the volume’s plethora of contributors hope women, Hispanics, environmentalists, and mining to construct a text that will form the basis for landscapes in shaping the modern-day image of training future students and awakening those the West. Environmental contributions to this professionals in entrenched positions to the volume are not solely dogmatic discussions utility and necessity of using their distinct edu- of water rights and land preservation; instead, cational background and expertise to enlighten the essays focus on a broad palette of topics the public on the American West’s rich history. ranging from memorials to wild-land firefighting The publically funded archaeological endeavors and ecotourism to the Wilderness Act’s role in support environmental action movements and public history. run the local, state, and federal governments Of interest specifically to working archae- that control the fate of western heritage. ologists in the American West who range from Initially looking at the cover of the book federal land managers, contract cultural resource and its organization brings back the nostalgic firms, museum curators and interpreters to those remembrances of the high school history texts in academia are the discussions of two distinct of youth. On closer examination, this volume investigations in Wyoming and Colorado. takes all the best elements of those dust-jacketed These two essays about Little Bighorn and the history textbooks, namely the directness of flow, Colorado Coalfield War illustrate the distinct a focus on clear language, and the reconnection and privileged role of archaeology in relating of major themes through each section or essay, the past to the public. Douglas D. Scott’s and exponentially increases the information con- contribution details how archaeology can actually tained therein. Textbooks, either high school or write history by cutting through more than even introductory college, tend to recount the a century of misinformation, myth, and even simple facts and figures of history. The essays outright racism. Within his essay, Scott outlines within this volume offer subjective accounts of how managers can use archaeology to support historical, political, and environmental activities ongoing interpretation, increase visitation, and and force readers to engage the topics in new enlighten a public fascinated by the discoveries ways. As this volume tailors to universities of trowel and screen. Staying within the

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):187–188. Permission to reprint required. 188 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 189 theme of public history, the archaeologists wide appreciation for its breadth and depth. and historians of the Colorado Coalfield War How many classes of this type are out there Archaeological Project successfully attempted today though? Most classes taken in today’s to use the ongoing excavations to highlight universities will focus on one or two of this the connections of past labor struggles to volume’s sections at most. In this case, educa- the present. The authors of this essay put it tors with a limited budget will want volumes best as they say the project, “is an excellent that focus to their particular syllabi. While this example of how archaeology and history volume may have a limited run in the class- can be synthesized to provide much more room, the articles compiled within will be a comprehensive understanding of the past than treasure trove of resources to students in the could be achieved by either discipline alone” (p. library. Perhaps if the realm of public history 41). Like the rest of the historical archaeology expands to a widely mandated western history west of the Mississippi and east of the Sierra curriculum in secondary schools throughout the Nevada, the predominantly Atlantic Seaboard- region, this book will find its true niche. As centered discipline significantly overlooks the the hopes of the editors and the authors were Coalfield War archaeology. It is the inclusive to compile a work that attempted to cover the power of this book’s essays to highlight the broad and varied history of the American West, local, regional, and national importance of every they completely succeeded. Written in a simple, topic discussed therein. straightforward manner, these articles clearly Unfortunately, the strength of this volume is relate important information and themes to both also its weakness. The impressive variety of professional and lay audiences. This book is topics covered by the essays provides a broad indispensable for those interested in the untold sweep of the emerging public history movement stories of the West and will find fans and utility in the West. This book is tailored to universi- for years to come. ties with programs dealing in part with western history, public history, or a number of other CHRIS MERRITT disciplines. In these types of classes in college DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA or even secondary schools, this book will find MISSOULA, MT 59812 188 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 189

The Antiquities Act: A Century appendix on “Essential Facts and Figures on of American Archaeology, the National Monuments,” there are four parts: Historic Preservation, and Nature The Origins and Architects of the Act (4 chap.); Presidential Audacity and Its Discontents: Conservation The Act’s Legacy of Controversy (4 chap.); DAVID HARMON, FRANCIS More than Monuments: The Act’s Impact on MCMANAMON, AND DWIGHT Archaeology, Historic Preservation, and Nature PITCAITHLEY (EDITORS) Conservation (4 chap.); and New Horizons for University of Arizona Press, Tucson, the Act (3 chap.). 2006. 264 pp., bib., index, $19.95 Part 1 has an abridged version of Ronald Lee’s administrative history of the act pub- paper. lished in 1970; an “abbreviated” version of Ray Thompson’s (2000) longer article (“Edgar Lee Hewett and the Political Process,” Journal of the The centennial year is over, although the American Southwest 42[2]:260–318), here titled celebratory venues have not entirely gone “Edgar Lee Hewett and the Politics of Archae- away. The Department of Interior Museum ology” (did you know that Congress passed opened an exhibit on 7 June 2006 about the the draft of the act, which Hewett had written, National Park Service’s role in protecting without changing a word?); Rebecca Conard’s cultural and natural resources as provided for (a public historian at Middle Tennessee State in the Antiquities Act. The summer 2006 issue University) review of the life and status in Con- of Common Ground has a long cover article gress of Senator John F. Lacey the sponsor of entitled “Monumental Endeavor: The Life and the bill; and Chad Miller’s (professor of history Times of the Antiquities Act.” The symposium, at Trinity University in San Antonio) assessment put together by Frank McManamon and Hilary of the power given to the president by Congress Soderland for the Puerto Rico SAA conference, to create national monuments. Miller considered ended with an after-papers lively discussion this part of the act to be a “landmark decision” amongst the presenters and the audience about by which Theodore Roosevelt set precedent the importance of vigilance, making sure that (which has not been challenged successfully in the heritage of the Antiquities Act was not lost 100 years) by creating “sacred spaces” such as through lack of attention to what is presently the first declared monument, Devil’s Tower in going on in Congress. Finally, if “Antiquities Wyoming. By the time he left office, Roosevelt Act 1906–2006” is put into a Web search had created 18 monuments that all together engine, links to the National Park Service contained more than 1.2 million acres. (Is this (NPS) website as well as one by Bureau of really what Congress meant to do? Read Section Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Fish 2 of the act.) and Wildlife Service (USFWS) will appear. All the authors of part 2 discuss the contro- Even if readers think they know all about versy over the years created by the presidential the Antiquities Act—it is, after all, not compli- authority to declare monuments and how various cated, containing only four sections and a total presidents handled the problem, or side stepped of 269 words—reading this book will give them it, or listened to what Congress, states, and the insights and set them straight on a number of public were saying. No archeologists in this things. It provides detail, background, and gossip section—an historian, two lawyers, and Cecil far beyond the preservation of “antiquities” (the Andrus, a politician (also Secretary of the editors point out at the beginning that the title Department of Interior in the Carter Adminis- is misleading). tration), and his coauthor, a political scientist. In addition to an introduction and a final This section gives new insight into the history assessment by the editors and an interesting of the politics of preservation legislation and

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):189–191. Permission to reprint required. 190 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 191 executive power, and the intricacies of both They admit that the differing “cultures” of the Department of Interior and NPS working with two agencies produced some major hurdles to Congress and the executive branch of govern- overcome. Anyone with experience in or of ment. Fascinating stuff. these agencies can read between the lines and Part 3 is equally as interesting. Frank McMa- imagine the headaches these two superintendents namon provides the long view of the impact of went home with after the myriad of meetings. the act on federal archeology and the NPS in They say their first naive idea was to create particular; Jerry Rogers discusses the act as “one filing system, one budget, one computer setting new policy relative to the government’s system,” etc., for use by both agencies, but that responsibilities to preserve significant historic did not work (p. 242). The bureaucracy could properties, rather than “getting rid of public not handle it. “The transition has been a little land” as had been the policy prior to 1900. (It rocky ... ” (p. 247). was the Government Land Office’s job to find The final chapter in this part is devoted to buyers or homesteaders for all “public” land.) “The Application of the Antiquities Act to the Rogers also discusses the relationship among Oceans.” One presumes that in 1906 this pos- the many land-managing agencies that must sibility had not been thought of, and it was now deal with historic properties. Joe Watkins not until Kennedy’s administration that the first presents the Native American perspective, indi- coral reef (Buck Island in the Virgin Islands) cating, among other things, that the act rein- was named a national monument. The authors forced the contemporary attitudes toward Native (Brad Barr of the National Oceanic and Atmo- Americans by not giving them any say in what spheric Administration and Katrina Van Dine, a should be preserved, much less why. Finally, marine scientist, currently “research counsel at David Harman (a conservationist and executive the Roger Williams University School of Law director of the George Write Society) discusses Marine Affairs Institute” [p. 316]) review the how the act influenced attitudes toward the con- problems of protecting underwater ecosystems, servation of natural resources. which include cultural resources such as ship- Part 4 covers matters that are more con- wrecks that can be “irretrievably altered and temporary. Until President Carter’s administra- resources depleted in a surprisingly short period tion, all national monuments were under the of time” (p. 256). They discuss the example of administrative management of NPS. Two of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Carter’s declared 15 monuments were under the Ecosystem Reserve, created by President Clin- jurisdiction of the USFWS and two under the ton through two executive orders, one in 2000 U.S. Forest Service (USFS). President Clinton and one in 2001. This presumably was to buy declared 20 areas as national monuments and time for NOAA and others to build constituen- gave authority to BLM for 12 of them; one cies, needed for declaration by Congress of a each to USFWS and USFS, but then went even National Marine Sanctuary. The reserve covers further and designated joint authority in three 100,000 square miles, “believed to contain cases—two to BLM and NPS, and one, the 70% of the nation’s coral reefs, along with President Lincoln and Soldier’s Home National Native Hawaiian cultural resources” (p. 257). Monument, to the Armed Forces Retirement The difference in protection, management, and Home and NPS. administration between a reserve, a sanctuary, The chapter by Elena Daly and Geoffrey B. and a national monument is not clear, but an Middaugh, both BLM administrators, discusses executive order can be “vacated” by another BLM’s struggles to take on this new responsi- president. The authors do not think, however, bility for protection/preservation, given its mis- that monument status would work because sion of multiuse as outlined in its organic act, authority might be given jointly to NOAA and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. NPS, and “agency cultures have not yet evolved Darla Sidles (BLM) and Dennis Curtis (NPS) sufficiently to make such a collaboration work describe the successes, failures, and frustrations effectively” (p. 261). of working out a plan for administration of Before reading this chapter, however, this the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monu- reviewer had seen in the newspaper that, on ment (containing more than one million acres). 15 June 2006, President Bush had used his 190 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 191

authority to declare national monuments by them to stay clear of touching the Antiquity creating the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Act itself. Good advice. The other good thing Marine National Monument. It is, indeed, to be to say about this book it that it is one of the administered jointly (but not with involvement few in this reviewer’s experience where there is of NPS) by NOAA (Commerce Department) very little redundancy, yet the theme is intact. and USFWS (Department of Interior). There is The fact that the authors’ expertise spans a website on this latest, and largest, national history, public history, law, political science, monument. politics, conservation, and archaeology makes All in all, it is fascinating reading from it that much more interesting. Knowledge of which much can be learned. For example, the political system that is needed to get laws despite all the controversy about establishment passed has certainly not changed significantly of monuments by presidential decree, there over the last 100 years, and as a consequence, has never been any serious effort to amend if for no other reason, this book should be the Antiquities Act, not even when the word required reading for any history of archaeology, antiquities was declared by the Ninth Circuit historic preservation, nature conservation, or Court to be “fatally vague,” which essentially CRM courses. negated the protection to archaeological sites. Archaeologists went to work on this problem, HESTER A. DAVIS and the 1979 Archaeological Resource Protection ARKANSAS ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY 2475 N. HATCH AVENUE Act resulted, but someone must have advised FAYETTEVILLE, AR 72704 192 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 193

From Stonehenge to Las Vegas: latter, the author asserts that it is the process Archaeology as Popular Culture of hunting for and interpreting clues that render CORNELIUS HOLTORF archaeology so irresistible to the general public. Holtorf delineates his argument by shifting from AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA, topic to topic, highlighting examples such as 2005. 200 pp., bib., index, $24.95 archaeological romance-mystery as a literary paper. genre, the trendy literature addressing memory, and Freud’s archaeology of the human soul. These, along with an array of other cases, are Historical fiction, or storytelling, has emerged presented in such a way that they “circumscribe” as a way to disseminate technical archaeological the issues instead of making direct assertions. If interpretations to the lay public. This technique readers happen to miss any points because of is laden with ethical concerns because some this style, the author includes brief theses as members of the public may not realize that they insets throughout, including a one-page, text- are experiencing fabricated presentations of past box summary of the book’s major focal points events, especially if the source is a trustworthy in the final chapter. archaeologist. Does the public even care if it is Among Holtorf’s major premises are, first, being fed fact or fiction? Does it care whether that interpretation is contextual and, second, there is a disconnection between narrative and that archaeological phenomena can subsequently empirical validity? This book deliberates similar be explained in diverse ways, rendering authen- questions and provides some examples of mem- ticity a mere construct of the beholder. This bers of the public who do not care if they are relativist stance leads him to question the intel- treated to authenticity. Rather, those individu- lectual authority that guides many meanings of als place more importance on the experience, artifacts and archaeological sites: such meanings be it a themed environment or a prehistoric may be “no more or less appropriate for that monument. While there are certainly a variety of object than what others may have thought in the audiences out there that places different values past or may think now” (p. 78). To demonstrate on the genuineness the past, it is clear that how the meaning of archaeological objects and many members of the lay public maintain an monuments change over time, Holtorf dedicates inherent fascination with archaeology. Cornelius chapter 5 to two case studies from European Holtorf’s From Stonehenge to Las Vegas takes a prehistory: Neolithic stone axes and Neolithic closer look at this phenomenon. In doing so, he megaliths, the latter being one of his research adds another dimension to the intellectual con- interests. In order to demonstrate the evocative versations associated with public archaeology nature of stone monuments for people in the and influences readers to contemplate the power present, chapter 6 includes the results of his of archaeologists as purveyors of the past. qualitative analysis, which are summarized in a Holtorf examines Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, number of categories, to determine what about and archaeological clichés to scrutinize archae- those monuments is important to people living in ology’s universal appeal in the contemporary the present. Monumentality, commerce, remem- Western world. Drawing from a mosaic of brance, identity, aura, and aesthetic are some fields (cultural anthropology, psychology, sociol- examples of the categories he developed based ogy, geography, art, and futurology), the author on responses to surveys. In a future edition, outlines a series of motifs that have fueled the Holtorf may need to rewrite segments of chapter appeal. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 highlight these 6 to explicitly outline methodical details of his themes, addressing the mystique of the under- “specifically ethnographic approach” (p. 112). ground, the adventure of fieldwork, the quest for The last three chapters (7, 8, and 9) delve discovery, and the sensation of detective work into authenticity and the “aura” of genuine associated with interpretation. Regarding the artifacts; the past as a renewable resource;

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and the attractiveness of archaeology, a trend quibbling about such things. Rather, it is he calls “archaeo-appeal,” in Western society. important to keep Holtorf’s goal in mind: His treatment of the past as a renewable to bridge what he sees as a gulf between resource, along with many other assertions, is professional realms of archaeology and popular courageous and will be interpreted by some ways of appreciating the vast expanse of human as unsuited to traditional archaeology. Even heritage. if some archaeologists disagree, Holtorf’s It is rather fortunate that archaeology is a sci- declaration is worthy of consideration: “no ence that “guides our age,” and this book should other societies have surrounded themselves remind archaeologists to reflect upon and make with as many archaeological sites and objects the most of their ethical roles as trusted scien- … as our modern Western societies” (p. 131). tists of the past. From Stonehenge to Las Vegas Whether or not readers agree with some of the will also influence readers to contemplate a cul- author’s ideas does not detract from the fact tural anthropology of modern archaeology and that this is an issue in need of deliberation will be useful for sparking debates in graduate as archaeologists struggle with the ethics of seminars dedicated to public archaeology, public justifying professional recommendations to history, or CRM. Heritage managers may also themselves as well as to project planners, land find it helpful for planning related to public managers, developers, and the like. outreach. Whatever use one makes of it, this Most historical archaeologists realize the book is provocative and should inspire profes- importance of public outreach, and public sional archaeologists to rekindle the senses of archaeology has become status quo on the wonder that attracted them to this discipline in majority of their projects. While there are the first place. many publics out there, and the archaeo-appeal described in this book may not necessarily have KELLY J. DIXON universal application to the complex audiences DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA attracted to archaeology, the underlying themes MISSOULA, MT 59812-0001 of the book should not be overlooked by 194 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 195

Ceramics in America 2005 daughter who allegedly provided images of her ROBERT HUNTER (EDITOR) family’s life, and the potter who painted those The Chipstone Foundation, images and texts on the two vessels. The two studies elicit community and family values from Milwaukee, WI, 2005. 320 pp., figs., individual objects. Neither offers an explicit index, $60.00 paper. model for developing artifact biographies, but both draw on evidence provided by the objects and develop contexts from written sources. Archaeologists need picture books. This is not Other papers in the volume examine the a derogatory comment about the intelligence of ceramic products of individual potters, potter- practitioners; it is simple recognition of the fact ies, and regions. Kurt Russ and W. Sterling that archaeologists deal with things as well as Schermerhorn offer readers a biography of the concepts, three-dimensional objects as well as more conventional kind: the life, career, and non-dimensional ideas. Determining the origins professional associations of potter John Poole and uses of objects necessarily precedes most Schermerhorn, from his forays into potting hypothesis testing. In short, artifact identifica- in New York and New Jersey to his work at tion lies at the heart of archaeology. The fifth the DuVal pottery in Richmond, Virginia, and in an annual series, Ceramics in America 2005 eventual establishment of his own firm nearby contributes to collective knowledge of one class in the second quarter of the 19th century. They of artifacts, and it does so clearly and vividly. find Schermerhorn’s training, experiences, and Editor Robert Hunter has collected nine associations with other potters expressed in the research papers, most dealing with 19th-century forms and decorations of surviving marked and American stonewares, by archaeologists, collec- attributed stoneware pots. tors, connoisseurs, potters, and descendants of Ivor Noël Hume’s minute analysis of a two- potters. The “New Discoveries” editor, Merry gallon, mid-19th-century stoneware jug aids Outlaw, shares 13 brief reports of recent finds, the attribution of another jug and a mug to and book reviews editor Amy Earles offers 10 Staffordshire potter John Bacon and provides a reviews and a list of recent publications on point of reference for attributing other unmarked ceramics. The research papers include artifact pieces. Similarly, Rob Hunter and Marshall biographies (2), descriptions of the work of Goodman develop constellations of forms, American and English potters or potteries (6), finishes, marks, and decorations for Benjamin and a survey of pots from Baltimore, Maryland. DuVal’s richly documented early-19th-century Three of the articles draw on archaeologically tile and stoneware pottery in Richmond, Virginia. recovered collections, four on the authors’ col- They report on sherds salvaged from the surface lections, one on a private collection, and one on of a long-known pottery site, materials they the oeuvre of 20th-century potter and designer collected with other volunteers as machinery J. Palin Thorley. prepared the site for redevelopment. Hunter and Artifact biographies—a species of artifact study Goodman’s ongoing study demonstrates the wide currently popular at archaeological conferences— range of variation in forms and treatments at relate the histories of specific objects to larger a single, relatively short-lived pottery, variation events or trends, finding an event or trend in an that embodies the skills and judgments of the object. George Lukacs does just this in his anal- journeyman and master potters employed by the ysis of a butter pot produced in Poughkeepsie, firm. The paper also reveals a stunning failure of New York, a pot that likely conveyed a donation government in preserving historically significant of locally made butter to yellow-fever-embattled archaeological sites as well as the importance of New York City in 1798. S. Robert Teitelman timely and energetic responses to such failures relates a pair of ca. 1804 pearlware jugs to the by local archaeologists and collectors. John family that owned and commissioned them, the Kille, drawing largely on his private collection

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of stoneware vessels and related documents, ered in viewing the works of potters through the characterizes the work not of a single potter ages. What conditions encouraged, or restricted or pottery but of the potters of 19th-century and channeled, his artistic expression? Might Baltimore, Maryland. He offers readers a visual those conditions explain why the unmarked catalog of forms and decorations. stonewares of DuVal and Schermerhorn—and The volume includes two pieces on pottery those of the myriad and largely unnamed potters excavations: Richard Veit and Judson Kratzer’s of Baltimore, New Brunswick, and East Liver- work at the 1862–1901 New Brunswick pool—are indistinguishable from those of their Stoneware Pottery in New Jersey, and Barbara contemporaries? None of the papers answers Gundy and Deborah Casselberry’s work at these questions, but they provide case studies the 1842–1912 Mansion Pottery in East upon which discussion can begin. Liverpool, Ohio. Veit and Kratzer’s description Regard with suspicion literature that claims is disappointingly brief, lacking drawings of to be about material culture but that has few a bottle kiln and its rectangular successor or no illustrations or tables. Illustrations and and of the sherds recovered. They report a lists without scholarship have little to offer the minimum number of 119 vessels calculated on scholar, and it is the combination that provides 721 sherds but provide no table listing vessel a substantial base from which larger studies types or the numbers of sherds by which they might proceed. Ceramics in America 2005 is are represented. Gundy and Casselberry offer a not a simple portfolio of pretty pictures, nor is slightly more detailed view of two yellowware it illustrated scholarship. The scholarship grows kilns at one of East Liverpool’s earliest out of meticulous study of objects of known potteries. They also illustrate the range of forms provenance in conjunction with related docu- and decorative techniques (Rockingham, cabled, ments. The pictures are, to a considerable extent, banded, cat’s eyes) represented on the site. the data, and thanks to photographer Gavin Ash- The longest piece in the volume, and just worth, the numerous color photographs present the first of a two-parter at that, is John C. that data vividly. Some might be enlarged by a Austin’s article on potter and designer J. Palin factor of two, and simple summary tables would Thorley (1892–1987). Austin, who knew the give readers greater confidence in conclusions British expatriate and has access to his work about form and decoration drawn on the prod- and personal papers, describes Thorley’s life ucts of particular potters, potteries, or regions; and career—relying extensively on Thorley’s this volume is an excellent addition to the body reminiscences—from his apprenticeship in his of ceramic literature. hometown of Stoke-on-Trent to his work in East Liverpool. The work is replete with illus- JAMES G. GIBB trations of forms and patterns. While the details GIBB ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSULTING 2554 CARROLLTON ROAD of Thorley’s work may hold little interest for ANNAPOLIS, MD 21403-4203 archaeologists in the short-term, the independent and creative spirit of this artist must be consid- 196 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 197

The Herculaneum Pottery: Liverpool’s Blue transfer-printed earthenwares with scenic Forgotten Glory patterns became the Herculaneum Pottery’s most PETER HYLAND successful and profitable line of wares. As with most potteries of the 19th century, patterns were Liverpool University Press, taken from engraved prints in published works. Liverpool, England, 2006. 336 pp., The India patterns, for example, were taken 209 figs., append., index, $39.25 from Thomas and William Daniell’s Oriental paper. Scenery: Twenty-Four Views of Hindoostan. Images were combined to fill open spaces, in turn creating fictitious scenes of actual places with floral borders. These vessels are highly Peter Hyland’s book, The Herculaneum Pot- prized in today’s market. Hyland dissects the tery: Liverpool’s Forgotten Glory builds on ear- views and explains each element and its rela- lier work by Alan Smith, The Illustrated Guide tionship to the others. He similarly explains the to Liverpool Herculaneum pottery 1796–1840, British Views series, which to date consists of published in 1970, and an exhibit entitled Her- 21 different views. The factory changed with the culanuem: The Last Liverpool Pottery shown times and tastes to compete with the Stafford- at the Warrington Museum and Art Gallery in shire potteries making various shapes and forms 1983. Hyland’s book will inevitably be referred in a variety transfer and hand-painted colors. to as the new “bible” on the Herculaneum Pot- Many publications suggest the demise of the tery, as Smith’s book was earlier. This work Herculaneum Pottery was due to intense com- adds background to the previous works with petition from the Staffordshire potteries. Hyland names and occasionally faces of the people who points out that this competition existed from the worked and lived at the factory complex. time of the factory’s establishment in 1796 and The Herculaneum Pottery was a thriving pot- that many of the competing Staffordshire pot- tery operating in the shadow of the Staffordshire teries had fallen victim to changing tastes and pottery district from 1796 to 1840. Located in the need for more efficient production methods. the seaport of Liverpool, the pottery took advan- Hyland attributes the downfall of the Hercula- tage of its location to ship ceramics throughout neum Pottery to the lack of capital investment the British Isles and abroad to Canada, America, to replace ovens/kilns, molds, tools, and all other the West Indies, Peru, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, necessary equipment and buildings. The lack of Malta, Italy, India, Holland, and Norway. The capital investment that was required may have pottery’s location was also perfect for receiving been brought on by the high turnover of “short- raw materials fuel (coal), clays, colors, china termist” proprietors who were more concerned stone (or Cornish stone), flint, and bones. On 8 with reaping profits than reinvestment. The fact December 1796, the 60-employee factory opened that the Herculaneum Pottery endured as a major with much pomp and circumstance, and the fes- manufacturer for more than 40 years at a time tivity included a military band. Early ware-types when countless Staffordshire potteries lasted 4 consisted of creamware, pearlware, and a vari- years or less is a tribute to its success. ety of refined, molded stonewares equal to any The Herculaneum Pottery contains five produced in Staffordshire. The quality of the important appendices—A: “Herculaneum Fac- Herculaneum Pottery was due in part to the tory Marks” (with color photographs of actual managers’ recruiting efforts in the Staffordshire maker’s marks); B: “Problem Pieces,” (unmarked district. By 1802 the pottery had moved into the pieces that have been linked to the Herculaneum production of porcelain, although manufacturing Pottery based on similar characteristics); C: “A large quantities of cheaper earthenware for the Visit to Herculaneum” (taken from The Liver- British home and export market was still the pool Albion in 1827); D: “List of Workmen” (a primary objective of the factory. list of names and their occupations compiled by

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Peter Entwhistle, ceramics curator at the Liv- phases such as “It is likely”(p. 68) and “The erpool Museum in the early-20th century); and circumstantial evidence available today sup- E: “Extracts from the Tomkinson Papers” (these ports this theory” (p. 79). Although not written papers contain price lists; recipes for bodies, from an archaeological perspective, this work glazes, and colors; and observations upon the could have benefited from excavated examples bodies and wages paid to workmen for various to support theories of production. Perhaps the articles and processes). next evolutionary step in advancing knowledge The history of the Herculaneum Pottery is very of the wares produced at the Herculaneum Pot- similar to that of the potteries located in Trenton, tery would be to excavate the waster dumps to New Jersey, in that both have been forgotten and identify unmarked wares produced at the fac- overshadowed over time by larger pottery dis- tory with more certainty. The bibliography also tricts—the Herculaneum Pottery by the Stafford- appears to be a bit thin for a volume of this shire district and the Trenton potteries (ironically) size. Hyland does acknowledge assistance from by the East Liverpool, Ohio, district. Advances in Geoffrey Godden but states that his works are technology are bringing new sources of informa- too numerous to list. Although Godden’s works tion to light by leaps and bounds. Potteries long are well known, a full bibliography (no matter forgotten are now being rightfully recognized for how long) is always a useful tool to the next their contributions. researcher who wants to further the study. The Herculaneum Pottery: Liverpool’s Forgot- Peter Hyland has gone to great lengths to ten Glory is an important addition to the litera- assemble all of the available information on ture on Liverpool’s best-known pottery and pro- the Herculaneum Pottery. His passion is to be vides a nice overview of the types of ceramics commended and congratulations are extended for produced in the first half of the 19th century. a job well done. Well-illustrated, crisp, and clear color images make for an educational as well as entertain- WILLIAM B. LIEBEKNECHT ing read. Since few archival records are known HUNTER RESEARCH, INC. 120 WEST STATE STREET to exist, chapters dealing with the early years TRENTON, NJ 08608-1185 of operations are strung together with couched 198 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 199

Cheap and Tasteful Dwellings: Design quickly faded away, but most were ordinary Competitions and the Convenient or middling practitioners who represented the Interior, 1879–1909 mainstream of thought. As the book’s title notes, the authors were advocates of “cheap JAN JENNINGS and tasteful” dwellings: pragmatic, inexpensive, University of Tennessee Press, well-designed buildings that could be built on Knoxville, 2005. 313 pp., 111 figs., a limited budget. append., bib., index, $48.00 cloth. The volume is divided into three parts. The first part discusses architects, architectural com- petitions, and the business of architecture. The Cheap and Tasteful Dwellings by Jan Jen- second part describes a gallery of elevations and nings, the author of several books on vernacular plan drawings reproduced from Carpentry and architecture, explores the role of design com- Builder. The third and final part of the book petitions in the development of late-19th- and reviews the body of work represented in the early-20th-century architecture and examines magazine. Of the two appendices, one presents the role of the architects, carpenters, and build- biographies of the architects discussed in the ers who participated in these competitions. The book; the second is in fact three tables, listing book draws heavily on Jennings’s analysis of the competitions, the winners, and the other the trade magazine Carpentry and Building, competitors. The book is well organized, and it which was published from 1879 until 1910 follows a logical format. when it changed names, becoming Building The first chapter, titled “Cooperative Com- Age, a journal that catered to professional build- petition,” examines the types of competitions ers. Jennings argues that the cheap and tasteful sponsored by Carpentry and Building. Jennings dwellings advocated by Carpentry and Building provides an interesting history of building com- provide a window into late-19th-century ideas petitions in the United States from the 18th cen- regarding proper house design. tury through the Victorian period. Carpentry and Jennings demonstrates the importance of Building differed from its precursors in that it Carpentry and Building as a source for under- ran serial competitions, thereby luring architects standing architectural culture. During its 30-year into producing drawings that were subsequently existence, Carpentry and Building sponsored published in the journal and widely disseminated. 42 building competitions. Entries flooded in, Readers also commented on the designs, provid- and the magazine published both the winning ing further information about attitudes towards designs and runners up. The magazine also architecture. Jennings does a good job of defining printed floor plans and perspective views of the individuals who participated in the competi- the submissions and provided extensive com- tions and the competition process. She discusses mentary on the buildings and their merits. The the geographic distribution of the competitors, result is a strong visual record of what ambi- and readers arrive at a picture of how architects tious architects were interested in during the worked at the end of the 19th century. later 19th century. The second chapter focuses on practical Carpentry and Building was published during architects, examining a group of competition a transitional period in American architecture winners and runners-up. With the exception of when the growth of suburbs, new architectural Laura Kingston, a talented young woman who styles, and the growing popularity of balloon came from a family of architects, all of the framing were transforming the built land- winning competitors were young and middle- scape. As Jennings highlights, the competitors aged white men. Jennings provides life histories who submitted entries are of interest because of some of the architects and talks about their they were the everyman of architecture at the training. Many were self-made individuals who time. Some went on to great fame, and some worked their way up from carpenter to builder.

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Others had attended college or, more commonly, the lives and aspirations of architects. Moreover, correspondence schools. Increasingly, attendance she highlights the importance of interiors over at a college became an important avenue to exteriors in house design, a fact easily over- architectural success. Jennings does a good job looked by students of architecture who find of contextualizing the architects she is interested facades more accessible than interiors. in and showing how their training, particularly Today, some of the buildings described in the in drafting, influenced their work. text still stand. A few are listed on the National Chapter 3, “The Shape of Practice,” describes Register. A handful has even made it into the the changing practice of architecture and the major texts on American architectural history. growth of professional architectural organizations Whether buildings survive simply as drawings during the 19th century. The rise of the archi- in a century-old magazine or as clapboard-and- tecture degree and the licensing of architects frame originals, they speak to the architects and are also presented. She elaborates on the career architecture of a particular time. paths of architects from this period. Chapter 3 The book is well written, although occasion- is followed by a section titled Gallery, which ally a bit dry. Jennings does a good job of reproduces many of the successful designs pub- taking the disparate threads found in Carpenter lished in Carpenter and Builder. and Builder and weaving them into a convinc- The fourth chapter focuses on the “cheap and ing story. The volume is a worthwhile addition tasteful” dwellings advocated by Carpenter and to the growing body of literature on late-19th- Builder. Jennings makes the point that the term century residential architecture and provides cheap had more positive connotations in the late- considerable new information about the prac- 19th century than it does today. As the book tice and products of 19th-century architects. shows, cheap did not mean poorly constructed, Handsomely produced with excellent graphics, it meant straightforward, simple, and affordable. the book will be of great value to architec- Of course, the architect’s problem was how to tural historians; however, archaeologists may design a cheap house that was also tasteful. find it less directly relevant to their own work. Chapter 5 focuses on practical cottages. In Nonetheless, this volume provides an insightful it, Jennings discusses the philosophical under- look at how builders and architects strove to pinnings that lay behind these houses. She construct appropriate and comfortable houses at discusses numerous house models and their the end of the 19th century. characteristics. In her conclusions, she notes that these houses, although often designed at very RICHARD VEIT low cost by architects who were not among the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND ANTHROPOLOGY MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY most famous in their generations, are particu- WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ 07764-1898 larly valuable because they provide the public with a glimpse into the society of the time and 200 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 201

Cultural Resource Laws and Practice: summarizes the key laws, regulations, and the An Introductory Guide, 2nd Edition often-overlooked executive orders that all CRM THOMAS F. KING practitioners need to be familiar with, neatly organized by subject. Recognizing the impor- AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA, tance of the Internet in providing the most 2004. 304 pp., 9 figs., append., current information in the rapidly changing refs., index. $26.95 paper. consulting world, King also includes a list of relevant websites (as of 2003) that address a wide range of preservation and environmental For many archaeology students, the pathway planning topics. to a full-time career leads them into cultural The text itself contains a concise history of resources management (CRM). Yet, relatively CRM, including an insightful explanation (p. few undergraduates receive formal academic 25) of many archaeologists’ misgivings regard- training in the myriad laws and regulations that ing their alliance with historic preservationists govern the practice of consulting archaeology in at the birth of CRM and articulated in the the United States. Add to this situation the facts Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act that many of the laws are contradictory and lack- of 1974 (the Moss-Bennett Act). King notes ing in detail; CRM spans historic preservation that over the ensuring 30 years the resulting, as well as environmental planning; government although inadvertent, conflation of archaeol- reviewers vary significantly in their interpreta- ogy with CRM has often lead clients, project tions of their own rules; clients demand ever planners, and agency officials to overlook other faster and cheaper solutions; and the voices of types of nonarchaeological cultural resources various stakeholders in the process have grown that also need to be addressed. Chapter 3 pro- louder and more discordant since the National vides a handy scorecard of the players involved Historic Preservation Act was first enacted in in the CRM consultation process, making sure 1966. Thankfully for students, CRM veterans, to note the Council on Environmental Quality and state historic preservation office (SHPO) (CEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency staff members alike, Thomas F. King is still (EPA), two often-forgotten agencies that are sig- on the watch that he began in the early 1970s. nificant, given CRM’s role in contributing to the With the second edition of his superb 1998 book environmental assessments required by NEPA. Cultural Resource Laws and Practice: An Intro- King devotes one entire chapter each to NEPA ductory Guide, King continues to demystify the and the Section 106 process, which together consultation process while also raising salient comprise the regulatory heart of CRM practice. points of law, identifying potential conflicts, and Deftly using both fictional and actual case stud- offering thought-provoking opinions. ies, King describes how the Section 106 process A readily accessible book written in an infor- was intended to work, at least from his perspec- mal, friendly tone, this edition includes very tive. The CRM practitioner will appreciate the useful models of a Section 106 memorandum sections in chapter 5 on determining eligibility of agreement as well as a plan of action for a of resources (pp. 129–137), coordinating the fictional project located on tribal lands written Section 106 process with NEPA (pp. 169–170), in accordance with the Native American Graves and King’s comments (pp. 174–181) regarding Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). the uses and misuses of programmatic agree- King carefully explains and defines the seem- ments. King is not shy about expressing his ingly unending number of acronyms and abbre- frustrations with the untidy Section 106 process, viations encountered in the CRM and National particularly how it is deferred until near the end Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations of many NEPA reviews due to its complexity. (Appendix 1) and provides a handy list of the He also identifies the SHPOs’ central role in federal regulations by code number. Appendix 3 the review and approval process, an “intricate

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dance” between agencies, as problematic and education classes in CRM, preservation, and potentially precluding the active involvement and environmental studies. It is fully appropriate for engagement of other interested parties. these audiences and is priced to be accessible Beyond NEPA and Section 106, King right- to students. Instructors must remember that the fully emphasizes several other aspects of CRM book embodies one individual’s view of CRM practice that have become more prevalent over and preservation, and it is permeated by the the last 20 years. These include the thorny author’s strong opinions regarding many aspects issues associated with NAGPRA, especially of these fields. King’s opinions and comments, inadvertent discoveries of Native American cul- however, are well informed, and they are based tural items or burials, and the growing field of on broad, direct experience. As such, they add environmental justice. It is fascinating to read to the readability of what otherwise could have King’s comments and suggestions regarding the been a tedious exploration of dry laws, impen- evolving focus on sociocultural aspects in CRM, etrable regulations, and bureaucratic details. an area that will continue to grow as develop- King’s previous publications and the first ment spreads into depressed communities with edition of Cultural Resource Laws and Prac- significant minority populations. tice effectively guided this reviewer through This book has very few shortcomings. It is the morass of CRM rules and regulations, first logically organized, appropriately referenced, and as a graduate student and later as a principal generally easy to read and understand. Only one archaeologist at two CRM firms. Now the obvious typographical error was noticed—Ter- second edition is used to teach students about rance W. Epperson’s paper on the African the business of archaeology and the laws that Burial Ground cited on page 18 was published protect America’s historic resources. Much like in 1997, not 1977. As a valuable reference that Thomas F. King himself, this book is a classic will be consulted often, it might be better if the in the CRM field and an indispensable asset. book was available in a spiral-bound format to facilitate its use. THOMAS A. CRIST According to the introduction, this book is HEALTH AND HUMAN STUDIES DIVISION UTICA COLLEGE designed for use in college and continuing UTICA, NY 13502 202 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 203

Doing Archaeology: A Cultural archaeological sites may be studied and what Resource Management Perspective can be learned from them. Even though this THOMAS F. KING chapter refers specifically to archaeological sites, readers also receive a basic impression of Left Coast Press, Inc., Walnut archaeology’s importance. Creek, CA, 2005. 160 pp., 22 figs., In the third chapter, King describes certain append., index, $21.95 cloth. basic principles that are used in the practice of archaeology but not before touching on some of the reasons for studying the past. This section Based on various questions that archaeologists feels as if it belongs in the previous chapter are often asked, it seems that the public has cer- since it gets down to the heart of the question, tain misconceptions about archaeology. Many of “why do archaeology?” King goes into more these conceptions spring from a misunderstand- detail about the terms he introduced in the ing of the nature of archaeology, which is evi- first chapter, (artifacts, data, and stratigraphy) dent by the constant questions about dinosaurs. and introduces new terms (features and context), Other misconceptions seem to be rooted in the after which he discusses the relationship of entertainment media. In this book, Thomas F. property ownership to archaeology. The chapter King sets out to eliminate these misconceptions concludes with a brief explanation of who pays by educating the lay person about what archae- for archaeological research, which, as with the ology is and what archaeologists do within the topic of ownership, he uses to clarify common realm of cultural resource management (CRM). public misconceptions. From the beginning, it is clear that this book In chapter 4, King outlines the different is intended as an introductory reference. In steps of an archaeological project, starting the first half of the book, King concentrates with administrative tasks and pre-field research. on what archaeology is and is not, then he He lists different ways archaeologists survey introduces certain terms and principles that are for sites and explains the different levels of central to this field of study. The second half of excavation. King ends by briefly explaining the book focuses on CRM and its relationship processes of data analysis, report preparation, to archaeology. and curation. In the first chapter, King supplies a basic defi- Having concluded his introduction to archaeol- nition of both archaeology and CRM. He also ogy, King discusses CRM and its relationship to provides a very brief autobiography, explaining archaeology in depth. He begins with a defini- how he went from being a “pot hunter” to an tion of cultural resources and the three general amateur archaeologist to a professional archae- ways in which they are managed: the “direct ologist. After providing a section entitled, management of resources,” public “encourage- What Archaeology Is Not, which attempts to ment,” and “impact management” (pp. 87–89). clear up some of the public misconceptions King briefly touches on how laws affect CRM, about this field, King briefly outlines the vari- focusing on Section 106 of the National His- ous subfields of archaeology. The chapter ends toric Preservation Act. He concludes by describ- with an explanation of various terms that are ing how archaeology can be used as a tool to central to archaeology and used throughout the manage cultural resources. rest of the book (archaeological site, artifact, Readers should be aware, by chapter 6, of the culture, data, etc.). breadth of the field of archaeology. King iden- In the second chapter, King poses the ques- tifies many of the positions that archaeologists tion, “why do archaeology,” and begins with hold within CRM, from the academic archae- a more detailed discussion of archaeological ologist, to the archaeological businessperson, sites. While not answering his own question down to the entry-level “shovel bum.” He also completely, King does describe various reasons describes other individuals that the archaeologist

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encounters, such as specialists from other fields, Amelia Earhart. Still, King does not overwhelm clients, employers, vandals, and the public. readers with an overabundance of examples and King concludes the volume by describing statistics. In the section about the laws and poli- several scenarios in which he poses a number cies concerning CRM, King touches on a couple of questions. He notes that there are no right of the major pieces of legislation and moves on. answers to these questions; they are merely The ones not mentioned there are listed in an intended to get readers thinking. Each exercise appendix. assists readers’ understanding that archaeologists The various scenarios and questions King do not arbitrarily excavate sites simply because provides may make excellent exercises for they can. professors who choose to use this book in King makes an excellent effort to educate introductory courses. Students will also ben- the beginning student and layperson about the efit from descriptions of various archaeological role archaeologists play within the CRM arena. career choices and the brief biographies of a His decision to concentrate this book on CRM few well-known archaeologists, perhaps even works for two reasons. First, it puts to rest the inspiring students to better prepare for a future misconception that archaeologists have to travel in archaeology or a related field. to some faraway exotic land in order to “do One concern that other archaeologists may archaeology” by explaining to readers that most have with this work is King’s call for others archaeologists practice their profession locally. to accept “pot hunters” and private collectors Second, this book should make readers aware as colleagues. This should not come as a sur- of certain cultural resource issues and policies prise since one of the goals of this book is to and perhaps influence their behavior toward such educate those who are interested in archaeol- issues in the future. ogy. Archaeological work needs to be under- Like many of his previous works, the defini- taken correctly the first time because there is tions and explanations in this book are often no second time for an archaeological site. This King’s own views. When his own opinions book should be made available to all beginning run counter to the view more commonly held, students, amateur archaeologists, and all others he does provide readers with both sides. The who have ever asked an archaeologist about examples King uses for archaeological sites and finding dinosaur bones. projects are well chosen for a lay audience. His work with the International Group for Historic JAMES D. BRINKLEY Aircraft Recovery, for example, is accessible DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY because of its high-profile association with GREENVILLE, NC 27858-4353 204 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 205

Hunting for Hides: Deerskins, Status, hunting strategy that focuses on prime-age deer and Cultural Change killed before or after molting season. Based on in the Protohistoric Appalachians MNI, NISP, and biomass measurements, the most prominent species are deer, black bear, HEATHER A. LAPHAM wapiti, and wild turkey. The Trigg site shows University of Alabama Press, a significant increase in the biomass of white- Tuscaloosa, 2006. 200 pp., 38 figs., tailed deer and a concomitant decrease in the ref., index, $29.95 paper. biomass of black bear and wapiti compared to Crab Orchard and Hoge. Further, compared to the two Late Woodland sites, the Trigg faunal Hunting for Hides, a revision of Heather assemblage shows evidence of an exploitation Lapham’s 2002 dissertation at the University of strategy that favored older deer and favored Virginia, emphasizes the dynamic relationship male over female deer. Deer were killed in between economic intensification and shifting all months of the year at Trigg, but the lowest status among Native Americans in protohistoric numbers occur in May and August, the main southwestern Virginia. Using two Late Woodland deer molting months. Based on these data, (A.D. 1400–1600) sites and one protohistoric Native Americans in the protohistoric period (A.D. 1600–1700) site, Lapham deftly combines were choosing to exploit mature male deer at zooarchaeological data and mortuary patterns into a time of the year when their hides would an explanation of Native American participation have been most attractive. To further investigate in the deerskin trade. Native Americans chose the extent of deer exploitation, Lapham notes to intensify production and create a surplus of evidence of hide removal and hide processing deerskins in the protohistoric period in order to on the faunal remains. Marks consistent with obtain nonlocal prestige goods such as marine skinning are more prevalent on the mandibles, shell, copper, and glass through trading and distal metapodials, and phalanges of deer in the gift exchange. The contact-period deerskin Trigg assemblage. Smoking pits and beamers, trade opened up a previously unused path to tools used to scrape skins, were found more social mobility within Native American society often at Trigg than at Crab Orchard and Hoge, that incorporated elements from both traditional providing evidence of an increase in hide cultural practices and new socioeconomic processing and tanning. Lapham concludes the relationships. faunal discussion by situating the assemblages Lapham takes a two-pronged approach within the greater context of archaeological to describing culture change from the Late sites in the Middle Atlantic. Although a map Woodland to the protohistoric periods: she of the comparative sites mentioned would have first analyzes faunal data for evidence of been useful, it appears that similar hunting Native American exploitation of white-tailed and processing strategies were used at other deer and then investigates the prevalence of protohistoric sites in the region. nonlocal prestige goods in the mortuary record. The preferred mortuary practice in the Ridge The sites chosen for this study are located in and Valley region involved single, flexed inter- the Ridge and Valley region of southwestern ments. Previous archaeological investigations Virginia. Crab Orchard (44TZ1) and Hoge have shown that marine shell and copper arti- (44TZ6) date to the Late Woodland, and Trigg facts are found in graves of high-status individu- (44MY3) dates to the protohistoric period. als, and historical records from European colo- Lapham begins her discussion of deer hunting nists note that glass beads were often requested by suggesting that if Native Americans were by Native American trading partners. If social choosing to exploit primarily large deer in an status can be seen in the archaeological record attempt to maximize their returns with European of this period, Lapham expects that the presence traders, the faunal assemblage should indicate a and quantity of these nonlocal goods are the

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best ways to identify changes in sociopolitical the growing demand for deerskins by European dimensions that reflect conscious manipulation traders, Native American women’s work likely of status symbols. Lapham’s explanation of the shifted from producing skins for consumption relationship between faunal analysis and mortu- at the household or village level to producing ary goods is that “surplus deerskins provided skins to be sold by their male kin who obtained the material means to obtain valued, nonlocal finished goods in return. Two possible explana- materials that conveyed individual and household tions are given for why fewer women are found wealth, prestige, and power to others within the with nonlocal goods in the protohistoric period: community” (p. 105). In the protohistoric period, either women distanced themselves from nonlo- there are more burials with nonperishable mate- cal items because they were displeased with rial such as large quantities of marine shell and these European goods, or status display shifted more copper artifacts. This evidence suggests to in the protohistoric period to the graves of chil- Lapham a change in ideology that places more dren as representative of the family. Neither of emphasis on social differentiation. As opposed these explanations is particularly convincing, to the pattern in the Late Woodland in which but the issue of changing gender roles and older males had more artifacts, the individuals statuses in the protohistoric period is intrigu- who had these nonperishable materials in their ing and needs to be developed further. Having graves at Trigg were largely young males, pos- concluded that the protohistoric Trigg site has sibly because they were “entrepreneurs in the yielded evidence of white-tailed deer exploita- deerskin trade” and thereby gained access to tion, hide processing, and changing social status, nonlocal goods (p. 136). In both time peri- Lapham outlines several important issues that ods, there are multiple inhumations. Although need to be addressed in future work, including multiple burials occur 18 times (15 double, 2 an investigation of household production and triple, and 1 quadruple burial) at Trigg and 8 changes in ritual practice. times (all double inhumations) at Crab Orchard, The overall structure of Hunting for Hides Lapham does not distinguish in her analysis allows readers to follow Lapham’s thesis seam- between artifacts from single inhumations and lessly through theory, analysis, and conclusions. artifacts from multiple inhumations. The increase The simple tables and graphs are very effective in multiple inhumations from the Late Woodland at visually communicating the faunal data to to the protohistoric would suggest that burial readers. Although most of the photographs did customs were changing, and the grave goods not reproduce well in the manuscript, the index from multiple inhumations could provide further is thorough and the bibliography is useful for evidence for social differentiation if examined those interested in the topic. This book is rel- separately from single inhumations. evant to historical archaeologists working with Lapham concludes the volume by posing one contact-period Native Americans and to research- of the main questions raised in her discussion ers dealing with issues of cultural change and of hide processing, whether there was gendered gender differences in the past. Hunting for differentiation of labor. Based on ethnohistoric Hides admirably intertwines two diverse data literature, women were probably not hunting sets—zooarchaeological remains and grave deer but were likely active in dressing and goods—in an attempt to explain socioeconomic processing deerskins. The presence of nonlocal relations between Native Americans and Europe- goods primarily in the graves of young males ans at a crucial juncture in American history. indicates that this segment of the Trigg popula- tion was able to obtain symbols of power. Just KRISTINA KILLGROVE as young men’s status shifted from the Late DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA Woodland to the protohistoric period, Lapham CHAPEL HILL, NC 27599-3120 sees a shift in women’s status as well. With 206 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 207

The Archaeology of Class in Urban constitute compelling topics for archaeological America research (p. 13). STEPHEN A. MROZOWSKI Mrozowski creates further links between the idea of class and the material world by intro- Cambridge University Press, ducing the concept of space as constructed Cambridge, England, 2006. 208 pp., and classed. Drawing from the work of Henri 58 figs., refs., index, $75.00 cloth. Lefebvre and David Harvey, among others, he argues that as capitalism increasingly became the accepted economic mode over the course An important trend in contemporary histori- of the 18th and 19th centuries, the class rela- cal archaeology is the re-emergence of class as tionships that went along with capitalism were a unit of analysis. While social archaeologists increasingly inscribed into its constructed spaces. have often emphasized other facets of identity This phenomenon is particularly important in such as gender and ethnicity, the notion of social urban spaces, including the 19th-century textile class has, to some extent, fallen by the wayside mill town of Lowell. in recent decades. Beginning in the late 1990s, A third important thread that runs throughout however, historical archaeologists began to return the work is a longstanding and seemingly intrac- the notion of class to their analytical toolkits, table intellectual tension between researchers considering class to be part of a constellation who see social structure as the primary cause of of cultural constructs around which people build class oppression and those who emphasize the and maintain identity. The Archaeology of Class agency of individuals in the creation of iden- in Urban America is just such a work. In this tity. Mrozowski seeks a resolution to this notion monograph, Stephen Mrozowski applies contem- through the use of a “non-dualistic approach” porary social and archaeological theory to two that seeks to understand class formation as a sets of archaeological sites in urban New Eng- dialectic process. land. In doing so, he addresses some important Mrozowski introduces his work by carefully tensions within the discipline that have arisen laying out his research agenda: to demonstrate from the new discussion of class. how a robust research program can use multiple Class has long been considered the purview data sources to move from the archaeological of sociologists and economists, who tend to traces of particular households to the broader his- view it as a fairly static, purely economic tory of 19th-century world capitalism. The mul- phenomenon. Mrozowski, like other anthropolo- tiple lines of evidence that he employs include gists, has sought to complicate this analysis by documents, material culture, and biophysical viewing class as a culturally and historically evidence recovered from archaeological contexts. contingent phenomenon that has as much to do The initial chapter also includes a series of excel- with consciousness and identity as it does with lent literature reviews that address the various economic status. This formulation has its roots domains of theoretical knowledge from which in the new labor history tradition of the 1960s, Mrozowski draws to construct his argument. a fact acknowledged by Mrozowski’s invocation The remaining chapters present the archaeo- of E. P. Thompson in the opening pages of his logical and historical data that Mrozowski and introductory chapter. As a cultural construct, his colleagues have assembled over the course class is an appropriate domain for ethnographic of many years of research in Rhode Island and archaeological research. For Mrozowski who and Massachusetts. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss is necessarily concerned with the task of link- archaeological work on 18th-century sites in ing the material and mental worlds, “[i]t is the Newport, Rhode Island. Chapter 2 presents an fluidity of class and its role in the construction historical context for the city and then reviews of material identities …” along with the “bio- documents from two 18th-century Newport physical realities of class discrimination” that households of different class status. Mrozowski

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argues from this evidence that while members of The final two chapters answer some of Newport’s upper classes wielded a great deal of Mrozowski’s research questions by linking economic control over the working poor, indi- his particular archaeological and historical vidual households developed strategies—hunting, findings to broader historical trends: the rise keeping animals, taking in boarders—to resist of industrial capitalism in the 19th century the economic and social order in which they and the development of class sensibility were enmeshed. in that unfolding context. In this section, The third chapter examines the material con- he also revisits much of the archaeological ditions of 18th-century life in two Newport literature introduced early on in the book and households: those of the wealthy merchant- uses his own evidence to grapple with some class Brown family and the working-class contemporary issues in the discipline, including Tates. In examining the archaeological evi- the role of individuals versus social structure in dence, Mrozowski identifies points of similar- the formation of the American class system. He ity and difference between the households that concludes with an overly brief discussion of the strongly conditioned the lived experiences of the role of urban historians in contemporary urban sites’ occupants. While material culture recov- politics and a suggestion that archaeologists and ered from the two households may have been others consider the role of their own work in surprisingly similar, it came at a greater cost contemporary society. for the Tates, who devoted spare yard space to A major success of Mrozowski’s book is the producing crops and animals for extra income. integration of multiple and converging lines of As a result of their differing material conditions, evidence that, in their convergence, point to they contracted more disease than their wealthier the nuanced biological material realities of the neighbors. emergent class system of the 18th and 19th cen- Next, Mrozowski turns from world of 18th- turies. In doing so, Mrozowski points toward the century Newport to address the mid-19th-century important observation that class and particularly town of Lowell, Massachusetts, which he claims poverty—popularly understood in terms of cul- represents a mature space of industrial capital- tural difference rather than differential access to ism. Here, the intersections of class and space resources—are not merely abstractions related become more important for Mrozowski’s analy- to identity but are measurable phenomena with sis because Lowell, constructed by upper-class material consequences. Additionally, by linking entrepreneurs to house lower- and middle-class the historical contexts of the individual sites and mill operatives, explicitly mapped class structure features to the regional historical contexts, the into its town plan. This spatialization of class book makes the link between world capitalism had major implications for the town, especially and individual/household experience. in later years. As Lowell became more rundown The encounter between the general and the in the latter part of the 19th-century, “a space particular in the volume is incomplete because that had once held expectations of a better life of the narrow geographic range that the book for everyone involved in the enterprise was now considers. The inclusion of only two New Eng- giving way to a new space in which class was land localities in a work that purports to be an contested. Despite the espoused advantages of archaeology of “urban America” excludes the corporate paternalism, class differences had been possibility of any regional variation in the for- embedded in the manner in which interior and mation of a specifically American class system. exterior space had been apportioned” (p. 95). Any future study should consider evidence from Adding evidence to Mrozowski’s overarching a broader array of urban sites throughout North argument that archaeological spaces can be America or the Atlantic world. construed as sites of class conflict, archaeologi- In attempting to create what he calls a cal investigations of classed spaces in Lowell—a “non-dualist” archaeology of American class middle-class agent’s house, an overseer’s (pp. 18, 157), one that demolishes the divide house, and a working-class operatives’ board- between science and the humanities, Mrozowski ing house—point to the varying material and presents a politically moderate view of class. biological realities that members of different Archaeologists accustomed to technical presen- classes experience. tation of evidence will find Mrozowski’s style 208 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 209 to be nontraditional. (For instance, site chronol- many of its ambitions, particularly in painting ogy and dating evidence are relegated to the a complex and anthropological history of class volume’s sole appendix.) Others may find his formation in New England. work insufficiently connected to the contempo- rary class situation. While it is unclear whether DAVID A. GADSBY the current work does much to assuage tensions DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AMERICAN UNIVERSITY between the structure/agency or processual/post- WASHINGTON, DC 20016 processual debates, the work ultimately fulfills 208 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 209

The Confederate Quartermaster effective under adverse circumstances. In the in the Trans-Mississippi Trans-Mississippi, organizational problems were JAMES L. NICHOLS generally resolved as command was central- ized. Later, specialized bureaus were created Percheron Press, Clinton Corners, to address specific issues such as clothing and NY, 2006. 126 pp., append., bib., equipage. Because cotton was the Confederacy’s index, $32.50 paper. most important and negotiable asset, the Cotton Bureau was created to manage the politics of procurement, the complications of shipping, When James L. Nichols published The Con- and the international necessities for exchange federate Quartermaster in the Trans-Mississippi of that resource. While improved organization in 1964, it was one of numerous Civil War pub- resolved some of the more critical problems of lications produced in the wake of the centennial the Quartermaster’s Department, Nichols found celebration of one of the most dramatic periods that difficulties associated with obtaining, stor- in American history. While the majority of those ing, and transporting supplies and war materials “centennial publications” focused on the battles persisted throughout the conflict. and leaders, some addressed unexplored issues Because the South was basically an agricul- that had a significant impact on the war and its tural society, the Confederacy lacked the indus- outcome. One significant but perhaps less dra- trial capacity necessary to effectively support the matic issue was addressed in Nichols’s study of war that followed secession. While efforts were the Confederate Quartermaster Corps in that por- made to expand industrial production of weap- tion of the Confederacy virtually isolated by the ons and war material, all of the bureaus under Mississippi River. Serious students of the War the Confederate Quartermaster Corps developed Between the States recognize the importance trading networks that extended through the of Nichols’s research and the contribution his United States Navy blockade of Confederate publication continues to make to understanding ports. Following his appointment to command the difficult and complicated task of supplying the Trans-Mississippi Quartermaster Corps in Confederate armies in the field. 1863, Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby-Smith The Confederate Quartermaster in the Trans- dispatched his chief quartermaster, Major J. F. Mississippi proved to be a valuable reference Minter, to England to supervise the procure- and has remained a detailed source of informa- ment of ordnance and quartermaster stores. War tion about one of the most critical aspects of materials and supplies were paid for in cotton warfare: logistics. Armies in the field cannot and shipped through Havana into Galveston and survive without food, clothing, weapons and other Confederate Gulf Coast ports or Mat- ammunition, equipment, supplies, and transport. amoros, Mexico, and brought across the Rio These issues are addressed in the seven chapters Grande into Texas. The importation of tons of Nichols devotes to defining the Quartermaster’s war materials, medicine, and supplies and the Department in the Trans-Mississippi region. export of tens of thousands of bales of cotton Nichols’s research revealed that the Trans-Mis- by Anglo-Confederate blockade-runners contrib- sissippi Quartermaster’s Department suffered uted immeasurably to Confederate defense. from many of the difficulties that plagued the Historical research associated with archaeo- organization’s efforts throughout the Confed- logical investigation of one of those block- eracy. Unlike the Union Army, the Confeder- ade-runners provided the motivating force in ate Army had to be spontaneously organized, republishing Nichols’s treatment of the Trans- equipped, and supplied to effectively resist the Mississippi Quartermaster Corps. That vessel United States. was the steamer Denbigh, which was built in That was a complex and daunting task, but Birkenhead by the accomplished firm of Laird, Confederate efforts proved to be remarkably Sons & Company and launched in August

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):209–210. Permission to reprint required. 210 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 211

1860. Like many of the vessels that were sold cal interpretation of Denbigh. In 2001, Captain for blockade-running, Denbigh initially served William Watson’s 1892 memoir, The Adventures in the British transport service operating out of a Blockade Runner, was reprinted to provide of Liverpool. In 1863, the fast steamer was a firsthand account of running the blockade purchased to transport contraband cargoes into into Galveston. In the final analysis, Watson’s the Confederacy. Between 1863 and May 1865, account of blockade-running, Nichols’s study of Denbigh ran between Havana and Mobile and the Quartermaster Corps, Arnold’s final report on then Galveston, making 13 successful round- the Denbigh investigation, and the proposed print- trips before going aground and being destroyed ing of a series of unpublished historical docu- east of the pass at Galveston. ments associated with the Texas Cotton Office Under the direction of archaeologist J. Barto will make valuable contributions to the historical Arnold, Denbigh’s remains were located in archaeology of the American Civil War. 1997. Five seasons of onsite archaeological While Nichols’s study may not be considered investigation and historical research have gen- an “exciting read” by the general public, it is erated new and exciting information about the a valuable historical resource providing data blockade-runner and the dangerous clandestine essential for understanding Confederate efforts trade it supported. In bringing the archaeologi- to defend their decision to withdraw from cal evidence to light in publication, Arnold has the Union. As a part of the Denbigh collec- identified several out-of-print publications that tion proposed by Arnold, Nichols’s work will help place Denbigh in a broader historical continue to serve as an important element of context. As he points out in his introduction to the historical context for Civil War shipwreck the reprint of Nichols’s volume, archaeological archaeology. When completed, publication of interpretation of the Denbigh cannot be effec- the Denbigh report, associated historical docu- tively made without understanding the associ- ments, and reprints will no doubt provide a ated historical circumstances. Nichols’s detailed classic example of the interaction of historical treatment of the Trans-Mississippi Quartermaster research and shipwreck archaeology. Corps helps establish and flesh out that histori- cal context for Denbigh and other west gulf GORDON P. WATTS, JR. Civil War blockade-runners. INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL MARITIME RESEARCH, INC. Nichols’s volume is not the first to be P.O. BOX 2489 reprinted in conjunction with the archaeologi- WASHINGTON, NC 27889 210 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 211

Unconquered Lacandon Maya: from ethnographic, historical, demographic, Ethnohistory and Archaeology archaeological, and geographical perspectives. of Indigenous Culture Change Ethnographic history and knowledge of the Lacandon is discussed in chapter 3. Most eth- JOEL W. PALKA nographic contact occurred between 1950 and University Press of Florida, 1980, but a quite a few narrative accounts of Gainesville, 2005. 352 pp., 128 figs., the Lacandon predate that period. Palka uses refs., index, append. $65.00 cloth. all of these sources to identify the cultural and geographic contexts of the Lacandon Maya from first contact through the present. A noticeable Unconquered Lacandon Maya opens with a difference emerges between the “ethnographic stunning image of a Lacandon man standing Lacandon” of the 1950 to 1980 period and the before a stela carved in the image of a Maya. Lacandon as they are known from historical The physical similarities between the man and sources. This indicates that significant cultural the carving are undeniable. Such illustrations change has occurred, and the Lacandon cannot embody the antiquated notion that the Lacan- accurately serve as representatives of the clas- don are a relic of the ancient Maya of centuries sic Maya. past. Joel Palka seeks to dispel this myth and Chapter 4 recounts attempts by the Spanish provide a much-needed basis for the study of to explore and inhabit the Lacandon Maya area the Lacandon Maya and their cultural metamor- of Chiapas and lowland Guatemala. Coloniz- phosis in the historical period. ers found this area largely uninhabitable due In a very deliberate manner, the author to dense rainforests, a disagreeable climate, employs various approaches to Lacandon cul- and impassible rivers, all of which slowed ture. The Lacandon archaeological record, their economic and social progress. Only in the history and ethnographies, as well as geographic postcolonial period did the Lacandon experi- settings and demographic details are considered. ence significant disturbances from the Spanish. Each chapter examines one or more of these These intrusions first arrived in the form of approaches, reviews the relevant literature, and trade, which established contact and supported offers a refreshing interpretation of Lacandon the transmission of Spanish cultural ideas and culture change. customs. Along with trade came the introduc- Chapter 1 recounts the “discovery” of the tion of a cash economy, epidemic diseases, Lacandon Maya in 1947. Here, the myth that new religious foundations, and the removal of the Lacandon are the unadulterated remnants the Lacandon from their land. These and other of the classic Maya is presented, described, Spanish cultural elements shaped the Lacandon and positioned for its eventual demise. Chapter culture encountered today. 2 begins with an overview of historical perspec- Next, Palka takes a geographical approach tives of Lacandon Maya culture. Initially, the to the study of Lacandon cultural change. Lacandon were thought to be “cultural fossils” The author uses historical, ethnographical, and of the Maya and therefore alive and accessible archaeological data to study how the locations representatives for the study of the ancient civi- and arrangements of Lacandon settlements lization. As Palka indicates however, research- changed over time. These changes are due to ers studying and living among the Lacandon apparent culture change associated with Spanish found the opposite to be true. Their findings contact. Chapter 5 is concerned with recent and and reports, contradictory to the romanticized ethnographically known settlement patterns and impressions that the Lacandon are as advanced arrangements, while chapter 6 deals with earlier as their Maya predecessors, were largely ignored patterns encountered in the historical literature. and disregarded until very recently. Chapters 3 As the Spanish encroached on land tradition- through 7 summarize these early written sources ally occupied by the Lacandon, their settlements

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):211–212. Permission to reprint required. 212 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 213 became increasingly scattered and removed from Perhaps the most telling indication of Lacan- natural resources. The layout of the typical settle- don culture change is found in their religious ment changed from large multifamily villages to practices. It is historically known that the god geographically dispersed residential clusters occu- of foreigners and commerce became the prin- pied by small extended families. In recent times, ciple deity for the Lacandon during the colonial the Lacandon have returned to large settlements period. Palka speculates that this god rose to with many houses occupied by large extended distinction due to the influx of outside eco- families. Each modification in settlement pattern nomic influences during the 19th century. The and arrangement is due to cultural changes in the Lacandon also seem to have adopted a version lifeways of the Lacandon. of Jesus Christ as the son of their major deity. The basis for the study of cultural change The Lacandon continue the use of their ritual- in chapter 7 is evidence from archaeological istic items such as incense burners, drums, and investigations. Here, the cultural remains of conch shell trumpets. Religious change is also the Lacandon are compared to remains from evident in the sense that many ancient Lacan- other groups in the region. Like other Maya don gods are all but forgotten in today’s rituals. groups of the southern lowlands, the Lacandon Outsiders encouraged monotheism among the utilized material items produced by the Spanish Maya, effectively diminishing the importance such as machetes, glass bottles, and ceramics. of the Lacandon pantheon. Differences in artifact debitage between the The final chapter synthesizes all viewpoints of Lacandon and other nearby Maya groups Lacandon culture change: history, archaeology, elucidate the dissimilarities in the nature and geography, demography, and ethnography. The intensity of cultural change due to Spanish indigenous Lacandon Maya did indeed experi- contact. From these observations, it is effortless ence cultural change due to contact with out- to conclude that the Lacandon did embrace side people, both conquerors and other Mayan material objects from the Spanish. Obtaining ethnic groups. Their responses determined the and utilizing these objects is indicative of the extent to which new cultural ideas and materi- cultural changes the Lacandon experienced due als were accepted or rejected. While they expe- to culture contact. The Lacandon also exhibit rienced change, the Lacandon Maya are indeed site abandonment behaviors different from their “unconquered,” in the sense that they retain Maya neighbors. Palka speculates that this is many cultures and customs of their ancestors. due to a very rapid and complete abandonment This section ends with a comparative analysis of Lacandon settlements. between the Lacandon and several other New Chapters 8 through 10 provide very specific World ethnic groups who also experienced cul- examples of culture change among the Lacan- ture change as a result of contact. don. Palka touches on every aspect of Lacan- Overall, this text fills a large gap in the study don life and organizes these changes into three of Lacandon history and historical archaeology. main categories: economic, social, and religious The text is broken into comprehensible subcate- changes. Economic changes come in the form gories by chapter and suitably illustrated to reit- of introduced species of food crops, reliance erate main points. The rather circuitous method on trade goods, and the introduction of money of introducing a subject in an ethnographic and wage labor. The postcontact Lacandon also context before explaining the relevant history begin to wear trade goods such as nontradi- can be confusing at times. Palka’s addition to tional clothing and jewelry manufactured by the historical archaeology is an essential preface to colonists. Quite frequently among the Maya, future study of Lacandon Maya culture change distinctive patterns of dress help distinguish in the historical period. one ethnic group from another. After contact and increased trade, the Lacandon became SALLIE VAUGHN increasingly difficult to distinguish from their DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY Maya neighbors. GREENVILLE, NC 27858-4353 212 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 213

Interacting with the Dead: overlap, however, and some chapters could Perspecives on Mortuary have been in more than one section. The first Archaeology for the New Millennium section, Theories, Time, and Space, clusters five chapters that examine the context of mortuary GORDON F. M. RAKITA, JANE E. archaeology, both in a time-space framework BUIKSTRA, LANE A. BECK, AND and in the theoretical and methodological SLOAN R. WILLIAMS (EDITORS) context that have been developed over the years. University Press of Florida, Especially pertinent are the essays that focus on Gainesville, 2005. 368 pp., 71 figs., time. Clearly, better chronological control is a 28 tables, refs., index, $75.00 cloth. good thing, but papers by Robert Chapman and Aubrey Cannon are particularly useful in pointing out that fine-grained chronology does not merely lead to better results but also leads Collections of papers are frequently somewhat to asking different questions. Researchers must problematic. The intentions of the editors are disentangle variations in society from change always good, but the product can vary wildly through time. Chapman approaches the problem in individual quality, scope, relevance, and stage by comparing two previous studies of prehistoric of research completion for each contribution. European cemeteries with his analysis of an Multiple editors cause even greater trepidaton, early Bronze Age site in Spain. By amassing a having been part of such a group many years large number of radiocarbon dates, he was able ago. But with this volume such concerns can to establish a chronology independent of the be aside, because this team of editors has done artifacts themselves, allowing him to infer new an excellent job of taming 19 disparate papers, patterns in burial data that contradict previous originating in the 2001 SAA Conference, into a assumptions about such phenomena as double complex yet coherent whole. Yes, they shoot off burials. Taking a different approach, Cannon in many directions, use different methods, and asks to what extent gender and individual ask different questions, but the thematic con- choice can be inferred from different contexts, sistency is impressive, and the variety reflects including Victorian and Anglo-Saxon England both the complex theoretical landscape and the and the protohistoric Seneca. By using concepts increasingly interdisciplinary nature of mortuary related to fashion, she finds evidence to support archaeology itself. Barely a paper does not offer an active women’s role in innovative mortuary multiple lines of evidence or several case stud- practices. ies. Several resurrect older theoretical constructs Section 2, Bodies and Souls, focuses on and rework them, while others re-examine old what can be learned from treatment of human collections to find new insights. remains themselves as they relate to religious The two principal editors discuss the purposes belief and social organization, with an emphasis and themes of the volume in their introductory on the difficult interpretation of secondary and essay. They see publication of these papers as partial burials. The eight chapters here range continuing the general discussion of what can widely from the Amazon to Tibet in scouring be learned about mortuary behavior and from ethnographic models of mortuary treatment. In mortuary analysis about other aspects of cul- addition, older models by James Brown, Robert ture. The hope is that these contributions extend Hall, Maurice Bloch, and Robert Hertz are trot- what can be learned, offer models that are more ted out and reworked or re-evaluated in light of sophisticated, and push the envelope on middle new case studies. The underlying theme of con- range theory. tinuing the conversation about mortuary behav- Every paper collection needs an organizational ior is especially relevant here. No one seems framework, and the editors have divided this anxious to toss all previous work or to dismiss lot into three sections. There is considerable models that may be a hundred years old, but,

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):213–214. Permission to reprint required. 214 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 215 rather, they want to extract the best and extend assumptions or incorrect accounts that must their reach, given new questions and techniques be re-examined. This group of studies does that are more sophisticated. Examples abound. just that, again drawing from ethnographic or Gordon Rakita and Jane Buikstra begin ethnohistorical cases, iconography, and models with a re-examination of Hertz’s model of of ritual as well as skeletal analysis to reach secondary burial from the early-20th century more nuanced conclusions. In two cases, old and how cremation and mummification apply collections were restudied: Alfred Kroeber’s in this framework. Using Andean and U.S. Nasca trophy skulls (Kathleen Forgy and Sloan Southwestern cases, they show weaknesses Williams) and Edward Thompson’s materials in the original scheme, and extend it with from the Cenote at Chichén Itzá (Lane Beck ideas from Victor Turner about limnality and and April Sievert). In both cases, greater varia- its power. A. Martin Byers, in his study of tion was seen than originally reported, in part Hopewell crypts in relation to other types of through better osteological analysis but also by burials, places them in the context of world incorporating other avenues of inquiry, suggest- renewal ceremonies and a procession of stages ing more complex sets of activities that had of mortuary ritual. The variation seen in space previously been lumped together. Two Pacific is a snapshot of sometimes-interrupted process, chapters provide great contrast. Ann Stodder’s leading from initial laying-in to later stages of work on a Sepik Coast site in Papua, New postmortem disposition, which he demonstrates Guinea, examines the evidence for cannibalism by analyzing associated artifact patterns in in the context of an unusual array of human such categories as mourning gifts and custodial and pig remains. She concludes that while not regalia. A third and final example from this definitive, multistage mortuary ritual is a more section brings the reader back to the advantages likely explanation for what she observed than of fine-grained chronology, with Estella Weiss- cannibalism. Judith McNeill’s study on the use Krejci’s chapter on disposition of the remains of human long bones as weapons in prehistoric of medieval and postmedieval European elites Guam is the last word in the volume. Docu- who died far from home. Creating a database menting the careful postinternment procurement from historical records, she examines variation of ancestral bone, she suggests the use of ances- in mortuary treatment (evisceration, defleshing, tral power to protect the living in the form of embalming) as a set of decisions to be made raw material for weapons. about transport based in both the social and It would be difficult to write a conclusion for religious context (church rules, designation of this book, and the editors have refrained from home burial place) and practicality (distance and doing so. Conversations should not end so seasonality). This fascinating study helps make abruptly. Taken as a whole, this collection dem- sense of the often jumbled sets of disarticulated onstrates the health and sophistication of mortu- remains found in some cemeteries and adds to ary archaeology and should be required reading the rich corpus of variables to consider when for anyone working in this area. It should also making interpretations. inspire those who want to see excellent exam- The final section of the volume groups six ples of the combination of theory, method, and chapters dealing with Sacrifice, Violence, and data from a variety of perspectives. Veneration. Here readers must travel the rough road from taphonomy to intention. How do JEFF WANSER researchers know if the skull they have found HIRAM COLLEGE LIBRARY HIRAM COLLEGE is friend or foe? Interpretations of violence, HIRAM, OH 44234 cannibalism, or sacrifice are often muddied by 214 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 215

Mocha and Related Dipped Wares, Decoration often began with the laying of a 1770–1939 color ground of liquid clay slip on the surface JONATHAN RICKARD of a leather-hard vessel. One or more additive or subtractive techniques then further enhanced University Press of New England, the vessel. These techniques can be broken into Lebanon, NH, 2006. 178 pp., 270 several broad categories. Linear bands, geomet- figs., index, $60.00 cloth. ric grids, or even wavy lines could be removed from the vessel’s surface using an engine- turned lathe, which cut through the colored For more than one century, the word mocha slip to expose the lighter colored ceramic body has been used as a generic collector’s term for a underneath. A lathe could also be used to carve wide variety of industrially produced, slip-deco- away broad channels in the ceramic body, thus rated utilitarian earthenwares, first made in Eng- allowing the potter to apply thin inlay sheets of land and France beginning in the fourth quarter multicolored, mixed clays to the vessel’s sur- of the 18th century. Since mocha refers to a very face, creating a marbled or variegated surface specific type of decorative technique, these wares reminiscent of agate or granite. Marbled surfaces are perhaps more accurately and generally termed could also be created by trailing and combing dipped wares, their historical name. Usually pro- several different colored slips onto a wet slip duced in hollow vessel forms such as mugs, jugs, field. Designs known as cat’s eyes, twigs, fans, and bowls, dipped wares were popular in both cables, and dendritic (mocha) could also be England and North America as inexpensive and applied using dipped, trailed, or dripped liquid colorful choices for utilitarian pottery. Their wide slip. Since various decorative techniques were appeal to today’s collectors often lies in the sheer often used in combination with one another range of decoration seen on these wares, span- on a single vessel, dipped wares are usually a ning a broad range of colors and surface treat- delight to the eye. ments. Dipped wares are often whimsical and, at Another strong point of the volume is its times, strangely foreshadow 20th-century abstract reliance on a multitude of primary sources. In modernist art. addition to clues provided by the ceramic ves- Jonathan Rickard, who has spent more than a sels themselves, Rickard uses correspondence, quarter century collecting and researching dipped pattern books, patents, and recipe books from wares, is to be commended for his comprehen- the Staffordshire potteries, period newspa- sive treatment of this ceramic. By assembling per advertisements, and merchant’s invoices. and studying a vast collection of these wares, he Extensive quotes from the correspondence and has been able to define the full range of decora- experiment books of Josiah Wedgwood and tive techniques, creating categories that will aid other potters describe manufacturing processes. archaeologists and collectors alike in accurately Sherds recovered from waster pits at the potter- describing and dating these wares. ies establish specific manufacturers and dates for The volume contains chapters on each of the different decorative styles. Since dipped wares decorative techniques used on dipped wares. For are rarely marked, using waster sherds from each of these decorative types, Rickard’s detailed known potteries was an excellent approach to descriptions of the manufacturing processes this research. Archaeological examples from and the tools used in each are clear. In some tightly dated domestic and military contexts in instances, the chapters are complemented with North America and Britain also provide dating photographs of potter Don Carpentier reproducing information. Combining these varied sources these processes at his historic Eastfield Village allows a much fuller picture of dipped wares to studio in New York. Date ranges of production, emerge in these pages. as well as the most commonly produced vessel Too often, the focus on Staffordshire and forms, are established for each decorative type. the pottery manufacturers there excludes other

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):215–216. Permission to reprint required. 216 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 217 places of manufacture, including Wales, France, Criticisms of the volume are few and minor and North America. A chapter on the French in nature. For readers new to this fascinating and North American manufacture of dipped ceramic, a brief overview that included general wares corrects this common oversight. information on when and where these wares Each chapter is complemented with gorgeous were produced and sold would have been photographs by Gavin Ashworth, whose work appropriate in the preface or first chapter. has also enriched the pages of Ceramics in Instead, the volume begins with the author’s America journal. The large number of pho- explanation for his use of the collector’s term tographs included with this volume makes it mocha to describe these wares—a decision that possible for readers to appreciate the full range seems to presume a specialist readership for of decorative attributes used on dipped wares. whom resolving this issue would be of leading More than one-half of the photographs are in interest (by historical definition, mocha actually color, and a good number are full-page spreads only refers to dipped wares having dendritic that show the intricacies of dipped ware deco- motifs, a small portion of this broad range ration in detail. Each photograph is enhanced of wares). Since this volume will have appeal with a detailed caption that fully describes beyond ceramic historians and serious collectors the vessel, its decoration, attribution, height, of mocha, however, this explanation, while and date. Color reproduction is also of excel- important, would have been better placed at a lent quality, so the true colors of the ceramics later point in the chapter. The volume would are represented. Rickard, a graphic designer, is have also benefited from closer attention in the responsible for the book’s well-executed and editing process—several photographs were either visually interesting layout. mislabeled or unlabeled in the text. Rickard’s acknowledgments are written as a Rickard’s volume, in addition to being a gor- narrative history of his collecting career, pro- geous and enjoyable read, is filled with infor- viding an interesting read and a glimpse into mation that will serve as a valuable resource to the often-twisting paths collectors take in their archaeologists and anyone interested in dipped pursuits and into the people who influence their wares. The information presented within will collecting decisions. A comprehensive bibliog- greatly assist in standardizing the description raphy as well as an alphabetical list of more of these wares by archaeologists and collec- than 150 dipped ware manufacturers add to this tors and should be a part of every well-dressed volume’s utility for collectors and archaeologists. archaeological library. The location and date range for each manu- facturer along with information on the types PATRICIA M. SAMFORD of wares produced and maker’s marks where NORTH CAROLINA STATE HISTORIC SITES HISTORIC BATH available are given. BATH, NC 27808 216 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 217

Pocahontas, Powhatan, retirement from the political world prior to the Opechancanough: Three Indian great assault of 1622, Rountree reconstructs the Lives Changed by Jamestown history of a fascinating man whose life was every bit as prominent as his legend. HELEN C. ROUNTREE Powhatan commands center stage for much University of Virginia Press, of the book, but the other characters are never Charlottesville, 2005. 320 pp., 23 very far away, making their presence known figs., append., bib., index, $29.95 from time to time until the spotlight focuses cloth. on them after Powhatan’s death. An extremely popular historical figure in her own right, Amo- nute, the favorite daughter of Powhatan who The upcoming 400th anniversary of the settle- went by the nickname Pocahontas, provides the ment of Jamestown will likely coincide with a unique perspective of both a girl and, later, a plethora of books, magazine articles, and other young woman. She experiences the invaders’ publications commemorating the first permanent world, learns their language, and converts to English colony in the New World. Archaeolo- their religion before marrying into their culture gists, historians, and anthropologists will write and voyaging to England in 1616. Her untimely countless scholarly and popular works aspiring death there and the relatively few references to to correct the myths and legends that have her actions throughout her life highlight how obscured the “real story” of the founding just a handful of recorded events can grow fathers and the birth of democracy in America. into an uncontrollable legend. At the same time, a handful of these authors Rountree’s third subject of study, Opechan- will address this tumultuous time from the canough, Powhatan’s younger brother, was an perspective of those who were already living influential political force throughout his life. He in southeastern Virginia, the Powhatan Indians. was forced to wait until both of his older broth- Taking on this difficult task, as she has done ers, Powhatan and the lesser-known Opitchapam, for more than 35 years, Helen Rountree has died before becoming paramount chief. None- produced an inspiring book that challenges the theless, he was prominent in the organization reader to imagine a different world, one from a of great assaults in 1622 and 1644. His death Powhatan perspective. soon after the second assault marks the end of Rountree’s work focuses on the lives of three the story, but Rountree is careful to note that remarkable individuals. Wahunsenacawh, the it was not the final chapter in the history of mamanatowick (or great king) known today as the Powhatan Indians. They survive to this day Chief Powhatan, is the most prominent of the among the eight state-recognized tribes of Vir- three, befitting his role in the early-17th century. ginia, law-abiding citizens who have contributed His story dominates the first half of the book. as much to this country’s history as any group, It is through his eyes that Rountree establishes keeping their culture alive and vibrant into the the strong and proud tone of her work, albeit 21st century. with a touch of humor, a lesser-known aspect The connection between the present and the of Powhatan’s personality. Readers are carefully past is a recurring theme throughout the book. guided through the myths and legends that Primarily through her unique approach, Rountree have obscured many of the facts surrounding is careful to avoid the pitfall of focusing too the early cultural exchanges between two very much on the legends that constitute much of different groups with very different ways of life. what the public understands of this period. From the initial capture of John Smith and his Her history, written from the Powhatan Indian adoption by Powhatan in 1608, through the perspective and coupled with a reliance solely difficult winters and droughts of the following on the primary documents, easily dispatches years, and concluding with Powhatan’s the convoluted stories such as Pocahontas

Historical Archaeology, 2007, 41(2):217–218. Permission to reprint required. 218 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 219 saving John Smith’s life and Chanco warning The book is easily readable and perfectly Jamestown of the impending “massacre” in written for a public audience, while also 1622. She focuses on what was recorded at highly useful to students at the undergraduate the time and distances herself and the reader level. Rountree acknowledges her position as a from the pride-filled times and ego-driven “non-Indian” writing from the native perspec- creators of these myths and legends. The result tive, hoping that one day there will be a similar effectively breaks down common understanding history written by the modern Indian people of of the past and rebuilds it in a new, far more Virginia. She is an accomplished scholar and accurate light. truly embraces both her support of the modern One of the most delightful aspects of the Virginia Indian community and its struggle for book is the way Rountree integrates the larger federal recognition as well as her love for inter- story of the Powhatan Indians while never disciplinary research. While the former may lead losing focus on the three main characters. Roun- readers to question some of her interpretations tree complements a careful reading of primary in the book, the latter is a true inspiration to documents with the most recent archaeological all scholars. As an ethnohistorian, Rountree is findings to place the characters within the larger both an anthropologist and an historian. Couple Chesapeake world. From the flora and fauna, to this with her broad knowledge of archaeologi- the seasonal approaches to everyday life, and cal methods and her treatment of archaeological even to the roles of each member of Powhatan data as essential to her interpretations, she has society, whether male or female, old or young, created what many people advocate but few elite or commoner, Rountree presents a universe practice: a truly interdisciplinary work. that is very different from that of the European invaders but is also one that is ultimately know- DAVID A. BROWN able to the present and understandable within DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY the context of its time. WILLIAMSBURG, VA 23187-8795 218 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 219

X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology by defining the term piracy and the difference of Piracy between pirates and privateers. A brief history RUSSELL K. SKOWRONEK AND of piracy, focusing on the Golden Age of Piracy (1690–1730), introduces the central underlying CHARLES R. EWEN (EDITORS) observation that, while there is no shortage of University Press of Florida, historical works about pirates, there is very Gainesville, 2006. 339 pp., 152 figs., little in the archaeological literature about bib., index, $55.00 cloth. piracy. Aside from the sometimes controversial association with pirates and treasure hunting, Ewen concludes that the reason more pirate Popular culture continues to dwell upon and sites have not been reported by archaeologists exploit the lure of buried or sunken treasure and is that they are hard to find and difficult to attendant casts of colorful pirates parading with recognize in the archaeological record. Hence, parrots, eye-patches, and peg legs. Americans the genesis of X Marks the Spot. have grown up reading the classics of pirate fic- Naturally, Pirate Lairs begins with a chap- tion, watching countless swashbuckling films and ter on Port Royal, Jamaica, written by its television programs; they have been treated to principal excavator, Donny Hamilton of Texas pirate comic books, toys, and board games and A&M University. Reputed to be the “wickedest have even given American professional baseball city in the world,” the colonial English port and football teams names like “Pirates,” “Buc- succumbed to an earthquake in 1692, which caneers,” and “Raiders.” Popular with children at caused a large portion of the town to become Halloween and with adults at Mardi Gras, the submerged. Hamilton recounts the brief history urge to dress up and act the part of a pirate of the richest community in English North has been perpetuated by the mass marketing of America and reviews the underwater archaeol- Disney and Las Vegas and by local chambers of ogy conducted there in the last several decades. commerce looking for weekend festival themes. While Port Royal prospered with pirates and Perhaps the legendary lure of loot that led privateers alongside merchants who bought and sailors to become pirates connects with modern sold their plunder, Hamilton points out that the dreams of becoming rich overnight, or perhaps port should be considered a mercantile center the pirates’ notorious outlaw behavior appeals first and only second, a pirate lair. Although a to secret desires to escape a routine existence wealth of artifacts have been recovered from or rebel against the boss at work. Romantic the sunken townsite, archaeologists have found notions, gold fever, and dreams of getting rich little that can be attributed exclusively to pirates all are part of human nature. How many times and privateers, except for three shipwrecks that have archaeologists working on shipwrecks been sank on top of the submerged town during a asked, “have you found any gold?” Archaeolo- 1722 hurricane, one of which was a pirate ship gists often find themselves caught between the called Ranger. popular image of Indiana Jones and the reality On the trail of Jean Lafitte, Joan Exnicios of modern treasure hunting, especially if they describes investigations of the remains of that elect to work on sites associated with, or at notorious smuggler’s base at Grande Terre Island least purported to be associated with, pirates. in southern Louisiana. Early CRM work on the Editors Russell Skowronek and Charles Ewen barrier island near New Orleans delineated a have assembled a collection of insightful essays wave-washed midden of early-19th-century arti- that explore the notion of identifying pirate facts; subsequent surveys identified an historic sites, both on land and under the sea. The book shoreline, a canal, and the remains of docks or is divided into three parts: Pirate Lairs, Pirate warehouses that represent the site of Lafitte’s Ships and Their Prey, and Pirates in Fact and 1808–1814 “establishment.” Exnicios acknowl- Fiction. A well-written introduction sets the stage edges that without historical documentation of

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Lafitte’s lair on Grande Terre Island, the site describes the site’s artifact assemblages that, to might not have been recognized as anything him, leave room for doubt. In the next chapter, more than an early settlement. Mark Wagner and Mary McCorvie investigate an In the next two chapters, David McBride and Ohio River flatboat wreck alleged to have been Daniel Finamore discuss the history and archae- the victim of river pirates who operated during ology of English logwood and freebooter sites the early 1800s from hideouts along the shore. on Roatan, in the Bay Islands of Honduras, and Wagner and McCorvie believe there is another at Barcadares, Belize. On Roatan, surveys of explanation for the wreck. In a concluding chap- the Port Royal town area and Fort George Cay ter the editors look at the historical response to turned up evidence of English military occupa- piracy and its potential victims in the Caribbean, tion during the 1740s. No evidence of earlier arguing that the patterns of settlement and trade pirates or later logwood cutters was found. In were directly shaped by the threat of piracy and Belize, excavations at the riverine logwood cut- that the responses to that threat are more vis- ters’ settlement of Barcadares produced low arti- ible in the archaeological record than the pirates fact densities, reflecting a relatively mobile and themselves. seasonal population that had access to smuggled Part 3, entitled Pirates in Fact and Fiction, exotic wares but was independent of the system presents two essays. In the first, Lawrence that used them. Babits, Joshua Howard, and Matthew Brenckle In the second part of the book, Pirate Ships describe a distinctive pirate assemblage. Compar- and Their Prey, Patrick Lizé, who was part of a ing weapons listed in documents entitled Penn- French team that salvaged the pirate shipwreck sylvania Pirate Inventory, 1718, and Alabama Speaker, describes and illustrates artifacts that Pirate Inventory, 1818, with those found on were recovered during the 1980 project. Speaker Queen Anne’s Revenge leads them to conclude was a former French warship captured by the that the data are insufficient to determine the English pirate John Bowen and wrecked off the presence of pirates from an artifact assemblage. coast of Mauritius in 1702. Another discovery in The concluding essay, by Russell Skowronek, the Indian Ocean is the wreck of Fiery Dragon, examines the impact of popular culture today originally thought to be Captain Kidd’s Adven- on people’s perceptions of pirates by interview- ture Galley. John De Bry describes the results ing more than 300 adults in the Philippines and of initial excavations that led him to conclude the United States. an alternate identification of the vessel. Excava- X Marks the Spot gives readers a report on tion of Whydah, a slave transport captured by the status of archaeological inquiry into the his- the pirate Samuel Bellamy, is discussed for the tory of piracy, a recapitulation of the images first time in a scholarly format by Chris Hamil- of pirates in popular culture, and a list of the ton who treats the sensational and controversial inherent problems found in attempting to asso- project as an opportunity to explore anthropo- ciate archaeological evidence with pirate sites. logical and archaeological issues raised by the If archaeologists are being asked to recognize 1717 Cape Cod, Massachusetts, shipwreck. a pirate site by a public that has preconceived The recently discovered wreck off Beaufort popular images of how pirates should be char- Inlet, North Carolina, which is thought to be acterized, they need to come up with better data Blackbeard’s flagship Queen Anne’s Revenge, is with which to construct patterns that define the the subject of two chapters. In the first, Project archaeology of pirates. Director Mark Wilde-Ramsing assembles histori- cal and archaeological data to make a case for ROGER C. SMITH a positive identification. In the second, Wayne BUREAU OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH DIVISION OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES Lusardi, the project’s former artifact conservator, TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0250 220 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 221

Burial Terminology: A Guide articulation, position, deposition, orientation and for Researchers alignment, grave goods, disposal container, fea- RODERICK SPRAGUE tures, description of disposal area, and demogra- phy (pp. 28–36). Tables list the suggested terms AltaMira Press, Lanham, MD, 2005. to be used and those that should be avoided 288 pp., 33 figs., 8 tables, refs., when describing burials. This is helpful in pro- index. $34.95 paper. viding readers with an organized list of terms discussed in chapter 4. Sprague clarifies that suggested terms are by no means the final word As evidenced by the sheer number of works on what should and should not be used for referenced in this book, the need for a con- burial descriptions and notes that there is much sistent system of burial nomenclature is read- room for local variation and continual modifica- ily apparent. Burial Terminology presents a tion. Two supplemental sections, excavation data comprehensive guide for use by researchers and data recording, provide suggestions for the when describing human burials archaeologically proper use of terminology in the field and an encountered. Roderick Sprague’s objective is the excavation checklist to ensure the collection of establishment of terminology that is consistent all relevant data. Chapter 4 provides an in-depth across disciplines to allow for easier description discussion of Sprague’s favored burial terminol- of burial and disposal practices. The focus is ogy as well as terms that should be avoided placed on what Sprague terms “disposal of the for each of the above-mentioned sections. Where dead” (p. 2), rather than the mortuary/funerary applicable, the discussion includes the context in activities preceding what is represented archae- which both ideal and less-applicable terminology ologically. Sprague, with research interests in are used in research literature. funerary and historical archaeology, is no Well researched and written, Burial Ter- stranger to the issues faced when encountering minology is extremely useful for researchers human burials. dealing with human burials, whether in a The introduction includes a brief overview of prehistoric, historic, ethnographic, or forensic terminology previously used to describe mor- context. Illustrations are useful in conveying tuary activities. Sprague notes that this work sometimes confusing terminology. Perhaps one pulls together vocabulary used by prehistorians, of the most valuable sections of the book is historical archaeologists, forensic anthropologists, the extensive reference section. Since obvious and ethnographers from North America, Western space constraints hinder the complete discussion Europe, Australia, and Asia (p. 6). Chapter 2 of some sources of terminology or typological provides an historical background of burial ter- systems mentioned, the reference section makes minology through a discussion of publications it possible for scholars to locate the sources for produced over the past several hundred years. It additional information. As Sprague notes, “it is effective in illustrating the abundant number has been suggested that [a consistent system of of studies that have been produced. Sprague is burial terminology] is an impossible task, but not the first to call for a consistent system of we shall never know unless we try it” (p. 25). burial nomenclature. The historical background Consequently, this work is successful in pro- is useful in supporting the notion that a clas- viding an extensive reference list and a basic sificatory system needs to exhibit categories framework from which to build a consistent that are “mutually exclusive and all inclusive” burial terminology for researchers. (p. 18). Chapter 3 presents the field guide, composed JAMES G. PARKER of 12 sections accompanied by relevant terminol- DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY ogy for use when describing burials, including EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY form of disposal, body preparation, individuality, GREENVILLE, NC 27858-4353

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Biocultural Histories in La Florida: of information drawn from archaeological A Bioarchaeological Perspective excavations and historical documentation with CHRISTOPHER M. STOJANOWSKI the results of systematically conducted skeletal studies, previous work as well as the author’s University of Alabama Press, own. Tuscaloosa, 2005. 193 pp., 21 figs., It is nothing short of remarkable what a quan- bib., index. $29.95 paper. titatively sophisticated analysis of simple tooth measurements can tell readers about varied histories of population change. Data collection It is deceptively easy to describe what hap- procedures, observer error, statistical methods, pened to southeastern Indians in the several and results take up more than one-half of centuries following first contact with Europe- the book. While not for the faint-hearted, the ans in the 16th century. Populations crashed, thorough discussion of these subjects is well and many tribes disappeared entirely; groups worth the effort spent on it. The results are not moved, willingly or not, often across great dis- always clear-cut, although Stojanowski does an tances; and cultures were transformed, some- admirable job of interpreting them in terms of times beyond recognition, as some customs the methods used and embedding them in their and practices were abandoned while new ones appropriate historical context. were adopted. Going beyond such generaliza- The dental dimensions provide valuable per- tions is a more difficult task, and it is one that spectives on the timing of population decline has quite properly engaged several generations and the coalescence of formerly discrete groups. of historians and archaeologists. Only over the Despite high mortality from harsh conditions, past quarter century, however, have biological malnutrition, warfare, and (most importantly) anthropologists—aptly referred to as bioarchae- newly introduced diseases, continued existence ologists—weighed in on the subject. Christopher for several generations as viable communities Stojanowski’s book, a revised doctoral disserta- was achieved in large part by a coalescence tion, represents an important addition to that of formerly separate communities or even dif- body of work. ferent tribes. For the Apalachee, a measure of When considering the fates of particular protection was provided by a fierce reputation Native American groups, it is useful to draw that resulted in social as well as geographical a distinction between biological and cultural isolation. As a barrier to regular interaction, change. Archaeologists often deal with the that distance had the beneficial, if unintentional, cultural side of the ultimately profound effect of hindering introductions of new deadly transformations that took place in the early diseases. The Apalachee population decline, historic period. They do this through examining while ultimately devastating, was consequently artifacts, architecture, community layouts, later than that of the Guale who were hit both settlement distributions, and the like. Much early and hard. less attention has been directed toward the Anyone can quibble over details in a book people themselves. Stojanowski fills that void of this sort, but to do so would be to miss for several groups, most notably the Apalachee the larger point of this solid study and its of the Florida Panhandle and the Guale of the potential impact on contact period scholarship. South Atlantic coast, both of which became Perhaps it is best to view Stojanowski’s book incorporated into Spanish La Florida early in as an important part of a broader literature the historic period. He does so by looking at with direct bearing on the consequences and change over time in the dimensions of teeth, timing of population change during the several which provide a strong genetic signal, from centuries following first contact. Two topics are contextually secure skeletal samples. One closely related to this study that readers would of this study’s strengths is the integration do well to explore on their own.

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The first has to do with the genetic The sad histories of the people in consequences of human marriage practices Stojanowski’s study conform to the general along with village growth, contraction, fission, patterns already identified in the genetic and and coalescence in small-scale societies. Here archaeological literature. What is new here is one might turn to literature dating as far back the presentation of independent evidence from as the 1960s on molecular polymorphisms teeth for population contraction (bottlenecks) among tropical South American groups such as and amalgamation among specific groups. the Yanomama, including more recent genetic Multiple lines of evidence, including more case- research that supports earlier findings (James specific studies along the lines of Stojanowski’s Neel, 1994, Physician to the Gene Pool, Wiley, work, are essential if researchers are ever to New York). The effects of kin-based marriage understand the complex processes of population and residence patterns on local group gene collapse, movement, and cultural change across frequencies would be similar to the situation in the tumultuous years of the early historic the Southeast at the time of contact. period. The second topic pertains to archaeological If there is a larger message in this work, it research on the spotty and ever changing popula- is the demonstration that there is much fertile tion distributions, specifically site clusters, during ground at the interface between multiple disci- the late prehistoric and early historic periods plines, in this instance skeletal biology, archae- (David Brose, Wesley Cowan, and Robert Main- ology, and history. While there is no need for fort, eds., 2001, Societies in Eclipse, Smithsonian yet another term covering the approach adopted Institution Press, Washington, DC). Of particular here—“bioarchaeohistory” or some other con- significance are varied histories of collapse and coction—Stojanowski’s book is a reminder that persistence across the Eastern Woodlands from the most interesting work tends to occur at such the late-16th through the late-17th centuries. boundaries. After all, there is nothing sacred Organizationally complex chiefdoms, especially about disciplinary boundaries as they are now those closely packed in the Lower Mississippi delineated in the academic firmament. Separate Valley, disappeared in the wake of high-mor- fields of study will no doubt be transformed, tality epidemics before the decline of most of perhaps utterly so, as distinctions among them the widely distributed, small, and comparatively blur through the pursuit of research questions acephalous societies that were made up of quasi- that include many of those that are of greatest autonomous villages. Epidemics must have spread significance. erratically from their points of origin, frequently burning themselves out when communication GEORGE R. MILNER among spatially discrete populations was insuf- DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY ficient to ensure pathogen transmission from one UNIVERSITY PARK, PA 16802 group to the next. 224 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 225

Transatlantic Slavery: Readers interested in the material culture of Against Human Dignity transatlantic slavery will naturally want to know ANTHONY TIBBLES (EDITOR) about the objects that comprised the exhibit. Of the 195 items included in the exhibit, nearly all Liverpool University Press, are depicted in the book either as illustrations Liverpool, England, 2005. 180 pp., for the various chapters or in the separate cata- bib., index, $40.00 paper. log section (pp. 143–176) that describes each item and its provenance. The images are one of the principal attractions of the volume, even In the early 1990s, National Museums Liv- though many of the photos are black-and-white erpool identified a significant gap in the inter- or quite small. The catalog includes photographs pretation of their city’s history: its place in of objects collected from West Africa (vessels, the slave trade. Transatlantic Slavery: Against musical instruments, trade goods such as manil- Human Dignity is the catalog that accompanied las and beads), artwork and household items the museum’s permanent exhibit of the same with abolitionist themes, as well as historic name. First published in 1994 with the opening maps, portraits, and ephemera documenting the of the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery, this second lives of the men, women, and children enmeshed edition contains the original images and essays in slavery. The objects are organized by the gal- with the addition of two new chapters. The cata- lery in which they appear, for example, West log has been reissued because National Muse- African Cultures, Destinations, Black People ums Liverpool plans to inaugurate the National in Europe, Abolition and Emancipation. Each Museum of Transatlantic Slavery in 2007. The section includes a short introductory paragraph, book serves as a thought-provoking introduction presumably from the exhibit panels. to scholarship about the international enslave- Despite the book’s primary function as a cata- ment of Africans and its consequences. log of museum artifacts, there is little explicit The 18 brief essays examine such themes discussion of material culture in the text. Refer- as capture and the Middle Passage, forms of ences to landscapes, architecture, and artifacts are resistance, the effects of the lucrative trade often generic and to all appearances based solely in Africans on African and other economies, on written records. The primary exception to this Liverpool in the African trade pre- and post- pattern is the highly detailed chapter, entitled Abolition, and the continuing legacy of slavery “‘Guineamen’: Some Technical Aspects of Slave in contemporary society. Each of the original Ships,” in which the author compares the tech- chapters began as a briefing paper for prepara- nical specifications of the ships used in human tion of the gallery, and most were written by trafficking with those engaged in other trading members of the project’s advisory committee or ventures. The only mention of archaeology or guest curators. The essays range from 5 to 10 excavation noted by this reviewer was a brief pages, including accompanying illustrations, and reference to the investigation of two slave ships, so do not contain the kind of detail one would the Fredensborg, and the Henrietta Marie. There expect to find in case studies addressing simi- is no discussion of either the archaeology of the lar subjects. The footnotes and references are African diaspora or the West African coast. also minimalist. For example, a discussion of As the editor notes, the literature on slavery the dangers of the Middle Passage (pp. 61–62) is rapidly expanding (p. 131), yet this means only refers readers to the records of the Royal that sources cited in the essays may not reflect Africa Company, making it difficult to follow up the most recent scholarship available on their on the author’s general description to discover respective subjects. It can be difficult to resolve the nature of the evidence, the prevalence of contradictions among the essays. For example, such abuses, or contemporary attitudes towards two essays claim that women were withheld the same. from European traders because they were such

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important agricultural workers in the African on the forces that led to the abolition of the context (pp. 60, 94–98), and another states that slave trade highlight the way that scholarship women were eagerly sold off because men were responds to and reflects present-day concerns. retained as the more valuable laborers (p. 104). The new concluding essay by the editor is Without greater detail, readers cannot tell if the particularly compelling. It describes the genesis difference reflects regional, temporal, or idiosyn- and arrangement of the original gallery and the cratic strategies on the part of African traders. public response. Transatlantic Slavery is the most The “Select Bibliography” is accurately char- visited gallery in the museum and has spawned acterized as “only … a basic guide to further multiple spin-off programs and exhibits. The reading” (p. 177). For such reasons, the book essay also discusses, in a very frank way, the has limited value as a reference work, but in political and practical hurdles to mounting such this reviewer’s mind, its greatest contribution is a display and considers why (to the author’s as a catalyst. The essays consistently challenge way of thinking) museums worldwide have not lay readers to reconsider received wisdom about kept pace with contemporary scholarship on slavery and its consequences, and cause special- transatlantic slavery. It provides an important ists to rethink approaches to primary sources, context for the rest of the volume, and this the categories they use, and the meaning of reviewer wishes she had read it first. their research. In summary, Transatlantic Slavery: Against The very name of the project, Transatlantic Human Dignity is a good introduction to the Slavery, is meant to foreground the people and questions and themes that drive scholarship social institutions usually glossed over in discus- about the waxing and waning of the interna- sions of “the Atlantic slave trade” (p. 13). The tional enslavement of Africans. Many readers essays convincingly argue for more attention to will want more information than the book pro- the ways in which slavery was experienced by vides, but they will have been encouraged to people with different roles, identities, and loca- think critically about the significance of these tions. For example, several essays discuss the “past” events in the present and the ways in demographic and social impact of the removal which scholars can, and should, move beyond of so many young men and women from their a focus on the “trade” to a consideration of the natal societies. The focus on women’s experi- human experiences it shaped. ences of slavery—both on the African continent and off—is another theme that appeared in a ANNA S. AGBE-DAVIES number of chapters. The essays on the relation- DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY DEPAUL UNIVERSITY ship between slavery and ideas about race and CHICAGO, IL 60614 226 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 227

Lost Gold of the Republic: John Morris, and their team from Odyssey The Remarkable Quest for the Marine Exploration) as they sought, found, and Greatest Shipwreck Treasure recovered artifacts and gold from the wreck. Odyssey Marine Exploration is a commercial of the Civil War Era firm that engages in shipwreck surveys and PRIIT J. VESILIND excavation, seeking to make a profit from Shipwreck Heritage Press, Las treasure (in this case, the subject of the title, Vegas, NV, 2005. 320 pp., 32 figs., Republic’s gold, the “greatest shipwreck treasure append., index, $24.50 cloth. of the Civil War era”) while conducting what they defend as solid archaeological research. Therein lies the crux of the problem and why On 25 October 1865, the steamer Republic this book proved a difficult sell to potential lay wallowing in heavy seas 100 miles off the reviewers by the editors of this journal. Despite coast of Georgia, hull opened to the sea, boilers the polemics that have characterized the debate dead, engines and pumps silenced. Two days of over the general topic of commercial enterprise heavy seas whipped into a frenzy by a hurricane and underwater archaeology, the work performed had battered Republic and doomed the steamer by Odyssey is technologically advanced. In the despite hours of back-breaking work by passen- frontier arena of deep-sea archaeology, and in gers and crew who were dumping cargo over- the absence of a large number of projects, this board to lighten the ship and passing buckets to work (along with the work of noncommercial bail out the flooded hold. Captain Edward Young scientists like Robert Ballard and his colleagues) gave the order to abandon Republic. There were seemingly represents the cutting edge of an not enough boats for everyone, but a makeshift evolving approach to the technical application of raft (hastily constructed by lashing spars and deepwater archaeology. Having been onsite with planks) took some men, and four overcrowded Odyssey, author Vesilind believes this is true lifeboats took the rest. When Republic sank at and opines, “Odyssey’s success addresses a criti- 4:00 P.M., 21 men remained aboard, including cal question in the world of ocean exploration: Captain Young, but the boats’ crews were able can commercial excavation be done responsibly, to pull all but 2 men from the freezing water with respect for the need for scholarly docu- in 40-foot high seas. mentation? Odyssey brings together cutting-edge The loss of Republic, laden with commodities equipment and broad goals; it combines archae- and an estimated $400,000 in specie for postwar ology and public education with new models for New Orleans, was but another of a series of financing and management” (pp. 10–11). dramatic wrecks off the hurricane-ravaged East The book is clearly pro-Odyssey, pro-com- Coast of the United States. Although dominat- mercial recovery, and yet it is not against ing the headlines of the day, Republic quickly archaeology. It is clearly against the way that passed into history, overshadowed by later the underwater archaeological community reacts wrecks, particularly those with more spectacular to and responds to projects like Odyssey’s, and and tragic results. Republic’s story would again the author criticizes the discipline’s seem- surface in the late-20th century, however, as a ing refusal to examine and review a “totally result of a quest to recover the ship’s treasure transparent enterprise” (p. 61). Vesilind cites a and story. televised debate between Stemm and George F. In Lost Gold of the Republic, author Priit Bass and notes that there was common ground; Vesilind, journalist and former editor at for Bass it was the realization that they were National Geographic magazine, weaves a tale “from different worlds but sharing a thirst for that alternates between the saga of Republic (the knowledge about what lay deep in the ocean,” steamer’s crew, passengers, and demise) and the while for Stemm it was thinking how he could saga of modern-day wreck seekers (Greg Stemm, “separate truly significant shipwreck artifacts

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from ship’s cargo … it might not be neces- entrepreneurs and archaeologists (yes, there sary to keep hundreds of the same bottle, coin are) who also know the answer. Then there is or brick …” (p. 63). The author is dismissive the vast majority of the public who are firmly of the counter to this argument, where there is in the middle and who do not participate in the no common ground on this issue. Archaeolo- debate but, instead, would see this book and this gists have a defined code of practice and ethics project as archaeology and, more to the point, which clearly state that there is an inherent as archaeology that is being shared with them conflict of interest in selling artifacts that one through television programs, DVD sales, this excavates, even if it is to fund the dig. That is book, a National Geographic magazine article, where, technological and technical expertise of and (if they have the resources) through buying Odyssey and cutting-edge applications notwith- a coin from the wreck. The story of that wreck standing, archaeologists part ways with those in and the people involved in it is compelling and commercial recovery. told well by Vesilind. For average nonarchae- This debate is as old as the discipline of ologist readers, the debate is pointless. They underwater archaeology, and it has yet to reach have their history, recovered from the sea, and any resolution or middle ground. It is not the delivered to them for anywhere from $24.50 to purpose of this review to rehash the debate. a free loan from the public library—or through Each side has an argument and a counter- buying a coin for which this book so ably mar- argument. This dispute will continue, perhaps kets an historical context. throughout the 21st century, especially at a time If there is a lesson to be learned from that when an apparent public appetite for spectacle, fact, it is something that a number of archae- not scholarship, exists and where everything ologists have come to realize, namely that is deemed a commodity—even the products academic researchers must also reach out to of the mind. The past is increasingly seen as members of the public, to engage and excite something to be sold or marketed. To the 21st- them and to be relevant to them. That means century public, history and archaeology face a more popular publications, more exhibits, more challenge to be “relevant,” “cost-effective,” or articles in the media, more websites, and more “marketable,” be that for tourism, television opportunities for the public to see what archae- programs, and books or for government, corpo- ologists do and why. The question of whether rate, or private donor support. a middle ground exists has not yet been proven In the debate of what constitutes right and for archaeologists, and this book will not answer proper underwater, maritime, or nautical archae- the question. ology, there are archaeologists on one side of the divide who see this book and this project JAMES P. DELGADO and know what the answer is. On the other side INSTITUTE OF NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY PO DRAWER HG of the divide, there are commercially minded COLLEGE STATION, TX 77841 228 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 229

American Artifacts of Personal research to reconstruct these different historical Adornment, 1680–1820: standards, including journals, diaries, publications A Guide to Identification on proper behavior, shop records, newspaper advertisements, probate inventories, wills, and Interpretation portraiture, and secondary literature of fashion CAROLYN L. WHITE historians. In considering what each source AltaMira Press, Lanham, MD, 2005. contributes to this study, White also discusses 147 pp., 75 figs., tables, refs., index, the deficiencies and biases of the sources. $44.95 paper. White credits archaeology for being a com- paratively equitable and unbiased medium for studying the past. The archaeological material in this volume centers solely on recovered arti- Carolyn White’s American Artifacts of Personal facts of personal adornment. Those chosen for Adornment is the latest publication from AltaMira inclusion were from excavations of five domestic Press as part of its American Association for sites in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There is State and Local History series. Inclusion within no descriptive or quantitative data presented on this series may seem an odd choice because the these investigations or on the artifacts them- other books are primarily manuals designed to selves, although the temporal span of the guide assist public historians as they explore local (1680–1820) is based solely on the historical histories, operate small museums, and preserve occupation of these sites. This is appropriate, as historic architecture. In actuality, this mate- these dates also represent several distinct periods rial culture study on the evolution of historical of fashion before the industrial revolution. White clothing and its accoutrements is a much needed cautions that the historical sources and artifacts and well-chosen addition. Adapted from her 2002 here are solely related to fashion and dress in Boston University dissertation, White’s desire to New England during the late-17th through early- create a comprehensive guide that “traces the 19th centuries, even though the material in this technical, temporal, and diagnostic characteristics volume certainly offers larger geographic appli- of personal adornment” is largely a successful cability within the British colonial sphere. one (p. 1). It will benefit archaeologists as well Subtitled A Guide to Identification and as the public history communities of museolo- Interpretation, this is not a reference book for gists, re-enactors, and costumed interpreters. archaeologists who simply wish to classify their White asserts that previous artifact studies of recovered buttons by the comparative typologies personal adornment suffer largely from a number of Stanley Olsen (American Antiquity 28[4]: of problems, most notably their lack of use in 551–554) or Stanley South (Florida Anthropolo- historical or cultural analyses and their failure gist 17[2]:113–133). With a recurring theme of to understanding the “meaning” of such items “precise identification is the key to meaningful to those who wore them. To help overcome interpretation,” on a basic level White’s book these shortcomings, White devotes the first does discriminate subtleties of different personal two chapters to the theoretical perspective and adornment artifacts (p. 10). Through ample text historical sources used in creating this volume. and illustration, this volume allows its users to Grounded in a postmodern paradigm, White provide more detailed identification by very spe- links the concept of identity to the selection cific function, such as how to distinguish stock of personal adornments. This union reveals buckles from knee buckles or coat buttons from how individuals choose to present themselves, waistcoat buttons. but it may also be used to consider what were To assist with this “precise identification,” the appropriate, expected, and desired standards for larger group of personal adornment artifacts is different genders, ages, ethnicities, and social divided into four functional classes: fasteners, classes. White employs extensive historical jewelry, hair accessories, and miscellaneous

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accessories, each of which is detailed in matched on the clothing of those with lesser individual chapters. Clothing fasteners is the means. Such observations are the strongest largest section, as it details the most functionally throughout the volume with regard to what was diverse (and most often recovered) artifact types gender appropriate and socially desirable among of aglets, buckles, buttons, clasp fasteners, the upper economic classes. In this manner, and hooks and eyes. Jewelry encompasses White offers archaeologists greater access to many types of clothing accoutrements: beads, the historical occupants of a site, often on an bracelets, broaches, clasps, earrings, necklaces, individual level, by the connection of recovered miniatures, pendants, rings, and miscellaneous artifacts to specific garments or furnishings. It stones, gems, and seals. Combs, wig curlers, and is possible that more could have been presented other ornaments are described in the chapter on on variations due to ethnicity and age, but this hair accessories. Miscellaneous accessories is the appears to have been largely dictated by regional most diverse of the four categories and details biases within the primary sources. many different artifact types, including chains, The volume is extremely well referenced, fans, watches, metallic textiles, cosmetic tools, with endnotes and an overall bibliography in even spurs and swords. These organizational each chapter. The numerous historical illustra- classes and associated artifact types are very tions and portraits are suitable, as are the many appropriate and could easily be integrated into tables of primary source data. More images of virtually any existing catalog system. actual artifacts would have been helpful, espe- The numerous individual artifact types found cially in the few areas where descriptions are within each chapter and category are all well vague: for example, “Archaeologists should described, including the various shapes, metric be aware that small pieces of wire and metal measurements, and basic materials from which could be employed to support [women’s] hair” they were made. Physical signatures that pro- (p. 115). The text was well written but repeti- vide insight into general periods of manufacture tive at times. Some of the background history are discussed for a number of the artifacts. and detail on the four classes of personal adorn- Wonderfully reminiscent of older archaeology ment artifacts had been previously published in publications, many of the artifact types are White’s contributed entries on “buttons” and described, shown in photographs or line art, and “dress” in Charles Orser’s Encyclopedia of then further illustrated with period portraiture to Historical Archaeology, pp. 75–76 and 160–161, demonstrate how the item was worn or used. The respectively (Routledge, London, 2002), but its accompanying rich, detailed historical background reuse here is appropriate. and documentation for each artifact provides a Most apparent is the lack of a conclusion or sound historical context for the evolution of summary. This volume simply ends after the faddish styles during different decades from the chapter on miscellaneous accessories. It would late-17th through the early-19th centuries. have been nice to see an overall conclusion or Despite the abundance of basic data useful perhaps a summary of the artifact data from the in artifact identification, it is the “meaningful different sites and what these artifacts say about interpretation” that comprises the strongest aspect the identities of their historical occupants. For of this volume. The wealth of anthropological archaeologists, a list of further research ques- data gleaned by White from the historical tions or testable statements about personal sources, specifically on gender, age, ethnicity, adornment artifacts found on contemporane- and social class, is incredibly illuminating. For ous British colonial sites in other regions or example, the 17th- and 18th-century buttons countries would have been equally appropriate. recovered by archaeologists are almost exclusively Even in the absence of such, White’s American from male clothing. Contemporary garments for Artifacts of Personal Adornment is recommended females generally relied on cloth closures until a as an important contribution to this often unde- fashionable shift to buttons occurred in the 19th rutilized class of artifacts. century. Store records, newspaper accounts, and other sources detail how those of upper economic THOMAS E. BEAMAN, JR. status favor multiples of the same button style TAR RIVER ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH 5210 CARR ROAD on their garments, whereas the buttons rarely WILSON, NC 27893 230 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 231

Sampling Many Pots: An Archaeology authors’ efforts to situate historical archaeology of Memory and Tradition at a in the Bahamas within broader theoretical con- Bahamian Plantation versations about the African diaspora by draw- ing on a wealth of interdisciplinary literature. LAURIE A. WILKIE AND The result is a book that should be of interest PAUL FARNSWORTH to those working on plantation-period studies University Press of Florida, or diasporic communities in any geographic Gainesville, 2005. 384 pp., 62 figs., context, as well as to those with a particular bib., index, $65.00 cloth. interest in the Bahamas. The first chapter develops the theoretical- con text for this study, which focuses primarily on Most archaeological work in the Bahamas the African and Creole populations brought to the has been confined to the prehistoric period and islands under British colonial rule. Discussions of the years immediately surrounding Columbus’s diaspora, memory, and practice are not uncom- landfall on the island of San Salvador in 1492. mon themes in historical archaeology, but the Prehistorians are concerned primarily with the authors do an exceptional job of building a series initial populating of the Bahamas and the adap- of clear and relevant links among wide bodies of tations and lifeways of the Lucayan populations. theoretical literature. The result is an analytical Others are interested in establishing the Baha- framework that seeks to understand how com- mas’ rightful place in the story of Columbian munities of individuals originating from diverse contact with the New World and, to a lesser cultural backgrounds in Africa both retain and extent, understanding the implications of Euro- reconfigure cultural identities through individual pean contact in the years immediately following and collective memories and practices. Columbus’s arrival. The following three chapters develop an Historical archaeology has a 30-year history historical context for an archaeological study in the Bahamas, with most efforts being directed of Clifton Plantation on a variety of scales. towards understanding the plantation period Chapter 2 is a concise presentation of Baha- that immediately followed the British loyalists’ mian history and prehistory, from the original arrivals to the islands in the late-18th century. Lucayan population of the islands through the These efforts have not been as intensive or as arrival of the loyalists. Chapter 3 is an impres- widespread as those focused on earlier periods, sive historical treatment of the question of but an ever-increasing number of historians and African origins of Bahamian populations. The archaeologists from the Bahamas and the United authors contextualize this issue in a wealth of States are centering their attentions on these secondary sources on the slave trade and Afri- more recent periods of Bahamian history. can toponyms to demonstrate the difficulty of Sampling Many Pots is a groundbreaking work reconstructing African origins. What follows is in the historical archaeology of the Bahamas, an extremely useful and thorough synthesis of particularly when understood in this context. the many different conduits and mechanisms that This book is the first monograph-length work brought Africans to the Bahamas, the resulting in Bahamian historical archaeology and presents demographic profiles of those populations, and a comprehensive historical and archaeological the types of information about daily cultural picture of Clifton Plantation on the island of practices that can be derived from such knowl- New Providence. The thorough documentation of edge. The final historical chapter presents the a loyalist plantation that includes research into individuals who comprised the community at the lives of all members of a plantation com- Clifton Plantation, including William Wylly, the munity in itself represents a significant contribu- famous “reformer” of Bahamian slavery. It also tion to the literature. Equally significant are the presents a collective history as well as family or

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individual histories of the enslaved and liberated The final chapter ties together the themes Africans who resided at Clifton. of memory and practice that run throughout The subsequent four chapters address the the text. Considering the role of memory and archaeological materials recovered from three meaning in the context of daily practice at Clif- seasons of fieldwork in the late 1990s. Chapter ton Plantation demonstrates the possibilities of 5 provides a systematic overview of methods understanding shifting cultural identities through and results and provides richly detailed material choices and behavioral practices. The information on site architecture and landscapes still-elusive nature of meaning and memory, that fill a necessary niche in understanding even within such a well-documented context, Bahamian plantations. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 points to where archaeologists can build upon provide interpretations of the archaeological the analytical framework developed in this text. record through a variety of perspectives that This work also opens doors to future directions apply the analytical framework developed in in Bahamian historical archaeology in both time the first chapter. Chapter 6 is a presentation of and space. Loyalist plantations were established landscape that begins with a discussion of the on most major islands in the Bahamas archi- plantation landscape and architecture that would pelago. The majority of those communities lack have been created by Wylly’s design. This the rich historical record of Clifton plantation discussion is paired with a rich archaeological and the relative proximity to the capital city of and ethnographic discussion of yard spaces in Nassau. Sampling Many Pots offers theoretical the Bahamas to demonstrate how such spaces insights and a rich comparative record of Baha- were adapted to the preferred practices and mian plantation life that will be of great use to social meanings and memories that would have researchers working elsewhere in the Bahamas. been salient to African and Creole residents. The relevance of questions about creolization, Chapter 7 explores archaeological evidence of memory, and tradition extend well beyond the foodways at Clifton in order to demonstrate plantation period and into the 19th and early- continuities in practices and meanings shared 20th centuries, thereby extending the utility of with West African cultures. Chapter 8 looks at the framework of memory and practice devel- consumer choices made by enslaved populations oped in this work. as they traded and exchanged goods in the markets of Nassau. This chapter is closely JANE EVA BAXTER aligned to Wilkie’s other works on this subject, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY DEPAUL UNIVERSITY but the discussion here is expanded and CHICAGO, IL 60614-2458 particularly enriched by the analytical model presented in chapter 1. 232 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) REVIEWS 233

A Historical and Economic used to conduct comparative studies in other Geography of Ottoman Greece: geographical regions that were once part of the The Southwestern Morea in the Ottoman Empire (pp.1, 12, n. 11). The introduction to this book presents an Eighteenth Century overview of the state of archaeological and his- FARIBA ZARINEBAF, JOHN BENNET, torical research pertaining to the Ottoman period AND JACK L. DAVIS in the area of Pylos and, on a broader scale, The American School of Classical in Greece as a whole. The Ottoman period in Studies, Athens, Greece, 2005. 328 Greece is generally ignored by archaeologists pp., 92 figs., refs., append., index, because it is not as glamorous as the classical periods (p. 2). Archaeologists also tend to shy $45.00 paper (with CD-ROM). away from this period because it is generally assumed that only texts, and not archaeology, can provide meaningful insights into early This volume is the product of a collabora- modern Greece (p. 2). Lastly, this time span is tive study carried out by an Ottomanist, Fariba ignored by some scholars, as it is an unpleasant Zarinebaf, and two classical archaeologists, John reminder of Ottoman occupation (pp. 2, 9). Bennet and Jack L. Davis. This publication is The first chapter by Zarinebaf presents an their “first attempt” to use Ottoman documents economic and social history of Morea from the in order to write an economic and social history Ottoman conquest in the 15th century until the of the Greek Peloponnese from the 15th through Greek Revolution in 1821. Her analysis is based 18th centuries (p. xv). The subject matter and primarily on Ottoman documents, including West- content of their publication are based on an ern and secondary sources. She describes various Ottoman cadastral survey dated to A.D. 1716 changes in administration and taxation in Morea (pp. xv, 6). This cadastral survey, Tapu Tahrir under Ottoman rule. Information concerning 880 (TT880), was conducted in the Anavarin çifliks (large farms) in Anavarin is discussed in region of the Peloponnese, that is to say, the order to address the “çiflik” debate between Otto- environs of contemporary Pylos. A portion of manists and Balkan historians (pp. 40–47). the area included in the Ottoman cadastral In chapter 2, Zarinebaf presents her transla- survey has been subsequently surveyed by the tions into English of two Ottoman documents Pylos Regional Archaeological Project. The created for and used during the Ottoman authors’ research was conducted under the aegis administration of the Peloponnese. The first is of this expedition (p. 6). The rational for the the Ottoman imperial law code (TK71), kanun- present study is in part attributed by the authors name, which was used for the administration of to the success of a similar collaborative research the Vilayet of Morea in the early-18th century project carried out by the Cambridge-Bradford (pp. 49–53). This kanunname is included at the Boiotia Expedition (p. 5, n. 18). beginning of the chapter because it “established A Historical and Economic Geography of the general legal framework within which Otto- Ottoman Greece is intended to address two man officials administered the Morea” (p. 49). separate yet potentially complimentary audi- Among the provisions in this law code is the ences, namely archaeologists and historians amount of the head tax, ispence, levied by the (pp. 6, 8). The authors hoped to demonstrate Ottoman administration on non-Muslim popula- to the former, which they successfully did, the tions. For example, Christians and Jews were utility of Ottoman documents as aids for recon- required to pay 25 and 125 akces, respectively structing patterns of “settlement, land use and (p. 51). Other provisions include the amount of toponymy” in archaeological research (p. 6). taxes to be collected for agricultural produce They also demonstrated to the latter that the and for various types of land holdings (pp. wealth of data contained in TT880 could be 50–53). These amounts varied depending upon

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whether the individuals or families were Muslim issues (pp. 151–198). The second objective is or non-Muslim (for example, p. 52). to demonstrate how archaeological data can The bulk of chapter 2 is devoted to a transla- improve “understanding of Ottoman cadastral tion of selected portions of the cadastral survey surveys such as TT880” (p. 151). This short for the district of Anavarin (pp. 54–110). Black- segment is perhaps the weakest and most and-white facsimiles of the relevant pages from disappointing in the volume (pp. 204–209). the original document are included in PDF The authors marshaled two lines of evidence format on a CD-ROM attached to the inside to demonstrate how archaeology aids in back cover of the book (p. 49, n. 1). The level “understanding” TT880 (pp. 204–208). For of detail and the amount of demographic and the first example, they note that archaeological economic information contained in TT880 is surveys had located “almost all of the karyes, staggering. This is illustrated by the information çifliks, and mazra´as registered in TT880” contained in the listing for Çiflik of Kukunare (p. 204). The second example presents in (No. 22), including the dimensions of structures detail how archaeological data resolved one and the types and quantities fruit trees found on of the “more complex cartographic problems” this property. Also recorded is the presence of concerning the location of the Çiflik of Rustem three sharecroppers who worked on this çiflik, Aga as described in TT880 (p. 204). as well as the number of oxen needed to plow While these issues are certainly legitimate, the its farmland. Naturally, TT880 also documents data in TT880 can be used to provide insights the amounts and types of taxes levied on this on a range of subjects of interest to a broader property, and lastly the entry describes its neigh- archaeological audience. For instance, there is a boring properties or natural boundaries. considerable amount of information pertinent to In chapter 3, Bennet and Davis use TT880 issues related to room function and site aban- to reconstruct the human geography of Anavarin donment. Using the data in this document, it is during the early-18th century. As a result of possible to determine the amount of space used previous research, they decided to concentrate for stabling and storage at individual çifliks in on identifying locations of “minor toponyms, Anavarin. For example, at the Çiflik of Papla especially the boundaries of çifliks, karyes, or Çiflik of Mustafa Aga, 3% of the built-up and the names of mazra’as” (p. 115). For space was used for storage, while 18% of the additional information, Bennet and Davis used architecture served for stabling animals. The a wide range of historical documents, such courtyard at this settlement comprised 40% as French and Venetian cartographic materi- of the enclosed space, while architecture that als, 17th-century engravings, and other source presumably was used for domestic activities, material (pp. 111–114). Some of the difficul- including multistory structures, represented 39% ties they experienced in identifying toponyms of the built-up space (p. 75). Not all the çifliks are in part attributed to the fact that names recorded in TT880 had barns/stables or storage “of non-Greek origin have been ‘purified’ since facilities, and this raises the question of where the establishment of the modern Greek state” the animals were kept and the agricultural pro- (p. 114). Based on their research, Bennet and duce stored (for example, p. 85, Çiflik of Pile, Davis suggest that the organization of the locali- No. 31). ties recorded in TT880 may “reflect the daily Concerning the subject of site abandonment, activities of the administrator who compiled the TT880 provides insights on the complex occupa- information” (p. 116). In the end, Bennet and tional history of some of the çifliks in Anavarin. Davis succeeded in physically locating 86% of Excluding settlements that functioned as either the çifliks, karyes, and mazra’as mentioned in a mazra´a or çiflik, 24 çifliks are recorded in TT880 (pp. 115–144). TT880 (pp. 149–150, Table 3.1). Of these 24 Chapter 4 is by all three authors and its settlements, 4 apparently did not contain domes- purpose is twofold. First, the information in tic architecture (nos. 13, 28, 34, 45). At 12 çif- TT880 is used to determine the “the distribution liks, the domestic architecture, storerooms, and of population and variability in the nature of stables were intact (nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 14, 19, agriculture in the district of Anavarin” (p. 20, 22, 23, 29, 31). In contrast, at four çifliks 151). The bulk of the chapter addresses these all the domestic architecture was completely 234 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 41(2) in ruin at the time of the survey (nos. 9, 13, the 18th century (p. 211). Perhaps the greatest 37, 39). At an additional four çifliks, some legacy of this collaborative study is that the structures/rooms were intact and others were authors provide “a cartography and geography of in a state of collapse when they were surveyed Ottoman Anavarin” that can be used to develop by the Ottoman administration (nos. 4, 12, 15, archaeologically testable hypotheses (p. 212). 36). For example, at the Çiflik of Alafine, 42% Following the concluding chapter, additional of the domestic architecture was in ruin at the information is presented in four appendixes time of the survey (p. 60). and concordances. In the concluding chapter, the authors place The volume contains 92 black-and-white their research within a larger methodological figures with color copies of these images on framework, one that seeks to draw attention the attached CD-ROM. This additional data is to the wealth of information contained in the an excellent service to the reader. The layout, Ottoman archives housed in Istanbul. In order printing, and binding are well done, making this to illustrate this point, they used TT880 to a sturdy and attractive volume. develop a highly detailed socio-economic his- A Historical and Economic Geography of tory of Anavarin/Morea during the Ottoman Ottoman Greece: The Southwestern Morea in period (p. 211). In this portion of the volume, the Eighteenth Century is a magisterial work, the authors also outline what they believe to be a major contribution to understanding of this the major contributions of their research. One area of Greece during the Ottoman period. The contribution among the many is that they were authors are to be congratulated for achieving able to demonstrate demographic stability among their objectives, and one can only hope that the non-Muslims who lived in Anavarin during scholars working in other regions of the Medi- the Ottoman period. The demographic decline terranean basin will follow their lead. among non-Muslims that did occur happened during the wars between the Ottoman Empire BENJAMIN SAIDEL and Venice during the second half of the 17th DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY century and continued until the beginning of GREENVILLE, NC 27858-4353