Archaeology Magazine - September 1964 - 66

the study, which is presented with
full awareness of its archaeological
and convincingillustraimplications
PREtions of the meaning of pottery in
culture.
COLUMBIAN
The chapters do not hold equal
interest for the general reader. The
ART
foreword by Richard B. Woodbury
is written with characteristicbreadth
of view and insight. Chapter 1,
summarizingearlier studies,includes
Specializing in
many bits of historical information.
Chapter 2, "Modern Papago Pottery," written by the ethnologists
WEST
Fontana and Cormack, is the heart
of the book. It describes the status
COAST
of the potter, the role of pottery in
economicrelations, shapes and uses,
CULTURE
processes of manufacture, preparation for use, and the potter as innovator, a sharp contrast in scope to
reports of a generation ago, when
Wilson Galleries
the subject was covered by description of technique alone. In Chapter
400 Canyon Road
3, "Time and Space," the archaeSanta Fe
ologist Robinson reviews the probNew Mexico
lem of the relationship of the
Papagos to the prehistoricHohokam
Tel. 982-8911
of the area, following familiar archaeologicalgrooves. A comparison
of vessel shapes in the two cultures
afforded no evidence of relationneither did a study of design,
ship;
to use such pseudo-Arabisms as summarized in
Chapter 4. The auKhalif and Khalifate instead of the thors believe that
lack of an adeand
good English Caliph
Caliphate. quate sample of pottery from an
an
is
Figure 7,
inscription, repro- intermediate period explains the
duced upside down. The specialist failure. The wisdom
to
will surely overlooksome other slips demonstrate it from of seeking
pottery alone
in view of the overall usefulness
may be questioned. The description
and readabilityof the book.
of "pottery types" from 1700 to the
George C. Miles
present (Chapter 3) summarizes
AmericanNumismatic Society
indirectly the changes that have occurred in the craft and adds the inof a potter who has
PAFAGOINDIANPOTTERY,
by BER- teresting story
in tourist trade, adopting
NARDL. Fontana, William J. specialized
a wheel and kiln.
Robinson, Charles W. Cormack
The concluding chapter, a brief
and Ernest E. Leavitt, Jr. xviii,
is stimulating becausethe
summary,
163 pages, 129 figures. University authors indicate
a broader approach
of Washington Press for American to
the study of pottery than that
Seattle
1962 current in American
Ethnological Society,
archaeology
$5.75
today. They raise challengingquesArchaeologistshave learned many tions (p. 134) about pottery in
things about pottery from native economicrelations and its mirroring
potters, probably more than they of change in custom. They offer no
realize. In the Southwest, they have answers, leaving the student to ingenerally turned to Pueblo Indians, terpret for himself. They forget
whose craft is more advanced than this wise counselwhen they suggest
that of the Indians of southern Ari- (p. 135) the Papago as a model
zona. Papago Indian Pottery takes from which to judge when pottery
up the story of these neglectedpot- analysisceasesto have meaning and
ters and describes the place of becomes a "technologicalexercise."
pottery in their history. Ethnologists Features such as rim form and temand an archaeologistcollaboratedin per, meaninglessin Papago pottery,
218

have been valuable means of studying sequencesof style and locating
centers of production in other cultures. Pottery is exceedingly complex and has played many roles;
the guide for its study is thorough
understanding and freedom from
narrow concepts.
Fontana proposes (p. 17) that
the ethnohistoricapproach followed
in this study may be unique. Accounts such as that of the demand
for water jars in Tucson after
"Anglos" came into the country and
the effect on Papago economy of
cotton production in southern Arizona during World War I are highlights of interest and give force to
the argument that pottery should be
studied in relation to total culture.
The ethnohistoric approach is a
major contribution of the work.
Anna O. Shepard
Carnegie Institution of Washington
and Early
CATALOGUE
of the Byzantine
in the Dumbarton
MediaevalAntiquities
Oaks Collection.VolumeI: Metalwork,
Ceramics,Glass, Glyptic,Painting,by
Marvin C. Ross, xv, 115 pages, 65
plates, frontispiece in color. The
Trustees for Harvard University,
Washington, D. C. 1962 $10.00
This admirable book, the first of
a two-volume publication, is welcomed both by specialists and by
the friends of the important collection at Dumbarton Oaks. Dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Woods Bliss, founders of the collection, it contains 131 entries. The
objects are classified according to
material, and the presentation of
the information follows the form
adopted by Miss G. Richter in her
Catalogue of the Greek and Roman
Antiquities in the same collection.
Each description is followed by a
discussion of the material, technique, problems of interpretation,
provenance,date of acquisitionand
complete bibliography. All of the
items are well illustrated, some being published for the first time.
(Acquisitionssince I960 are not included).
Each object in its particular way
and degree is of significanceto students of Byzantine and early mediaeval culture. For example, the
silver paten from Riha (No. 10)
depicting the Communion of the
Apostles is of significanceaesthetically, liturgically, iconographically,

Archaeology Magazine - September 1964

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - September 1964