Archaeol ogi cal Revi ew from Cambri dge

V o l u m e 2 8 . 1 . A p r i l 2 0 1 3
Ar chaeol ogy and
Cul tur al Mi xtur e

Edited by W. Paul van Pelt
Contents
Introduction
W. Paul van Pelt
From Hybridity to Entanglement, from Essentialism to Practice
Philipp W. Stockhammer
Postcolonial Baggage at the End of the Road: How to Put the Genie Back into its
Bottle and Where to Go from There
Eleftheria Pappa
Beyond Creolization and Hybridity: Entangled and Transcultural Identities in
Philistia
Louise A. Hitchcock and Aren M. Maeir
Convivencia in a Borderland: The Danish-Slavic Border in the Middle Ages
Magdalena Naum
Problematizing Typology and Discarding the Colonialist Legacy:
Approaches to Hybridity in the Terracotta Figurines of Hellenistic Babylonia
Stephanie M. Langin-Hooper
Signal and Noise: Digging up the Dead in Archaeology and Afro-Cuban Palo
Monte
Stephan Palmi
Hybridity at the Contact Zone: Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives from
the Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Marcus Brittain, Timothy Clack and Juan Salazar Bonet
Considering Mimicry and Hybridity in Early Colonial New England:
Health, Sin and the Body "Behung with Beades"
Diana D. Loren
Our Children Might be Strangers: Frontier Migration and the Meeting of Cultures
across Generations
Hendrik van Gijseghem
Ethnogenesis and Hybridity in Proto-Historic Period Nicaragua
Geofrey G. McCaferty and Carrie L. Dennett
Bi-Directional Forced Deportations in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the
Origins of the Samaritans: Colonialism and Hybridity
Yigal Levin
Networking the Middle Ground? The Greek Diaspora, Tenth to Fifth Century BC
Carla M. Antonaccio
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About ARC
The Archaeological Review from Cambridge is a bi-annual journal of archaeology.
It is run on a non-proft, voluntary basis by postgraduate research students at the
University of Cambridge.
Although primarily rooted in archaeological theory and practice, ARC increasingly invites
a range of perspectives with the aim of establishing a strong, interdisciplinary journal
which will be of interest in a range of felds.
Archaeological Review from Cambridge
Division of Archaeology
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge
CB2 3DZ
UK
http://www.societies.cam.ac.uk/arc
Volume 28.1 Archaeology and Cultural Mixture
Theme Editor W. Paul van Pelt
Production W. Paul van Pelt
Cover Image Designed by Beatalic, 2013 (www.beatalic.com; hola@beatalic.com)

Printed and bound in the UK by the MPG Books Group, Bodmin and King's Lynn.
Published in April 2013. Copyright remains with the authors. Opinions expressed in con-
tributions do not necessarily refect the opinions of the editors.
All images are the authors' own except where otherwise stated.
ISSN 0261-4332
Committee, Archaeological Review from Cambridge
April 2013
General Editors
Katie Hall
Danika Parikh
Treasurer
W. Paul van Pelt
Secretary
Kate Boulden
Editors
Tessa de Roo
Georgie Peters
Book Reviews
Penny Jones
Subscriptions
Sarah Musselwhite
Publicity and Events
Renate Fellinger
Leanne Philpot
Back Issue Sales
Sarah Evans
IT
Kathrin Felder
Mat Dalton
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The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion edited by
Timothy Insoll
REVIEWED BY PAMELA J. CROSS
The Idea of Order: The Circular Archetype in Prehistoric Europa by Richard
Bradley
REVIEWED BY JOHN MANLEY
The Funerary Kit: Mortuary Practices in the Archaeological Record by Jill L. Baker
REVIEWED BY VAN PIGTAIN
The Ten Thousand Year Fever: Rethinking Human and Wild-Primate Malaria by
Loretta A. Cormier
REVIEWED BY LEONIE RAIJMAKERS
Human Adaptation in the Asian Palaeolithic: Hominin Dispersal and Behaviour
during the Late Quaternary by Ryan J. Rabett
REVIEWED BY PATRICK J. ROBERTS
Ethnozooarchaeology: The Present and Past of Human-Animal Relationships
edited by Umberto Albarella and Angela Trentacoste
REVIEWED BY JANE SANFORD
Archaeological Theory in Practice by Patricia Urban and Edward Schortman
REVIEWED BY VALERIA RIEDEMANN L.
Ancient Egyptian Technology and Innovation: Transformations in Pharaonic
Material Culture by Ian Shaw
REVIEWED BY KIMBERLEY WATT
Forthcoming Issues
Subscription Information
Available Back Issues
Book ReviewsEDITED BY PENNY JONES
Cultural Mixing in Egyptian Archaeology: The 'Hyksos' as a Case Study
Bettina Bader
Mixing Food, Mixing Cultures: Archaeological Perspectives
Mary C. Beaudry
Hybridity, Creolization, Mestizaje: A Comment
Parker VanValkenburgh
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360 Book Reviews 361 Edited by Penny Jones
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Ancient Egyptian Technology and Innovation:
Transformations in Pharaonic Material Culture
By Ian Shaw
2012. London: Bristol Classical Press
214 pp. 43 B/w illus. 6 Tables.
ISBN: 978-0-7156-3118-8
Reviewed by Kimberley Watt
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
T
his book addresses the issue of technological change in ancient Egypt
by exploring how technology affected its inhabitants' lives, society
and economy through time. Shaw states that the aim of this book is to
"bring together the basic evidence for many different aspects of change
and evolution in Egyptian technology" (page vii). It creates a base from
which to push forward current discussions about technologies, which are
transforming the clich that Egypt was a monolithic society, reluctant to
change.
The evidence in this book clearly demonstrates that the Egyptians
did not limit themselves to previously known and accepted technologies.
They exploited new materials and learnt new techniques when they
deemed it necessary or profitable. They also welcomed technologies
imported from elsewhere. This occurred throughout their history, from
the Predynastic Period to Roman times.
Ancient Egyptian Technologies and Innovation not only presents clear
evidence for technological change, but highlights critical issues about
the social and technical processes involved in technological innovation
and improvement. Each chapter focuses on specific technologies and
presents the evolution of the skills and processes involved. This provides
a starting point for discussions of the reasons for these innovations and, if
possible, their broader social implications.
The ten chapters of this book present technological innovations
in ancient Egypt using physical, visual and textual evidence, and draw
accurate parallels from the rest of the Mediterranean and Near Eastern
world. In the first chapter, Shaw starts with an examination of the
relationship between science and technology. Here, he questions the
validity of applying modern conceptions to earlier periods, through
a case study of the issues encountered when attempting to translate
Egyptian mathematics into modern theorems, and through a study
of the engineering underlying Egyptian architecture. Shaw further
demonstrates the need to detach our modern conceptions by illustrating
the difficulty of understanding 'medical' texts and identifying equivalent
modern diagnoses, and by highlighting the close links that existed
between Egyptian medicine and magic.
In Chapter Five, Shaw explores the tension between innovation and
conservatism in Egyptian society through a study of the development
of stone-working technologies. The design of architecture was closely
associated with traditions and sacredness and innovations were always
given a traditional coating to fit them in the conservative discourse. The
concomitance between conservationism and innovation in Egyptian
society is also addressed through examples from the mummification
process and medicine.
In Chapters Six and Seven, Shaw examines innovations through
the importation of materials and new models of technology. He draws
on numerous examples, from chariotry, composite bows and glass
production, through to the integration of iron technology in the late first
millennium. In Chapters Five and Eight, the social and political implications
of technologies are examined via sections on the relationship between
elites and craftsmanship, and on military knowledge and strategies. At
the end of the book, three appendices are included, which briefly present
astronomy and the measurements of space and time in ancient Egypt.
The strength of this book resides in the use of the latest Egyptological
discoveries and research, with numerous examples illustrating the issues
362 Book Reviews 363 Edited by Penny Jones
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and arguments discussed. In addition to Egyptian examples, a broader
perspective is offered by looking at ideas from medicine in the Greek
world and weaponry technologies from the Hittite world.
In terms of the less successful aspects of the book, Shaw's use of
terminology can be questioned. Even though the difficulties of dealing
with 'innovation' are explained in the introduction, Shaw does not define
its meaning, nor the differences between innovation and evolution, or
alteration and transformation processes. As these concepts are quite
similar, clarification would have been welcome.
Another shortfall is that the topics surveyed are limited to those
commonly studied in Egyptology. The book continues the traditional
emphasis on stone production, mummification and war technologies,
whereas developments in mud brick techniques and building elements
are not considered. Transformations in Egyptian faience's colours or
changes in the composition of plaster throughout time are interesting
innovations too, but these subjects are not discussed. While a selection
of topics examined within the scope of this book had to be made, an
introduction to the broader range of topics being considered by current
research would have been welcomed.
Undeniably, this book appears as a follow-up to the masterpiece
Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technologies by Nicholson and Shaw (2000)
and there are numerous references to it in the current book. However,
by presenting the most recent finds and discoveries and renewing the
information available on these technologies, this book represents a
valuable new addition to the literature on technologies in ancient Egypt.
Too often in Egyptology material culture is set aside from political,
economic and social studies. This clich is rightfully challenged, as
Shaw clearly demonstrates that technologies and their evolution were
embedded in Egyptian society. Even though there are some minor flaws,
this attempt to create a general framework for technological innovation
is excellent and opens up new angles for future research.
References
Dobres, M.A. 2000. Technology and Social Agency. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kemp, B.J. 2006. Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization. London/New York: Routledge.
Nicholson, P.T. and Shaw, I. (eds) 2000. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
365
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Forthcoming Issues
Archaeological Review from Cambridge 28.2
Humans and Animals
November 2013
Edited by Kathryn J. Boulden and Sarah Musselwhite
T
he relationship between humans and animals has long been a prin-
cipal topic of archaeological enquiry, with questions of domestica-
tion, diet and ritual forming the basis of discussion of the development
of 'civilized' society. Archaeological discussions have drawn on both hard
and social sciences in exploration of the relationship between humans
and animals beyond subsistence and there is a growing appreciation of
the diverse roles that animals have played in human history. However,
there has been neglect of considering how people interact with the full
diversity of animals with which they inhabit an environment. The heavy
focus on how humans have exploited animals for their own purposes has
resulted in relatively fewer studies that investigate the symbiotic nature
of many human-animal interactions and the social role of animals in daily
life. This issue explores these alternative perspectives, underlining the
diversity of animal and human relationships in archaeological contexts.
Archaeological Review from Cambridge 29.1
Social Network Perspectives in Archaeology
April 2014
Edited by Sarah Evans and Kathrin Felder
T
he concept of the 'social network' is becoming an increasingly
popular topic of discussion, both in modern society and academic
research. Within archaeology, the exploration of past social interactions
via relationships present in the material record forms a principal topic. A
growing number of archaeological studies are applying network analysis
in order to address the nature of human interconnectedness, mechanisms
of knowledge and meaning transmission and the role of objects in
social relationships. Archaeology's contemporary entanglement with
social networks is further emphasized by the great effect modern social
network media have on academic practice by enabling an enhanced
communication within and between the academic and public domain.
Issue 29.1 explores and addresses the unique challenges that
materiality, the spatial and temporal scales, and the fragmentary nature
of the archaeological record pose on envisaging human interaction in
the past. Covering a wide temporal and geographical range from the
Palaeolithic to the Modern Day, the contributions to this issue provide
a rich cross-section of enquiry into the theoretical underpinnings and
specific methodological requirements of archaeological applications
of network analysis. The case studies presented promote an increased
integration of the rich analytical toolbox available to archaeological
research with existing network approaches from other disciplines, and
reflect on archaeology's own changing networking practices. Together
they highlight the significant and unique contribution archaeology is
able to make to the growing field of social network analysis.
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Subscription information
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Available Back Issues
The following back issues can be ordered. For the order form and up-to-
date prices please see our website:
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1.2 General Issue
2.1 Archaeology and the Public
8.2 Writing Archaeology
9.2 Afective Archaeology
11.2 Digging for a Laugh
12.1 General Perspectives
12.2 The Hierarchy of Being Human
14.1 History and Archaeology
14.2 An Archaeological Assortment
15.1 The Archaeology of Perception and the Senses
15.2 Disability and Archaeology
16 Contending with Bones
17.2 Early Medieval Religion
20.2 Issues of Food and Drink
21.1 Technologies: Changing Matters; Changing Minds?
21.2 Embodied Identities
22.1 The Materiality of Burial Practices
22.2 The Disturbing Past
23.1 Archaeological Histories
23.2 Movement, Mobility and Migrations
24.1 Invention and Reinvention
24.2 Beyond Determinism
25.1 Violence and Conflict in the Material Record
25.2 Boundaries and Archaeology
26.1 Archaeology and Economic Crises
26.2 Collaborative Archaeology
27.1 Science and the Material Record
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