West Indian archaeology. 2. After Columbus

The 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas sparked unprecedented interest in the Spanish invasion and in the native peoples of the West Indies. In response, archaeological investigations shed new light on Native, Spanish, and African cultures prior to 1492. In addition, contact-period documents were reexamined, leading to new reconstructions of these societies at contact. Finally, studies have focused on how the interaction and transculturation of native and invading groups led to the demise of the Tainos and the creation of Criollo and Island Carib cultures. The present review examines the changing face of West Indian archaeology in the context of colonialism and ethnohistory. The next part in this series will examine Ceramic Age archaeology.     

West Indian Archaeology. 3. Ceramic Age

Irving Rouse once calculated that more than 90% of all pre-Columbian artifacts from the West Indies are made of clay. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the vast majority of research in the region has focused on the ceramic age cultures. The review begins by considering the early ceramic age peoples whose pottery is classified as part of the Saladoid series. These peoples entered the Antilles about 500 B.C. and settled all of the islands as far north as Puerto Rico. For as yet unknown reasons their northward progress was halted in Puerto Rico for nearly 1000 years. The post-Saladoid cultures of the Lesser Antilles, about whom very little is known, and the so-called Ostionoid peoples of the Greater Antilles and Bahama archipelago are discussed next. New, detailed studies of subsistence, settlement patterns, social organization, and iconography are contributing to a richer knowledge of the patterns and processes of cultural evolution in an insular setting.     

The fateful Indian recognition of West Germany, 1949

India’s recognition of West, but not East, Germany was the foundation of an inconsistent policy on Germany from India and many other non-aligned countries. It was the outcome of a lack of professionalism, indecisiveness, the pragmatic considerations of a junior Indian diplomat in Berlin, and the laconic approval of the anti-communist secretary-general of the Ministry of External Affairs, Girja Shankar Bajpai. Neither Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru nor his advisor V.K. Krishnan Menon were involved at all. Officials around Foreign Secretary K.P.S. Menon held that the GDR should also be recognised in due course, but did not exercise sufficient influence. India would stand by its decision for 23 years and thereby set an example for other non-aligned countries.     

West Indian archaeology. 1. Overview and foragers

Caribbean archaeology is riding the wave of an exponential growth curve. In fact, so much has happened during the past 5 years that it is impossible to review everything in a single article. The present article is written as the first in a series. The first part of the paper provides an archipelagic overview of the regional environmental and cultural diversity in conjunction with references to recent archaeological research. The second part of the present paper focuses on recent research into the preceramic Lithic and Archaic Ages in the West Indies. Alternate theories of population movements and regional differences in artifact assemblages during the preceramic are discussed. The second article in this series will examine the early and middle ceramic periods, while the emergence and florescence of the Tainos must be postponed until the third installment.     

Balochi Folklore

GREEK FOLK SONGS. Reviewed by W. R. Halliday.

A HISTORY OF MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE DURING THE FIRST THIRTEEN CENTURIES OF OUR ERA. By LYNN THORNDIKE, Ph.D. London: Macmillan &; Co. 1923. 42s. net. 2 vols. Reviewed by R. R. Marett.

THE GOLDEN BOUGH : A STUDY IN MAGIC AND RELIGION. By Sir J. G. FRAZER. Macmillan &; Co. Ltd. 1923. Reviewed by W. Crooke.

THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AND THE WORSHIP OF THE DEAD : THE BELIEF AMONG THE POLYNESIANS : GIFFORD LECTURES. Vol. ii. The same author and publishers. 1923. Reviewed by W. Crooke.

EARLY CIVILISATION. AN INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY. By ALEXANDER A. GOLDENWEISER. George G. Harrap &; Co. 1922. Pp. xiv+428. Illustrated. Price 15s. Reviewed by W. R. Halliday.

MAGICAL JEWELS OF THE RENAISSANCE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE, PARTICULARLY IN ENGLAND. By JOAN EVANS, B.Litt. Oxford Clarendon Press. 1922. 264 pp. 8vo. Reviewed by M. Gaster.

THE HEROIC AGE IN INDIA. Reviewed by W. Crooke.

THE LHOTA NAGAS. By J. P. MILLS. London : Macmillan &; Co. 1922. Price 25s. Reviewed by W. Crooke.

ANCIENT MAN IN BRITAIN. By D. A. MACKENZIE. With a Foreword by G. ELLIOT SMITH. Blackie. 1922. Reviewed by W. Crooke.

CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM ROUMANIAN LEGENDS AND FAIRY TALES. By M. GASTER. London : Raphael Tuck &; Sons. 1922.     

Folklore Notes

GREEK HERO CULTS AND IDEAS or IMMORTALITY: GIFFORD LECTURES, 1920, by LEWIS RICHARD FARNELL. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 1921. Reviewed by W. Crooke.

ISLAM IN INDIA, OR THE QāNūN-I-ISLāM : THE CUSTOMS OF THE MUSALMāNS OF INDIA, by JA'FAR SHARīF, translated by G. A. HERKLOTS, M.D.; new edition edited by W. CROOKE. Oxford University Press. 1921. Reviewed by T. C. Hodson.

L'ÉTERNUEMENT ET LE BAILLEMENT DANS LA MAGIE, L'ETHNOGRAPHIE ET LE FOLK-LORE MÉDICAL de P. SAINTYVES. Paris: ÉMILE NOURRY. 1921. Reviewed by E. Sidney Hartland.

Tne NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CHILD, by DR. COURTENAY DUNN. London and Edinburgh: Marston &; Co., Ltd. 1919. 7s. 6d. net. Reviewed by C. Jenkinson.     

Sussex Folklore

SING A SONG OF ENGLAND : A SOCIAL HISTORY OF TRADITIONAL SONG. By REGINALD NETTEL. Phoenix House, 1954. Pp. 286, 5 pi. 8 vo. Reviewed by A. G.

FOLKSONGS AND FOLKLORE OF SOUTH UIST. By MARGARET FAY SHAW. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul. 1955. Pp. xiv, 290 + 24 plates + map. 50s. Reviewed by W. B.

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, VOL. 4. New York, International Universities Press, Inc. 1955. Pp. 295. $6.00. Reviewed by W. B.

FESTSCHRIFT FÜR WILL-ERICH PEUCHERT ZUM 60. GEBURTSTAG. HERAUSGEGEBEN VON HELMUT DÖLKER. Berlin, E. Schmidt, 1955. Pp. ix, 164 + portrait. DM. 19.80. Reviewed by W. B.

NEW MEXICO VILLAGE ARTS. By ROLAND F. DICKEY. Drawings by LLOYD LÓZES GOFF. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. 1949. Pp. xii + 266. $5.00. Reviewed by Beatrice Blackwood.

THE LAND DAVAKS OF SARAWAK. By W. R. GEDDES, M.A. (N.Z.), Ph.D. (Lond.), London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1954. Colonial Research Studies No. 14, Pp. 113, folding maps and tables, 3 pp. of plates. £1 12s. 6d. net. Reviewed by Beatrice Blackwood.