Archaeology Magazine - October 1970 - 85

tive craftsmen who freely showed
him their work and discussed their
practices.Only in two areas was he
unable to probe as deeply as he
wished- one, in the dyeing of fabrics and the other, in the ceramic
method of making blue faïence
beads. Later, in 1966, Dr. Wulff
did observe the faïence preparation
and his complete report was published in Archaeology 21 (1968)
pages 98-107.
In 1967his untimely death ended
a fascinatingcareer, but not before
he had finished this major work
which will stand as his memorial.
Joseph V. Noble
MetropolitanMuseum of Art
THESEA:A Manualfor
HISTORY
UNDER
UnderwaterExploration,by MENDEL
Peterson, xv, 208 pages, 56 plates,
1 map, 14 tables, bibliography.
Smithsonian Institution Press, City
of Washington 1969 (Distributed
by RandomHouse) $5.95
Published originally as a softcover edition by the Smithsonian
Institution in 1965, this excellent
and updated manual will be a much
valued handbook and guide for
amateur and professional underwater explorers alike. In the relatively new field of underwater archaeology, such a manual is long
overdue. Since most underwater
sites have been discoveredby amateur and professional divers rather
than by professional archaeologists,
much important data and specimens
as well are being lost to sciencedue
to the inability of the divers to
properly evaluate and preserve
them. While this manual does not
intend to replace the archaeologist,
it will indeed be most helpful to
divers who accidentally discover
sunken shipwrecks or groups of
artifacts in localities where professional help or guidance is unavailable. Since underwater archaeology
is still an infant science,the manual
will also be exceedinglyuseful to
professionalarchaeologists(whether
they dive or not) and to students.
With his well-known, meticulous
attention to detail and with the aid
of diagramsand photographs,Peterson accurately describes the latest
and most up-to-date technique on
how to recognize,survey, map, excavate and identify an underwater
site or shipwreck; how to preserve
the organic and inorganic material

INSTITUTE
FOR MEDITERRANEAN
STUDIES
Seminars
1971OverseasArchaeological
1. FROMCARTHAGE
TO CAIROJan. 7-28,1971
Phoenician,
Greek,RomanNorthAfrica,Dynastic-Roman
Egypt
2. FROMDANTOBEERSHEBAJuly3-Aug.6, 1971
AncientPalestine,all periodsand fieldarchaeology;
also Athens,
Delphi,Corinth
3. FROMTHEACROPOLIS
TOTHEBOSPORUS
July31-Aug.30,1971
SouthernGreece,Peloponnesus,
Crete, Rhodes,Cyprus,Western
Turkey
Visitand studyarchaeological
and museums;
lecturesby
sites,excavations
excavators
and scholars;experienced
academic
and profesdistinguished
sionalleadership.
Fordetailedinformation,
write
'
1
Executive
Director
Institutefor Mediterranean
Studies
I
1533Shattuck
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I
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m
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Berkeley,

the Yale BabylonianCollection.Of
Neo-Babylonianand early Achaemenid date, these documentsshed new
light on guild structure and the
status of Mesopotamian craftsmen
in the sixth century B.c. The monograph as a whole is bound to stimulate new research on such matters
not only in this period but also in
the earlier epochs of Mesopotamian
history.
The center of interest is Text 1
(YBC 3499) which ProfessorWeisberg terms a "Craftsmen's Charter."
Dated early in the reign of Cyrus
(probably 535/4 b.c.) the text records an agreement between high
officials of the Eanna temple at
Uruk and a group of craftsmen,
workers in gold, silver and wood.
The craftsmen promise to confine
their activities to performing services in demand at the temple and
not to do similar work for other
religiousestablishments.The author
concludesfrom this and other documents that, far from being mere
employees of the state, craftsmen
of this type belongedto craft guilds
were independentorganizations
GUILD
STRUCTURE
ANDPOLITICAL
AL- that
LEGIANCE
IN EARLYACHAEMENIDable to enter voluntarily into such
agreements.
MESOPOTAMIA,
by David B. WeisSpace is lacking to elaborate on
berg. xviii, 129 pages, 9 plates, Yale this
and other fascinating topicsNew
Haven
1967
Press,
University
and the like- disapprenticeship
Near
Eastern
Researches,1)
(Yale
in this slender volume. Intercussed
$8.50
pretations of the evidence alternaProfessor Weisberg's monograph, tive to those suggestedby Professor
originally his doctoral dissertation, Weisberg will certainly occur to his
provides an extensive and interest- readers at various points, and some
ing commentaryon eight previously minor criticisms might be made.
unpublished cuneiform texts from One wonders, for example, why in

recovered during the excavation,
and how to describeand publish the
data collected. The photographic
series and line drawings on how to
identify and date coins, ceramics,
guns, anchors,pipes, ship nails, rum
and olive bottles, etc. will serve the
professionals and amateurs alike.
There is also a carefully selected
bibliography.One would only wish
that Peterson had not restricted
himself to sunken ships and to the
Caribbean specifically (the area
with which he is most familiar),
but that he would have also introduced the reader to the equally important finds and underwater archaeologicaltechniques used in the
Mediterranean and in the sacred
lakes and cenotesof Central America. This notwithstanding, Peterson
should be congratulated for bringing this fascinating and rapidly becoming popular facet of archaeology to the reading public in a vivid,
conciseand readable fashion.
Stephan F. Borhegyi t

357

Archaeology Magazine - October 1970

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - October 1970