300 BOOK REVIEWS

p. 128, is in fact a goat, an error to be rectified in the next edition. This chapter details old methods of manufacture and inks. The next one covers conditions of preservation, laboratory treatment and restoration. It discusses the hoary myth of the covering of cathedral doors with human skin. I have myself refuted one example by identifying remains of cattle hair in the skin. Chapter 7 deals with the use of ultra violet light in the examination of ancient skin, tanning being indicated by decreased fluorescence. Chapter 8 covers chemical tests for tanning agents, and the final chapter details methods of physical examination, including the use of the shrinkage temperature to indicate the date of parchment. Figure 7 showing a vertical section of calf skin might usefully have had guide lines to identify the different parts, as should Figure 12 showing a horizontal section of sheepskin, although here the caption is more explicit. Finally, is not the index far too meagre for a book of such detail and complexity?

Although 1 have detailed some of the errors and inadequacies of the book at some length, it is nevertheless an important reference work and the first of its kind.

M. L. R.wfer

Pal&orient, Vol. 1. 1973. L’Association Pal&orient, Paris. pp. 140. F.45 per issue. Archaeological investigations today encompass methods of study that not long ago were never envisaged under the word “archaeology”. Different disciplines, scientific and technological, now combine to extract the last possible fragment of information from each site. Archaeology in the Near East has sometimes appeared ambivalent in this respect; some excavators have paid very little attention to anything but the traditional business of archaeology, yet in the same area some of the most significant steps have been taken in the appIicat.ion of scientific and other techniques to important sites, with results whose value is apparent to all.

A new journal, Pul&wient, has come into being which recognizes this value and seeks to promote it. It is intended that the journal will appear quarterly in due course, but in 1973 and in 1974 there will be only two issues each year. Papers are limited to those referring directly to the prehistory and protohistory of southwest Asia, but even in this one issue they range widely in subject; palaeobotany and geophysical applications rub shoulders with palaeolithic typology and the statistical analysis of painted pottery, to mention only a few of the eleven papers in the first issue.

The journal publishes reviews and, very valuably, a bibliography of papers relating to this region published in the last two years or so. It has an international board of distinguished scientists and archaeologists. Papers are accepted in English or French.

The Journal of Archaeological Science, an even younger newcomer to the field of interdisciplinary publications, congratulates Pulkorienr on the quality of its first issue. both in format and of the material presented, and wishes it every success over the coming years.

G. W. Ditnbleby

Seed to Civilization-The Story of Man’s Food. By Charles B. Heiser, Jr. 1973. xii + 243 pp. Illustrations. Index. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Co. $3.50. This book follows the development of seeds as the basis of man’s food from the earliest origins of agriculture right up to the present-day predicament of the world’s food supply.

BOOK REVIEWS 30 I

Seed agriculture led to the expansion of early agriculture and now in seed agriculture lies the hope of feeding the enormous population that agriculture made possible. The book is comprehensive and informative, covering most Continents and climates. and is profusely illustrated with well-chosen figures.

Horses, Asses and Zebras in the Wild. By Colin P. Groves. 1974. 192 pp. Illustrations. Index. London: David and Charles. 53.50. This small book considers in general terms the history and natural history of wild horses and their relatives. There is also some consideration of the domestication of these species. In general it provides a good introduction, but care should be taken with regard to the taxonomy of these mammals. It is nicely but not lavishly illustrated, and is somewhat expensive for an introductory work.

DRB

Race By John R. Baker. 1974. xviii + 625 pp. Illustrations. Index. London : Oxford University Press. &6-50. This is an attempt to consider the biology of race formation in relation to human popula- tions-both past and present. It is written by a senior Oxford zoologist who has no special expertise in the field of anthropology. Nevertheless, he produces a worthwhile broad review of a difficult subject. It deserves to become accepted as a reference work. though it is hoped that not all the statements will be taken too seriously, and particularly his somewhat elaborate and debatable scheme of racial divisions.

DRB

The Riddle qf’ the Pyramids. By Kurt Mendelssohn. 1974. 224 pp. Illustrations. Index. London: Thames and Hudson. f3.50. The pyramids of the eastern Mediterranean area and Central America have long aroused interest, have been compared in structure and shape, and have given rise to speculation as regards their affinities, and possible diffusionist significance. Although this book has a relatively popular style, it in fact contains much factual information on pyramid con- structions-especially Egyptian-and the reasons for these funerary monuments. The main thesis of the book is that although the construction of the large Egyptian pyramid may have been related to burial practice, it was far more than this to the society as a whole. Indeed, his view is that the fundamental object of the pyramid was to be found in the act of construction itself-with the employment of massive labour forces as the main political and economic object, essential to the formation of a centralised state. Although this theory was the result of studying in detail the construction of Egyptian monuments, Mendelssohn also considers this solution is equally applicable to Mexican pyramids. A nicely produced and very readable book.

DRB