Book reviews

TRANSFORMATION SCENE: THE CHANGING CULTURE OF A NEW GUINEA VILLAGE, by Ian Hobgin. The International Library of Sociology and Social Reconstruction, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1951. xiv + 326 pp. with 2 maps and 22 plates. Price 30s.

AN INTRODUCTION TO WORLD POLITICS. By Professor W. Friedmann. 2nd ed. London, 1952 (Macmillan & Co. Ltd.), pp. xiv + 384. (Maps and tables).

THE SOCIAL SERVICES OF MODERN ENGLAND. By M. Penelope Hall. Routledge, 1952. Pp. viii 332. Price 25s.     

PUNIC INFLUENCE IN THE DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF ROMAN VOLUBILIS (MOROCCO)

Roman archaeologists in North Africa have assumed that there is a generic Romano-African house, imitating the style in Rome, but perhaps with Greek influence. I argue here that at Volubilis we can detect a local tradition, drawn from a Punic heritage, which developed alongside the acceptance of Romanitas. That Volubilis appears distinct may be a product of our sample of data and other regional traditions may await identification. The relationship between architecture and action is discussed, especially in relation to seclusion. I suggest that further excavation of Punic houses in the western Mediterranean will reveal links between developments in Greek and Punic domestic architecture.