Book reviews

Adam Watson, Diplomacy: the dialogue between states. Eyre Methuen, London, 1982, pp.239. $28.95.

Desmond Ball and J.O. Langtry (eds). Civil Defence and Australia's Security in the Nuclear Age. Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, and George Allen and Unwin Australia, Sydney. 1983, pp. 359. $12.95.

Bruce Grant, Gods and Politicians. Allen Lane, Ringwood, Victoria, 1982, pp.wi + 190. $16.95.

B.A. Santamaria, Santamaria, Against the Tide. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1981, pp. 382. $22.50

M.M. Kritz. C.B. Keely and S.M. Tomasi (eds.), Global Trends in Migration: Theory and Research on International Population Movements. The Centre for Migration Studies, New York, 1981, pp.xi + 433. $US14.95 (cloth), $US9.95 (paper).

Robert Cassen, Richard Jolly, John Sewell and Robert Wood (eds). Rich Country Interests and Third World Development. Croom Helm, London and Canberra, 1982, pp. 369. $27.75.

David Childs, The GDR: Moscow's German Ally. George Allen and Unwin, London, 1983, pp. xiii + 346. $49.95 (cloth), $19.95 (paper).

Alexander Shtromas, Political Change and Social Development; The Case of the Soviet Union. Verlag Peter Lang, Bern, 1981, pp 173. S Fr 40.

Joel K. Goldstein, The Modern American Vice Presidency. The Transformation of a Political Institution. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1982, pp. xxii + 409. $US36.50 (cloth) $US 10.50 (paper).

Colin Mackerras, Modern China ‐ A Chronology from 1842 to the Present. Thames and Hudson, London, 1982, pp. 703. $60.00

John H. Fincher, Chinese Democracy: The Self Government Movement in Local. Provincial and National Politics, 1905–1914. Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1981, pp. 27s6. $23.95.

A.J. Youngson, Hong Kong: Economic Growth and Policy. Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1982, pp. 163. $10.95.

Peter Wesley‐Smith, Unequal Treaty 1898–1997: China. Great Britain and Hong Kong's New Territories. Oxford University Press, Hong Kong. 1980, pp. XV + 270. $39.00.

Michael Leifer, Indonesia's Foreign Policy. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1983, pp. xvii + 198. $39.95.

Grant Evans, The Yellow Rainmakers. New Left Books/Verso, London, 1983, pp. 202. $33.50 (cloth) $10.50 (paper).

Stewart Firth, New Guinea Under the Germans. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1982, pp. xiii + 216. $25.00.

R.J. May (ed.), Micronationalist Movements in Papua New Guinea. Political and Social Change Monograph No. 1, Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, 1982, pp. xi. + 486 $9.50.

Politics in Melanesia. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Suva, 1982, pp. xxi + 170. $4.00

Foreign Forces in Pacific Politics. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Suva, 1983, pp. xv + 325, $6.00.

Mike Moore, A Pacific Parliament. Asia Pacific Books, Wellington and the Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Suva, 1982, pp. 86. No price given.

Australia and the South Pacific. Conference Papers and Reports. Centre for Continuing Education, Australian National University, Canberra, 1983, pp. 157. $8.00.

Alan R. Taylor, The Arab Balance of Power, Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, 1982, pp. xii + 165. $US22.00 (cloth) $US11.95 (paper).

Tareq Y. Ismael, Iraq and Iran: Roots of Conflict. Syracuse University Pess. Syracuse. 1982, pp xii + 226. $US24.00 (cloth) $US12.95 (paper).

Peter Gubser, Jordan: Crossroads of Middle Eastern Events. Croom Helm, London and Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1983, pp. xi+ 139. £13.50.

Ibrahim Ibrahim (ed.), Arab Resources: The Transformation of a Society. Croom Helm, London, 1983, pp. 304. $24.25.

David Goldsworthy, The International Politics of the Namibian Dispute, Discussion Paper No. 3, 1982, pp. 41

Jock McCulloch, South Africa's Invasion of Angola: Many Reasons Why. Current Issues Brief No. 7, 1981, pp. 10 both published by the Legislative Research Service, Department of the Parliamentary Library, Canberra.     

Baptist Chapels as an index of cultural transition in the South Wales coalfield before 1914

“When the Welsh language dies the Welsh Congregational Union of Monmouth will of necessity die. The day of the burial of the Welsh language will be the burial day of the Union, which for centuries has been the means of the hands of God's Spirit to turn many to the Saviour. When the Welsh language expires, the spirituality and sacredness of religion will expire at the same time.”^[1]The cultural transition from Welsh to English in the developing South Wales coalfield before 1914 is reflected in the language used in Baptist chapels. Nonconformist chapels were foci of the emerging industrial culture, and the Baptists had a universal appeal to both Welsh- and English-speaking populations. The geographical distribution of Baptist chapels categorized by language of foundation is analysed in three chronological phases, during which the coalfield was transformed from a uniformly Welsh cultural area before 1860, through an intervening phase of linguistic heterogeneity, to a situation in the final phase after 1890, when the dominance of Welsh was restricted to the western section only. Moreover, the period after the foundation of a Welsh chapel was characterized by linguistic instability, since processes at work in the community created pressures for linguistic change from Welsh to English. The ensuing linguistic transition from monoglot Welsh through bilingualism to monoglot English is examined in the Monmouthshire section of the coalfield, and suggests a progressive “rolling-back” of Welsh from east to west, a rapid and regular process in which bilingualism was only a transient resting-place.     

Land Snail Shell Beads in the Sub-Saharan Archaeological Record: When,Where, and Why?

Shell beads are well established in the archaeological record of sub-Saharan Africa and appear as early as 75,000 BP; however, most research has focused on ostrich eggshell (OES) and various marine mollusc species. Beads made from various land snails shells (LSS), frequently described as Achatina, also appear to be widespread. Yet tracking their appearance and distribution is difficult because LSS beads are often intentionally or unintentionally lumped with OES beads, there are no directly dated examples, and bead reporting in general is highly variable in the archaeological literature. Nevertheless, Achatina and other potential cases of LSS beads are present at over 80 archaeological sites in at least eight countries, spanning the early Holocene to recent past. Here, we collate published cases and report on several more. We also present a new case from Magubike Rockshelter in southern Tanzania with the first directly dated LSS beads, which we use to illustrate methods for identifying LSS as a raw material. Despite the long history of OES bead production on the continent and the abundance of land snails available throughout the Pleistocene, LSS beads appear only in the late Holocene and are almost exclusively found in Iron Age contexts. We consider possible explanations for the late adoption of land snails as a raw material for beadmaking within the larger context of environmental, economic, and social processes in Holocene Africa. By highlighting the existence of these artifacts, we hope to facilitate more in-depth research on the timing, production, and distribution of LSS beads in African prehistory.     

An Interview with James Kwesi Anquandah

Professor James Kwesi Anquandah was Ghana’s first archaeologist. He was also the first Ghanaian to become head of the Archaeology Department at the University of Ghana, which was the first archaeology department in sub-Saharan Africa, established in 1951. Dedicating his life to Ghanaian archaeology, particularly during the difficult years in Ghana in the 1980s and early 1990s, Anquandah had a significant impact on the development of archaeology in Ghana. In addition to his research, advisory and curatorial work, Professor Anquandah was instrumental in the training of three generations of Ghanaian archaeologists. During the course of a professional career that spanned nearly six decades, Professor Anquandah made archaeology relevant and accessible to all Ghanaians.     

The Middle Neolithic of Morocco’s North-Western Atlantic Strip: New Evidence from the El-Khil Caves (Tangier)

The period comprising the end of the Early Neolithic and the Middle Neolithic, dated broadly within the fifth millennium cal BC, corresponds to an interval that remains largely unknown in the extreme north-western tip of Africa. This situation contrasts with that of the Early Neolithic, a period characterised by the earliest evidence of the diffusion of a productive economy, cultivated plants and domestic animals. The paucity of data for these later phases can be explained in part by the lack of secure contexts and sequences based on radiocarbon datings of short-lived samples. The current study presents the results of the excavations of El-Khil Caves B and C that yield materials allowing re-evaluation of the chronology of a type of ceramic known as Ashakar ware. The study also identifies two traditions in the northern Moroccan Middle Neolithic. The first is heir to the so-called Impressa Mediterranean ware and rooted in the Cardial Neolithic, while the second is characterised by roulette cord impressions, red slip and tunnel lugs and probably rooted in the region of the Sahara, and has no technological precedents in the study area.