Notes and News

Abstract

The history of industrial activity in an area not normally thought of as an engineering stronghold shows how some highly significant engineering developed; up to the 1950s more people were employed in engineering in the Bristol area than in any other single trade. Bath, as a centre of tourism and of 'polite' society, is archetypal of British attitudes to industry yet the development here of Stothert &; Pitt crane and pump making and the forgotten lessons of the Day two-stroke engine of 1891 show the vital importance of manufacturing industry to the creation of wealth in Bath as elsewhere. Yet we continue scandalously to ignore the proper study of our industrial past in favour of more attractive but much less significant aspects of our history, and thus fail to learn the many lessons that history could reveal. This paper is a revised version of an invited lecture given to the Association for Industrial Archaeology, at its ninth annual conference at Bath in September 1987.     

Notes and News

MAGIC : A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY. By HUTTON WEBSTER. Stanford University Press, California. 1950. Pp. 524. $ 6.00. Reviewed by E. O. James

SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING CLASSIFICATION, STORAGE, AND LABELLING OF OBJECTS ILLUSTRATING ENGLISH LIFE AND TRADITIONS. British Ethnography Committee. The Royal Anthropological Institute. 1950. Price 2s. 6d. Reviewed by A. T. Lucas.

THE BALLAD TREE. By EVELYN KENDRICK WELLS. The Ronald Press Company, New York, 1950. ix–370pp. $450. Reviewed by Arthur Brown.

FOLK SONGS OF VIRGINIA. By ARTHUR KYLE DAVIS. Duke University Press, 1949. lxiii +389 pp. 30s. Reviewed by Arthur Brown.     

Notes and News

Abstract

This paper seeks to cast some light on a so-called Green Man ivory knife handle from Perth and on the cultural context from which it sprang. It was made and lost or disposed of during the 14th century and, although its full life-story includes its archaeological recovery and subsequent curation in Perth Museum, its main importance lies in what it can tell us of medieval people. Exploring its material and production, its function as a handle, its iconography and its cultural background reveals this importance. Bringing these strands together gives us a snapshot of medieval cognition, focusing, on the way elements of seasonal ritual were consumed in the medieval burgh of Perth.     

Notes and News

FESTSKRIFT TILLEGNAD EDVARD WESTERMARCK. I anledning av Hans Femtivårsdag Den 20 November 1912. Helsingfors: J. Simelii Arvinjars Boktryikeriaktiebolag, 1912. 8vo, pp. vii + 304. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.

LAOGRAPHIA: The organ of the Greek Anthropological Society; Vol. iii.–Vol. iv. 1–2, 1911–13. Athens: P. A. Sakellarios. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.

DRACHEN UND DRACHENKÄMPFER. Von GÉZA RÓHEIM. (An off-print, with enlargements, from Jung-Ungarn, 1911.) Berlin, 1912. 4to, pp. 56. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.

[GREEK POPULAR SONGS ON ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON.] Reprinted from Laographia, vol. iv. By N. G. POLITES. Athens, 1913. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.

DESPRE CIMIUTURI. By G. PASCU. Part I., Philological Study. Jasi, 1909. 8vo, pp. xi + 276. Part II, Folkloric Study. Bucharesti, 1911. 4to, pp. 220. Reviewed by M. Gaster.

HAUSA FOLK-LORE CUSTOMS, PROVERBS, ETC. By R. SUTHERLAND-RATTRAY. Preface by R. R. MARETT. 2 vols. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1913. 8vo, pp. xxiv. + 327, 315. 30s. n. Reviewed by E. Sidney Hartland.

HAUSA SUPERSTITIONS AND CUSTOMS. An Introduction to the Folk-Lore, and the Folk. By Major A. J. N. TREMEARNE. John Bale, Sons and Danielsson, 1913. 8vo., pp. xv + 548. Map + 41 pi. + 200 text figs. 21s. n. Reviewed by J. H. Weeks.

MYTHS OF THE MODOCS. By JEREMIAH CURTIN. Sampson. Low, Marston, &; Co., 1913. Cr. 8vo, pp. viii + 389. 12s. 6d. n. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.     

Notes and News

Abstract

Most parts of Israel were excavated intensively, and most of the country was also covered by surveys. Our knowledge of settlement patterns and distribution during the various periods is very comprehensive — probably more so than in any other region in the world. Using data from the numerous excavations and from the detailed surveys, many studies have made use of various and sundry methods, in order to learn about the settlements and the population of the country, about changes in settlement patterns and distribution, and about periods of crises, decline, or growth.

Past studies, however, have ignored an entire array of findings that could have improved, refined, and even changed the familiar picture of the settlement history of ancient Israel. Thousands of salvage excavations ('rescue digs') were carried out over the years, and especially in the last decade, but these have not been dealt with systematically. These excavations provide comprehensive and reliable information, which is likely to change the picture of the history of settlement in some periods. While a comprehensive project of collecting and analysing the published data on these excavations is now in progress, the present article aims at drawing attention to this neglected source of information. We will demonstrate the advantages of this analysis as compared to other sources of information, and will show how this information, when combined with other sources of information, is changing our understanding of the settlement history of certain periods, including the transition from the Iron Age I–II and the formation of the Israelite monarchy, the nature of the Neo-Babylonian period, and the outcomes of the Jewish revolts against the Romans. The paper ends with a discussion of the advantages and limitations of the various sources of information, i.e., planned excavations, surveys, and salvage excavations.     

Notes and News

Abstract

In 1925 a key piece of evidence, a fragment of Sheshonq I's victory stela, was discovered at Megiddo during the preparations for the excavations of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Unfortunately it was found on the surface, on one of the spoil heaps of the previous German excavations. The Chicago team tentatively assigned the fragment to the lowest level reached in the area, initially called Stratum IV, but said little more about it. In recent years, fresh information concerning both the location and the circumstances of the discovery has been published, which, in the author's view, makes it possible to locate the context in which the stela fragment was found, both horizontally and vertically. It is now clear that the lowest level reached in the area was Stratum V, and the author suggests below that the fragment was reused in Stratum VA, the stela having originally been set up in Stratum V B, dated to the 9th century BC by the current excavators.