Notices

NOTICES A NEW volume in the Home University Library (Oxford University Press, 5s.) by Professor Stuart Piggott, British Prehistory, is a synthesis of archseological technique, of archseological evidence and its nature, and of the major civilizations and cultures up to the time of the Roman Conquest. It is good sound narrative of changing social order and primitive economic structure, with emphasis on trade movements and migrations. Man the Toolmaker, by Dr. Kenneth Oakley and Professor Le Gros Clark's History of the Primates (each 2s. 6d.) are welcome pubhcations from the British Museum (Natural History), as is Mr. Watson's Flint Implements : An Account of Stone Age Techniques and Cultures (4s.) from the British Museum. All are excellently Ulustrated, and provide an account of the source material upon which Professor Piggott has drawn. British Antiquity, by Dr. T. D. Kendrick (Methuen, 21s.), is an account of antiquarian thought in Britain in the period 1135-1635, a brUhant study which must be acclaimed as a first-rate piece of research and a notable addition to antiquarian hterature. There is a longawaited appreciation of our own John Twyne, " a most unusual antiquary in the humanist tradition " who became Headmaster of the King's School, Mayor, and Member for Canterbury, and Dr. Kendrick does far more than merely introduce his reader to the famous men, Rous and Worcester, Leland and Camden. The Samotheans and the Trojans, the holy king Arthur, and the Legend of Glastonbury now, and for the first time, are set properly against the background of our national antiquarian beliefs and fancies. Medieval English Pottery, by Bernard Rackham, and English Delft-ware, by F. H. Garner (Faber, 21s.) are volumes in the series of Monographs on Pottery and Porcelain which will appeal to many of our members. They are finely illustrated—the colour and monochrome plates are the hall-mark of the series—and authoritatively written. Professor Garner had the good fortune to watch the excavation of the sites of the delftware potteries at Lambeth. R.F.J. Notes on Archaeological Technique. This small booklet, the third edition of which (1950) is published by the Ashmolean Museum at the very modest cost of Is. 6d., should be read by everyone who contemplates an archseological excavation. It is extremely well written in a simple straightforward style, and covers every aspect of excavation 164 NOTICES work from the initial arrangements, the supply of tools and equipment, the excavation and its adequate recording, to the final pubhoation of the report. There are two remarks which are worthy of a wide appreciation. " Excavation brings many worries and responsibihties and is not hghtly to be indulged in except when necessary," and " Before writing his draft for publication [the Director of the excavation] should ask his editor about available space, and enquire about his policy on half-tones, line-blocks, and on any other matters." This booklet is especially to be commended to those worthy members of local societies who, quite rightly, wish to be up and doing in the archseological world, not least because it emphasizes that where archseological sites are in no immediate danger of destruction, a campaign of field-work is a much better and more satisfying proposition for a beginner starting on his own. R.F.J. 165