Archaeology Magazine - October 1974 - 65

ful even though the descriptionof the
sagittalridge on the proximalend of the
middle phalanges of the bear- as of
- needsillustration.The
other carnivores
same is true of severalother phalanges
(deer, dog, pig and even rabbit) which
archaeologistsand police often consider
human.Gilbertomits the often vital but
almost impossibledistinctions between
Bison and Bos and between deer and
sheep-goat.
Section XI, equally badly needed,
describesmethodsto determinethe age
of skeletonsof various ungulates,bears
and dog. This chapter tells how to prepare teeth for countingsuccessiveannular layers of cementm as well as the
usual epiphyseal and morphology
changes.
The guts of the book are 54 ecologically-orientedbiographicalsketchesand
distributionmaps (with a single sketch
sometimes covering several species)
plus 231 pages illustrating the major
bones of each specieswith simple and
informativedrawings by Willy Bohannon and Becky Smith, undergraduates
majoring in art, who clearly learned
enough anatomy to interpret essentials,
a rare trait. Gilbert solvesthe problem
of scale by givingthe millimeterlength
of each bone and, in general, puts the
drawings in the order of smallest to
largest. This leads to a completelydifferent sequence for each bone, quite
differentof coursefrom the sequenceof
biographiesand maps, which goes, as
expected, from marsupials and edentates, via lagomorphs,rodents (no insectivores or chiroptera or cetacea),
carnivoresand pinnipeds,to artiodactyls.
AppendixB is a key to all page listings.
I am puzzledby the omissionof not only
insect-eaters,bats and whales, but also
deer-mice,wood-miceand so forth as
well as the entire domestic and semidomestic complex from bovids, sheepgoats, pig and dog to house-mouseand
rats, except for horse (given in drawings but not biographies). Microfauna
and whales do have climatic interest,
and domesticanimals occur steadily in
post-contact sites, forensic cases and
such spotsas the WashingtonMetro excavations- one looksfoolishif one stops
a buildingproject for what looklike Indian-killed bison bones only to have
them turn out to be domestic cow! I
would have'liked more than two pages
devoted to phalanges (and all distal
ones at that !) ; isolated vertebrae also
turn up often enough to deserveidentification.But to have included all these
plus the major rib distinctions would

have meant at least another hundred
pages.
There are few errors (e.g. basisphenoid sutures instead of synchondroses).
Gilbert'sbibliographydoes list such Old
World works on archaeologicalanimal
bones as Chaplin, Cornwall, Ryder,
Schmid, but no work from Scandinavian, German and Russian literature
(Gejvall, Boessneck,Bökönyi, Duerst,
Klevezal). The book is essentially

focusedon North America, and it will
have its greatest use among archaeologists of AmericanIndian sites,who are
still the majority of American excavators. For them it is an indispensable
guide, not to be excelledfor a long time
to come.
J. Lawrence Angel
NationalMuseumof Natural History
SmithsonianInstitution

Archeological Study Tour
THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST
15 days in Egypt, Jordan, Israel
en
route lectures by Dr. JACK FINEGAN, Author,
Itinerary and
Light from the Ancient Past, Archeology of the New Testament
(see review in Archaeology, Jan. 1974)
Departures Dec. 30, 1974 and Dec. 29, 1975
At the winter term break. Academic credit available.
Complimentary Tour Host positions open.
Write to: Mr. A.S. Kennedy, Wholesale Tours International, Inc.,
13960 Pontiac Ave., Saratoga, CA 95070, Tel. (408) 867-9339.
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICALSTUDIES AT ATHENS
1975 Summer Session
Open to graduate and undergraduate students and high school
and college teachers. Courses stress the archaeology and topography of Greece and about three weeks are spent in Athens
and Attica and three weeks in visiting the. major sites of Greece.
Applications for admission and scholarships are due January 15.
Address inquiries to Chairman, Committee on the Summer Session:
ProfessorWilliamDonovan, Macalester College, St. Paul, Min. 55105.

f^7g'

AMERICAN

INSTITUT6

NAUTICAL

ARCHAEOLOGY

GeorgeF. Bass,President MichaelL.Katzev,Vice-President
Summer

Field
in

School,

1975

Methods
Archaeological
and
in the Mediterranean
The History of Seafaring
Advanced undergraduate and graduate students of archaeology and
anthropology,with a professional interest in nautical archaeology, are
invited to apply for admission. Deadline is January 15, 1975.
Write:ProfessorG. KennethSams
AINAAdmissions
of Classics
Committee,
Department
Underwater

^^^^^^^^^^^Universit^^orU^arolina^hapeUiill^C^751^^^^^^^^
289

Archaeology Magazine - October 1974

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - October 1974