Excavations at Tel Michal, Israel, Ze'ev Herzog, George Rapp, Jr., and Ora Negbi (Eds.), 1989, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, xxiii + 463 pp. $50.00 (clothbound)
✍ Scribed by Jeffrey A. Blakely
- Book ID
- 102225903
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1990
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 280 KB
- Volume
- 5
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0883-6353
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The book does not therefore provide a good model for future work in historical archaeology. In effect, the spatial and temporal frames chosen were too large, and an ecological rather than a socio-anthropological methodology would probably have been more effective in guiding the research. As to regional synthesis, a number of "traditional," more modestly-conceived and minimally-funded European regional monographs also provide insight and understanding as to the essence of space, place, and time, something that seems to elude Regional Dynamics as a whole. Nonetheless, the craftsmanship of many of the individual chapters is superb, and several of the specific interpretations and models are thought-provoking and valuable in their more restricted contexts. Madry's aerial survey, Crumley's overview of the Celtic period, and Berry's analysis of settlement during the Classical-Medieval transition come to mind as outstanding examples. The importance of archaeological survey in the project design must also be lauded. The ultimate value of Regional Dynamics will undoubtedly lie in such particular contributions, rather than as a successful pioneer study in historical archaeology.