Book reviews

In Search of Khayyam. By Ali Dashti (translated by L. P. Elwell‐Sutton). New York: Columbia University Press, 1972. 276pp. $11.00.

The Emergence of Modern Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization, 1880–1946. By Vartan Gregorian. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1969. 398pp. $17.50.     

THE USE OF NON-DESTRUCTIVE ACTIVATION ANALYSIS AND PATTERN RECOGNITION IN THE STUDY OF FLINT ARTEFACTS

A method is described for the identification of the origin of flint artefacts. The method is based on the variation in the trace element concentrations for different origins. The trace element concentrations were determined by non-destructive neutron activation analysis. The identification was obtained from a pattern recognition analysis.     

THERMOLUMINESCENT DATING OF COLOMBIAN POTTERY IN THE YOTOCO STYLE

Two contexts from the Colombian sites, Yotoco Ferry and Moralba, had been linked by archaeological similarities in pottery style, and dated by association with ware from other sites at circaa.d. 1000. However, radiocarbon dating of those contexts set Moralba at circa 800 b.c. , some 2000 yr older than Yotoco Ferry. Thermoluminescent dating of pottery from Yotoco Ferry dated it at circaa.d. 900, and pottery from Moralba was dated at circaa.d. 870. In addition a metal-smelting pottery crucible, thought to be prehispanic, was studied by thermoluminescence and dated, on the contrary, at less than 120 yr old.