J.D. Clark with Julie Cormack & Susie Chin. Kalambo Falls prehistoric site III: the earlier cultures: Middle and earlier Stone Age.

J.D. Clark with Julie Cormack & Susie Chin. Kalambo Falls prehistoric site III: the earlier cultures: Middle and earlier Stone Age. xix+769 pages, 279 figures, 121 tables. 2001. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP) is a publisher given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII in 1534, and one of the two privileged presses (the other being Oxford University Press). ; 0-521-20071-7 hardback 250 [pounds sterling] &US$375. This massive book completes an exceptional trilogy of scholarshipthat began in 1969 with the publication of Kalambo Falls vol. I,followed in 1974 by vol. II. The appearance of vol. III 25 years lateris a remarkable achievement, enabled by the support of close colleagues,but that long interval is also the book's chief drawback, as Clarkhimself acknowledges. With some candour candouror US candorNounhonesty and straightforwardness of speech or behaviour [Latin candor]Noun 1. he describes the variousconflicts and financial pressures that delayed its publication until theend of his long career. The Kalambo Falls riverside site in northeastern Zambia providesone of the few stratified stratified/strat��i��fied/ (strat��i-fid) formed or arranged in layers. strat��i��fiedadj.Arranged in the form of layers or strata. sequences in Africa that spans about 400,000years of human activity from the late Acheulian to the early Iron Age.The site was renowned for its Acheulian levels where waterloggedconditions preserved wooden tools, nuts, seeds, burning and possiblyliving surfaces with structures and sleeping hollows. These initialinterpretations are revised here with a more cautious assessment of thefluvial flu��vi��al?adj.1. Of, relating to, or inhabiting a river or stream.2. Produced by the action of a river or stream.[Middle English, from Latin deposits and their effect on the archaeological record.Schick's (chapter 7) analysis of the artefact See artifact. content confirmsearlier flume-based studies, by her and others, that show considerablewinnowing of small finds from the assemblages and re-sorting. The ideaof living surfaces can no longer be sustained. The wooden tools are alsotreated with caution by Clark (chapter 8), who observes that streamaction can create tool-like shapes on submerged branches and sticks. Nochop marks or evidence of deliberate polishing survived on the putativetools. The abundant Acheulian stone artefacts, bifaces in particular,receive a thorough morphometric analysis from Roe (chapter 9), using hisnow classic method of statistical description. He notes ruefully rue��ful?adj.1. Inspiring pity or compassion.2. Causing, feeling, or expressing sorrow or regret.rue thathis research on the Kalambo bifaces was undertaken in the late 1960s andat the time was an innovative analytical approach. The passage of timehas not diminished the value of Roe's work, and in fact it formsthe basis of an allometric al��lom��e��try?n.The study of the change in proportion of various parts of an organism as a consequence of growth.al analysis of the Kalambo material by Gowlettet al. (chapter 12). Two additional chapters are devoted to thetechniques of biface manufacture from experimental perspectives (Toth,chapter 10; Edwards, chapter 11). Much of the artefact analysis, which is the heart of this volume,was undertaken in the early 1970s and has not been alteredsubstantially. The retention of terminology used in 1974, however, couldconfuse contemporary readers who face anew the now discarded labels of`second intermediate' (table 1.2) and `Magosian' (table 1.3)as applied to one of the Middle Stone Age assemblages. There is somerepetition of content from earlier volumes, with chapters on thegeological context and typology reprinted from vol. II and nine fold-outsection drawings from vol. I. The latter no doubt added to theconsiderable cost of the current volume. This repetition was intended tocompensate for vols I and II now being out of print. Whilst the contents should be judged by the standards of the time,not by current methodological and theoretical concerns, the quality andquantity of data presented make this an invaluable resource forAfricanists in particular and Palaeolithic archaeologists in general.The three volumes together comprise 1374 pages of densely packedinformation, analysis and beautifully rendered lithic lith��ic?1?adj.Consisting of or relating to stone or rock.Adj. 1. lithic - of or containing lithium2. lithic - relating to or composed of stone; "lithic sandstone" illustrations byBetty Clark that will remain timeless. Kalambo Falls is now withoutdoubt one of the most thoroughly described archaeological sites inAfrica, comparable in coverage to Olduvai Gorge and Koobi Fora. The bulk of this volume is devoted to the Acheulian assemblages,but of equal importance is the transition from the Acheulian to theMiddle Stone Age as represented in the overlying overlyingsuffocation of piglets by the sow. The piglets may be weak from illness or malnutrition, the sow may be clumsy or ill, the pen may be inadequate in size or poorly designed so that piglets cannot escape. colluvial deposits.This transition is under way in east Africa by 300,000 BP (KapthurinFormation, Kenya) and is marked by great technological variability. AtKalambo, the sequence is not continuous but variability is evident inthe late Acheulian (Sangoan) industry from which the Middle Stone Age(Lupemban) is ultimately derived. In the Lupemban, new tool forms andtechniques of flaking (including Levallois and blade cores) appear aswell the first use of ochre. Some modern behaviours appear to beemerging with the Lupemban and, elsewhere in Zambia (Twin Rivers), it isdated to at least 265,000 BP. The age of the Kalambo sequence remainsundeveloped as most of the sequence is beyond the range of radiocarbondating. A novel application of uranium-series dating (on wood) isreported here (McKinney, Appendix D) with results that must be seen asminimum ages for the Sangoan and Acheulian. Without a secure chronology,the revised palynological data (Taylor et al., chapter 3) cannot beassigned to particular climatic episodes with any certainty. Clark and Roe bring the volume to a close with two summarizing andessential chapters. Clark places Kalambo in an African context and setsthe agenda for future research at the site. Roe makes a far-reachingoverview of the significance of Kalambo Falls in the context of the OldWorld Palaeolithic. This should be required reading for all students of(and lecturers on) the Palaeolithic. Alas, this is an unlikely event.Desmond was not alone in decrying the high price of this book, whichputs it out of reach of the individual, if not many a cash-strappeduniversity library. The news of Desmond Clark's death reached me as I finishedreading this book. Like many others, I benefited from his encyclopaedic Adj. 1. encyclopaedic - broad in scope or content; "encyclopedic knowledge"encyclopediccomprehensive - including all or everything; "comprehensive coverage"; "a comprehensive history of the revolution"; "a comprehensive survey"; "a comprehensive education" knowledge and his encouragement. That he lived to see the publication,at long last, of his final volume on Kalambo Falls, is some smallconsolation for the loss of a master.LAWRENCE BARHAMDepartment of ArchaeologyUniversity of Bristollarry.barham@bristol.ac.uk