Kultu Aslihan Yener (ed). The Amuq Valley Regional Projects, Volume 1: Surveys in the Plain of Antioch and Orontes Delta, Turkey, 1995-2002.

Kultu Aslihan Yener (ed). The Amuq Valley Regional Projects, Volume 1: Surveys in the Plain of Antioch and Orontes Delta, Turkey, 1995-2002. KULTU ASLIHAN YENER (ed.). The Amuq Valley Regional Projects,Volume 1: Surveys in the Plain of Antioch and Orontes Delta, Turkey,1995-2002 (Oriental Institute Oriental Institute is a name given to a number of institutions of higher education throughout the world that are engaged in the study of Asian culture, languages and history. Publications 131). xlii+304 pages, 143illustrations, 8 plates, 5 tables. 2005. Chicago (IL): OrientalInstitute of the University of Chicago; 1-885923-32-5 hardback 40[pounds sterling]. The publication of the volume under review (heralded by severalarticles and a website accessible at http:// oi.uchicago. edu/research/projects/ amu/) marks the next step for two great projects--thesurvey of the Amuq plain in the 1930s and the excavation of Tell Atchanacarried out by Woolley before and after the second World War--nowconjoined conjoined/con��joined/ (kon-joind��) joined together; united. conjoinedjoined together.conjoined monsterstwo deformed fetuses fused together. and acquiring a new dimension. The recent research programme,initiated by K.A. Yener of the Oriental Institute in Chicago, continuesthe tradition of the Syro-Hittite Expedition, which resulted in reports48 (1937), 61 (1960) and 95 (1970) of the Oriental Institute; nowrenamed The Amuq Valley Regional Projects, the project and its horizonsare substantially enlarged to encompass the delta of the Orontes and toinclude environmental and archaeometallurgical investigations. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The volume, the first of a comprehensive series planned, presentsthe main results of surveys undertaken between 1995 and 2002. As theintroductory chapter (Chapter 1: 'The Amuq Valley RegionalProject') by K.A. Yener explains, further volumes will be dedicatedto presenting definitive results and to excavation reports, which willincorporate unpublished data from older excavations. This first chapteralso contains a clear and concise overview of the state of research andknowledge reached in the Amuq plain. From this, the significance ofrenewing investigations in a region that has been neglected for some 50years becomes even clearer. The following five chapters make up the core of the book. They areorganised thematically, starting with extensive regional surveys andending with intensive surveys of a number of key sites. Chapter 2('Settlement and Landscapes in the Amuq Region'), by J.J.Casana and T.J. Wilkinson, sets the Amuq valley in its environmental andgeomorphological ge��o��mor��phol��o��gy?n.The study of the evolution and configuration of landforms.geo��mor context and tracks the evolution of the settlementpattern from the Palaeolithic to the Islamic period. Chapter 3('The Orontes Delta Survey' by H. Pamir) explores the naturalmaritime outlet that the Orontes forms as it emerges into the Amuqplain. The scarcity of evidence of human occupation on sites dating tothe period between the Palaeolithic and the second millennium BC isevidently an intriguing aspect. Three chapters deal with Tell Atchana: 'Alalakh SpatialOrganization' (Chapter 4, by K.A. Yener); 'The Tell AtchanaMapping and GIS Project' (Chapter 5, by St. Batiuk and A.A. Burke);'Surface Ceramics, Off-Site Survey, and Floodplain floodplain,level land along the course of a river formed by the deposition of sediment during periodic floods. Floodplains contain such features as levees, backswamps, delta plains, and oxbow lakes. development atTell Atchana' (Chapter 6). They represent the outcome of studiesundertaken prior to resuming excavations at Tell Atchana in 2003. Asanyone who has worked on a site investigated some time ago willrecognise, the challenge was to build solid foundations, in terms oftopography and stratigraphy stratigraphy,branch of geology specifically concerned with the arrangement of layered rocks (see stratification). Stratigraphy is based on the law of superposition, which states that in a normal sequence of rock layers the youngest is on top and the oldest on the , so as to create conditions as favourable aspossible for combining successfully new data with previously generateddocumentation. The authors of the three chapters invite us to revisit,literally as well as metaphorically, Woolley's interventions andexplore the immediate surroundings of the site; thus we learn, amongstother things, that Tell Atchana did not possess a lower town and that ameander of the river Orontes formerly separated it from TellTa'yinat. The penultimate pe��nul��ti��mate?adj.1. Next to last.2. Linguistics Of or relating to the penult of a word: penultimate stress.n.The next to the last. chapter (Chapter 7, 'The Tell Ta'yinatSurvey, 1999-2000', by St. Batiuk, T.P. Harrison and L. Pavlish) isdevoted to the latter site. A topographic survey was carried out there,with a view, once again, to resuming excavations. The entire lower townwas subjected to surface collection, and a localised geophysical survey Geophysical survey refers to the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Geophysical surveys may use a great variety of sensing instruments, and data may be collected from above or below the Earth's surface or from aerial or marine platforms. has produced, though somewhat suggestively, building outlines. Aconcluding chapter by K.A. Yener (Chapter 8) provides a synthesis of theresults so far. Two appendices, one a catalogue of the sites surveyed,the other a study of an inscribed scarab of the New Kingdom, concludethe volume. Undoubtedly the amount and range of information hitherto availablefor the Amuq region has been enriched by the present work. However, andby the editor's own admission, this volume is an interim statementemanating from an ongoing research programme. It marks the successfullaunch of a programme, a programme whose further results are eagerlyawaited and which promises to be of the high standard set by K.A. Yener(2000) in her groundbreaking monograph on Anatolian metallurgy. Reference YENER, K.A. 2000. The Domestication domesticationProcess of hereditary reorganization of wild animals and plants into forms more accommodating to the interests of people. In its strictest sense, it refers to the initial stage of human mastery of wild animals and plants. of Metals. The Rise of ComplexMetal Industries in Anatolia (Culture and History of the Ancient NearEast 4). Leiden, Boston & Koln: Brill Brillor Bril,Flemish painters, brothers.Mattys Brill (mä`tīs), 1550–83, went to Rome early in his career and executed frescoes for Gregory XIII in the Vatican. . PHILIPPE QUENET CNRS-UMR 5133 (Equipe Archeorient), Maison de l'Orient Mediterraneen, Lyon, France (Email: pquenet@orange.fr) (translated from the French by Reviews Editor)