Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1984 - 76

The Bookshelf
continued from page 75
will be of interest to archaeologists
working in the New World. While the
volumes may be somewhat uneven, each
is more unified than is usual for a
festschrift and both contain solid contributions. In short, the various essays
in honor of Gordon Willey do in fact
serve as such, and reaffirm his role as a
catalyst in shaping the past, present and
future of American archaeology.
Diane Z. Chase teaches anthropology at
Princeton University.
Book Briefs
continued from page 74
1929, with the identification of a treering master pattern back to the late sixth
century A.D.,and predictions for the main
occupation phases of Chaco Canyon,
Mesa Verde, Betatakin, and Keet Seel.
To quote Webb, "Archaeology had been
placed in historical perspective, btuart
Fleming, MASCA, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
An Introduction,
Archaeology:
by Kevin Greene . 190pages , frontispiece, 54 black-and-white photographs ,
30 text figures, 9 plans, 3 maps, bibliography. Barnes & Noble Books, Totowa,
NJ 1983 $25.00
Archaeologist Kevin Greene clearly
enjoys his work, and this short book
successfully conveys both his enthusiasm and a concise account of the kinds
of things archaeologists do. Written for
a lay and/or student audience, the volume does not offer a cookbook for doing
archaeology, nor was it so intended.
What it does accomplish is an informative démystification of that exoticseeming pursuit called archaeology.
Greene manages to explain clearly and
show the utility of quite technical procedures, and to instill a respect for the
training and experience required in a
skilled archaeologist, while still advocating strongly the involvement and importance of the lay enthusiast.
The presentation emphasizes the historical and ongoing development of
sophistication in methods, and the text
is liberally illustrated, with figures
printed at a generously large scale. The
longest chapter, on excavation, has two
very apt case studies- one of which
concerns dating the "Arthurian" occupation at South Cadbury Castle, the supposed Camelot.
Although orientation to a British
audience renders some items, such as
addresses for information, less useful to
American readers, and the focus on
architectural remains seems overly narrow, such complaints are outweighed by
the competence and readability of
Greene's presentation. The once and
future enthusiast will enjoy and learn
trom this book. Wendy Ashmore, Kutgers-The State University of New Jersey,
New Brunswick,*NJ
76

ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeology Films
continued from page 71
much of the present into the past, especially if it inhibits investigation into
how the earliest Polynesians found these
islands based on their own abilities and
what they knew then about the Pacific.
Another criticism is that the film's
evaluation of present-day Micronesian
seafaring capabilities is less than objective. While it is anthropologically essential to understand the operation of
traditional Micronesian sailing and navigation in the terms of the sailors and
navigators themselves, it is also important to evaluate their performance by a
less ethnocentric yardstick. It is just as
ethnocentric to judge Micronesian seamanship by purely Micronesian standards as it is to judge it by purely
Western standards. For example, Micronesian outrigger canoes (and, it might
be added, the Hokule'a) do not sail into
the wind as efficiently as many monohull sailing craft of European design.
And the procedures for coming about
on a Micronesian outrigger canoe are
cumbersome and labor-intensive compared with conventionally rigged craft
of European design. One could argue
that Micronesian navigational skills
were so effective that they overcame the
deficiencies in technical design and performance inherent in the traditional
canoes. Must we assume that all aspects
of traditional Micronesian seamanship
are equally and fully effective simply
because they work?
It is touching at the end of the film
to hear Piailug's lament that the traditions of seamanship, and especially
navigation, are dying out in Micronesia.
The film, of course, is a fine record of
this tradition, especially when combined
with the abundant anthropological literature on the subject. There is no easy
answer for this problem, and the film,
to its everlasting credit, does not prescribe a solution. Piailug says that he
will attempt to train at least one of his
sons in the navigator's traditions and
skills, but behind his comments and the
film's narrative lies the uneasy awareness that this may be our last chance to
see this tradition alive and performing
under circumstances that approximate
pre-European conditions. If this is the
case, we can all be grateful to the makers
of this film for preserving a record of
Micronesian seamanship in a manner
that renders it accessible to general
audiences as well as students and scholars of archaeology. It is certainly one of
the best new films available in the field
of archaeology and should be seen by
anyone with an interest in the subject.
Richard A. Gould iIsProfessor of Anthropology at nrown University in providence, RI. His research interests include
the ethnoarchaeology of hunter- gatherers (California Indians and Australian
aborigines ) and nautical archaeology

In the Field
continued from page 63
We decided to find this fortress and
see if a group could really live for an
extended period on this isolated and
supposedly waterless mesa. Our route
doubled back over high passes and down
deep valley slopes past an old hacienda
next to the Rio Pilcomayo, actually not
far, as the condor flies, from the wall and
garrison house we found. The hacienda
had been a Jesuit vineyard at the beginning of the seventeenth century, as
several enormous dated ollas and a gigantic wooden wine press attested. The vineyard was later taken over by the Spanish
laity, and legend had it that one owner
had stuffed his wife's lover into a winefilled olla to preserve him as a warning.
But the hacienda's past glories were long
gone, the buildings mostly in disrepair.
Our team had scouted the mesa on
which the fortress was said to be located,
but they had been unable to climb it
themselves. We had, therefore, arranged
for an army helicopter to fly us to the
top. On a bright clear day, a French-built
"Lama" jet helicopter swung us up the
valley and circled the great reddish
sandstone mesa. A complete circle failed
to reveal any caves or structures on the
mesa's sides. At 2,000 feet above the
river bed, we flew over the brush-covered
mesa top. Still, we could see nothing.
But on a second circling we saw two
straight parallel walls that without a
doubt were made by human hands.
The helicopter let us off nearby and
we walked up the slope to the walls, a
fine piece of Inca work. They were made
of well-workedred sandstone, the whole
measuring some 250 feet long. One of
the large doorways had a double jamb,
also characteristic of Inca architecture.
On its periphery were 17 quadrilateral
rooms, some of elegant design with
well-made niches, surrounding a central
courtyard. Just beyond one corner were
two large stone metates for grinding
corn. Nearby were some simple, undecorated terracotta sherds similar to those
found at the first site. Down the slope,
we found a couple of broken basalt axeheads and a small stone flensing knife.
The view from the fort to the river bed
far below was magnificent. But most
exciting of all was the small stream which
tumbled down from a spring at the very
top of the mesa through a series of small
but exquisite pools, eventually to reach
the valley far below. It was this spring
that enabled the Indians to defy the
mighty viceroy and his soldiers.
For a brief period of time- less than a
hundred years- the Inca were able to
create and control what was then the
largest empire in the world. Investigations of their remains bear testimony to
their achievements. One of these- this
"Great Wall" of the Inca- is only one
manifestation of their extraordinary
capabilities.

Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1984

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - July/August 1984