Creativity in human evolution and prehistory.

Creativity in human evolution and prehistory. STEVEN MITHEN (ed.). Creativity in human evolution and prehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to .xii+ 300 pages, 51 illustrations, 1 table. 1998. London: Routledge;0-41516-096-0 hardback 60 [pounds sterling]. Creativity is substantial, really worth thinking with: how didpeople become so creative, and what difference has it made toprehistory? Needless to say, in the great back-lash against determinism,it is not the only new book on the topic; but it makes more headway thanothers; and it must be the most accessible within the archaeologicalliterature at present. Following the introduction, the one note and 13papers are arranged in three parts: on what creativity is; on theevolution of creativity; and on Europe from Mesolithic to Iron Age. Apaper of Margaret Boden's (1994) gets the book under way with anassessment of creativity in general. There follow the thoughts of I.Hodder, who stresses the significance of applied creativity (cf. DOBRES& HOFFMAN, above) and makes the helpful point that creativity tendsto work by association (cf. TILLEY, above). R. Layton discusses NativeAustralians' resourcefulness in coping with the European invasion.The second part covers `evidence from monkeys and apes', thearchaeology of early tool use, Neanderthaler culture and anatomy and`the human revolution' of the Upper Palaeolithic (MITHEN on art andlanguage -- cf. CARSTAIRS-MCCARTHY in `Linguistics ...', below).The third part assesses Mesolithic burial rites, symbolism, astronomyand construction of British Neolithic monuments (R. Bradley), Maltesetemples and stone carving See also: petroglyph.Stone carving is an ancient activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. (C. Malone & S. Stoddart), and the earlysymbolism of horse riding (C. Renfrew). This book's seriousness,wit and learning are apt to its subject. In contrast, Time and archaeology is puzzling. Most of the papersare interesting -- one is bunkum bun��kumalso bun��combe ?n.Empty or insincere talk; claptrap.[After Buncombe, a county of western North Carolina, from a remark made around 1820 by its congressman, who felt obligated to -- including one on Indian concepts oftime (cf. MALIK in `History of ideas The history of ideas is a field of research in history that deals with the expression, preservation, and change of human ideas over time. The history of ideas is a sister-discipline to, or a particular approach within, intellectual history. ...', below), two onchronology (one on philosophy, the other on dating the Stone Age inIndia), two on cities (routine; the rate of transformation; cf. RENFREWin `Artefacts ...', above), one on the social significance of theHochdorf tomb, and an ambitious essay on multiple strands of causes (J.McGlade); but the other bit of bunkum is the post-modern jargon invokedto justify botching these pieces together (from the 1994 WorldArchaeology Congress). To the landslide of books on landscape, Drs ASHMORE & KNAPPhave added some half-a-dozen ethnographic and historical studies andthree papers on prehistory, five on the Americas and one each onAustralia, east Asia East AsiaA region of Asia coextensive with the Far East.East Asian adj. & n. , Egypt, Cyprus and Britain. The aim, of course, isto show that people have lived among not just sites but places, inconceptual landscapes. P. van Dommelen rounds the collection upinconclusively by remarking on the diversity of methods that the bookexhibits. Not that there is much problem with most of them; it is thearchaeological ones that are risky -- C. Crumley tempts fate byassessing them against C.F.C. Hawkes's famous warning (1954) about`inference from material remains to spiritual life'. In fact, J.E.Buikstra & D.K. Charles stay safe with sensible topographicdiscriminations along the lower Illinois Valley; but J.E. Snead &R.W. Preucel show that tricky assumptions have to be made even with thereasonably well known data of Pueblo ethnography. Dr INSOLL has published the first of two volumes of papers from hisinteresting meeting of last year. They include half-a-dozen on India(including N. Rao on Ayodhya), five on the Near & Middle East(including D. Edwards on Nubia -- see `Also received', below),three on Europe (including S. Coleman & J. Elsner on Walsingham),three on other parts of the world (notably P.F. de Moraes Farias and P.Lane on acculturation acculturation,culture changes resulting from contact among various societies over time. Contact may have distinct results, such as the borrowing of certain traits by one culture from another, or the relative fusion of separate cultures. in Africa), and a tour of issues in theinterpretation of early Christianity from the Nile to the Nene Nene(nēn, nĕn)or Nen(nĕn), river, c.90 mi (140 km) long, rising in the Northampton Uplands, central England, and flowing NE past Northampton, Oundle, Peterborough, and Wisbech to the Wash. (W.H.C.Frend). With plenty of textual and iconographic background, these papersare not prone to the worst of which Prof. Hawkes warned. Publication wasprompt but many of the illustrations are rough and the whole thing couldhave done with one more editorial browse.