The Magical and Ceremonial Uses of Fire

G. DRIOUX. Cultes indigènes des Lingons. Essai sur les traditions religieuses d'une cité gallo-romaine avant le triomphe du Christianisme. (Grand in-8 de xxii–227 pages, 6 cartes et 8 planches hors-texte. A. Picard, Paris; Imprimerie Champenoise, Langres. 1934. 60 francs.). Reviewed by A. N. Newell.

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE : A STUDY OF PAGANISM. By JOHN STRONG NEWBERRY. London: Macmillan. 1934. Pp. xv+ 346. 15s. net. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.

THREE ESSAYS ON SEX AND MARRIAGE. By EDWARD WESTERMARCK. Pp. ix.+353. London: Macmillan. 1934. Price 12s. 6d. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.

REVUE INTERNATIONALE DES ÉTUDES BASQUES Vol. xxv, fasc. 2. April–June 1934. Pp. 201–352. Reviewed by P. Barbier.

ROSA SOEDER : DIE APOKRYPHEN APOSTELGESCHICHTEN UND DIE ROMANHAFTE LITERATUR DER ANTIKE. Stuttgart, 1932. W. Kohlhammer. XII. Pp.216. 8⁰. 9″ x 6″. Reviewed by M. Gaster.

LAWRENCE ECKER : ARABISCHER, PROVENZALISCHER UND DEUTSCHER MINNESANG. Bern und Leipzig. Paul Haupt, 1934. 236 pp. 8⁰. 9½″x6½″. Reviewed by M. Gaster.

R. F. FORTUNE. OMAHA SECRET SOCIETIES. Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology, vol. xiv. New York, Columbia University Press, 1932. Reviewed by Barbara Aitken.     

Dating problems in Icelandic archaeology

For many decades tephrochronology has been used as a scientific method for dating archaeological as well as geological remains in Iceland. Recently, parts of the tephrochronology for the eruptions of the famous volcano Hekla have been questioned by the author. This is due to obvious differences in dating results of archaeological artefacts from the valley of Thjórsárdalur in southern Iceland and the current tephrochronological dating of its devastation. While the devastation of the valley has been dated to AD 1104 and is thought to have been caused by a huge eruption of mount Hekla in that year, the artefacts from excavations and stray finds, as well as new ¹⁴C results, show somewhat later 12th‐13th century dates. The paper deals with this obvious discrepancy, which has hitherto been ignored, together with the results of archaeological excavations in 1983–86 at Stóng in Thjórsárdalur; it also gives a critical analysis of the historical methodology of the tephrochronologists.     

Parallel Lives – An Interview with Ruth Tringham

Ruth Tringham is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley. She is one of the founders and a director of the UC Berkeley Multimedia Authoring Center for Teaching in Anthropology (MACTiA). Her research has focused on the transformation of early agricultural (Neolithic) societies. Tringham has directed and published archaeological excavations in South‐east Europe and Turkey, at the site of Çatalhöyük. Current research focuses on the life‐histories of buildings and the construction of place. Much of her recent practice of archaeology incorporates digital, especially multimedia, technology in the presentation of the process of archaeological interpretation, Since 1998 Tringham has incorporated multimedia authoring and digital technology into teaching inquiry‐based hybrid courses. From 1998 to 2001 she held the UCB Presidential Chair in Undergraduate Education. Tringham is now recognized internationally as one of the leaders of digital education, media literacy, and digital publishing in archaeology. This interest in multimedia grows out of a lifelong passion for music, puppets and cultivating illusions of reality.

The interview was conducted in Cambridge on 23 October 2007, the day after Ruth Tringham's participation in a personal history retrospective at the Department of Archaeology together with Meg Conkey, Henrietta Moore and Alison Wylie, and organized by Pamela Smith. The retrospective aimed to reflect on the transformation of archaeological theory and method during the 1970s and early 1980s (an audio recording is at http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/podcast/rss.xml). The interview was transcribed by the interviewees together with Dr Katharina Rebay, University of Cambridge.     

Recent Norwegian archaeological publications

The part of the Helg?y Project presented here deals with the Norwegian and Sami populations in Helg?y from their supposed immigration to the Region about 13/1400 AD to approximately 1700. Some findings and the methods developed by the project to establish them will be presented, the question of how to distinguish Sami from Norwegian settlements in historical and pre‐historical times being central in the study of North Norway.