Book reviews

Theodore G. Th. Pigeaud and P. Voorhoeve. Handschriften aus Indonesien (Bali, Java, und Sumatra), xi, 71 pp., 6 plates. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden GmbH, 1985. (Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, XXVIII, 2.) DM 64,‐

G. J Knapp, Kruidnagelen en christenen: de Verenigde Oost‐Indische Compagnie en de bevolking van Ambon 1656–1696.xii, 323 pp. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1987. (Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land ‐en Volkenkunde, 125.) Guilders 35.

Rainer Carle (ed.). Cultures and societies North Sumatra. 514 pp. Berlin; Hamburg: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1987. (Veröffentlichungen des Seminars für Indonesische und Südseesprachen der Universität Hamburg, 19.) DM 95.

J. Noorduyn. Bima en Sumbawa: bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van de sultanaten Bima en Sumbawa door A. Ligtvoet en G. P. Rouffaer.xii, 187 pp. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1987. (Verhandelingen van net Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volkenkunde, 129.) Guilders 30.

Anthony J. Whitten and others. The ecology of Sulawesi. By Anthony J. Whitten, Muslimin Mustafa, Gregory S. Henderson,xxi, 777 pp. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press, 1987.

Robert Wessing. The soul of ambiguity: the tiger in Southeast Asia. vi, 148 pp. [Dekalb, Illinois]: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University, 1986. (Monograph Series on Southeast Asia, Special Report 24.) (Distributed by Cellar Bookshop, 18090 Wyoming, Detroit, Michigan 48221.)     

Technology networking in border regions: Case study of the Euregion Maas‐Rhine

This paper describes the results of a study investigating cross‐border networking by enterprises in the border region where the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany meet, the so‐called Euregion Maas‐Rhine. The study was undertaken in view of the completion of the Single European Market in 1993, which was expected to induce enterprises to make more effective use of available opportunities to improve their innovative and hence competitive potential. Special attention was given to knowledge transfer and sourcing of technology across borders. It was found that the majority of enterprises are still oriented towards a purely national environment. Technology‐intensive enterprises that are engaged in cross‐border networking, however, seem to be doing better than the ones that maintain a national orientation.     

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.