Download Book review: Handbook of Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology

Book Reviews
of, and inter-relatedness to, kinship groups and elaborate social
rules and structures as well as the response to resources, lifestyle
and climate.
Memmott has been documenting regional architectural
styles for over 30 years and this book is a collation of some
20 publications. The result is what appears to be an encyclopaedia
of Indigenous architectural practices. However, this book is
more of a starting point than a completed catalogue. This is a
significant attempt to begin to collate and document a more
definitive resource on the subject. The audience is the lay reader
and the academic (p.xiv) – not a book written for archaeologists
– however, the systematic documentation of many types of
regional Indigenous architecture is both informative and
useful. The architectural ‘view’ of the built environment has the
potential to inform our archaeological perspectives. In addition,
the extensive collation of photographs, paintings, magazine and
journal articles and use of Indigenous voices is both impressive
and informative.
Specific themes addressed in the book include campsite
domiciliary behaviour, travelling between campsites as a
response to seasonal changes, semi-sedentary villages, spatial
organisation of campsites and the diffusion and influence of
design types across regions. These themes are explored regionby-region using case studies. For example, Chapter 4 examines
the North East Rainforest and how the tropical wet seasons
result in sedentary village architecture, while Chapter 9 looks at
the Spinifex houses of the Western Desert. ‘Boxes’ are also used
to provide additional case studies within each chapter. These
are valuable but the layout makes reading of the main text
somewhat disjointed.
This book also examines outstation architecture from the
1970s, with the collaborative architectural projects between
Aboriginal groups and non-Aboriginal architects, as well as
contemporary architecture by Indigenous architects with
Western qualifications and training.
While some of Memmott’s analyses of the use of space by dogs
is refreshingly outside mainstream thinking (with the exception
of Colin Pardoe), his use of primarily male anthropological
sources has biased some of his interpretations. For example, his
discussion of the Alyawarr’s use of campsite space includes an
innovative and fascinating discussion on men’s, women’s and
dog’s space. However, there is more depth committed to the role
of dog’s space than to women’s space and this is indicative of a
gender bias within the book as a whole. In the chapter, women’s
use of space is addressed in a rather superficial way (p.40):
Women’s ritual is often planned and organised from within
women’s domiciliary spaces. Women also, of course, go about
their daily chores of food preparation, cooking and childcare in
these spaces.
A considered analysis of women’s use of space would
have strengthened this volume, and is an obvious area for
future research.
Gunyah, Goondie and Wurley is impressively hard-bound
and its weight and feel is, in some sense, imposing and
authoritative. As it is written by an architect, the book has an
aesthetic property, which cannot be ignored. The book makes
a substantive contribution to our knowledge of Aboriginal
74
architecture. It can be difficult to read, but it is pleasure
to peruse.
HANDBOOK OF FORENSIC
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHAEOLOGY
Soren Blau & Douglas Ubelaker (eds)
Research Handbooks in Archaeology Series, Left Coast Press,
Walnut Creek, CA, 2009, 534pp, ISBN 978-1-5987-4074-5
Reviewed by Judith Littleton
Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of
Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland
1142, New Zealand
In the last few years there have been many new volumes on
forensic anthropology and archaeology. With the exception of
Oxenham’s 2008 edited volume Forensic Approaches to Death,
Disaster and Abuse (Australian Academic Press, Bowen Hills),
most have had a northern hemisphere focus. This volume,
emerging as part of the World Archaeological Congress Research
Handbooks in Archaeology Series, avoids that and has a much
more representative mix of papers from across the world,
including non-English speaking areas. The term ‘handbook’
however is misleading. This is a substantial volume (41 chapters)
which gives much more of an overview of the current state of
forensic archaeology and anthropology than a manual of practice.
There is an interesting conflict highlighted by the series
editors (Hollowell and Nicholas) at the beginning of the volume.
Citing the WAC Tamaki-Makarau Accord on the Display of
Human Remains and Sacred Objects, they requested that
authors comply with the Accord by seeking permission from
affiliated descendents or descendant communities. The response
by the writers of the various chapters was to comply in respect
of identifiable persons. The solution and many of the chapters
highlight that most of these authors are closely involved and very
keenly aware of the ethical dilemmas surrounding their work. In
no instance are the photographs used for prurient interest, but
they do highlight that archaeology and anthropology are visual
endeavours – to try to explain the sheer breadth of work in the
tsunami for instance without the accompanying photographs
would be a failure.
The first section deals with a historical overview and
highlights the geographical breadth of the book. Ubelaker
provides a conventional history of the development of forensic
anthropology in the United States, however the other chapters
in this section are more interesting. Cox, writing of the United
Kingdom, and Donlon, of Australia, both provide thoughtful
evaluations of the state of work. For those having to deal
with endless student enquiries regarding forensic work, I can
recommend these chapters. They provide an accessible and frank
evaluation of the amount of work and prospects for those in the
field. The Canadian chapter by Skinner and Bowie is much more
optimistic in tone but again provides a good survey, as does the
chapter from South America (Fondelbrider). Surprisingly there
is a chapter by Etty Indriati on Indonesia which is really valuable.
Indonesia, despite being the focus of forensic work by Australians
and others (e.g. Briggs and Buck this volume), is rarely evident in
the forensic literature except as a source of case studies. Similarly,
Number 70, June 2010
Book Reviews
for an English-speaking audience, the chapters from France,
Italy and Spain where forensic anthropology exists within the
discipline of legal medicine point to significant differences across
the world in the role and status of forensic practitioners.
The second section deals with forensic archaeology but
only contains two chapters. These pick up on two aspects of
archaeological practice: finding buried objects and interpreting
the buried environment. The small number of chapters in this
area highlights the limited nature of archaeological work in
regard to forensics. Holland and Connell’s chapter on surveying
reviews traditional as well as more recent techniques. They
emphasise (contrary to some more optimistic commentators)
the goal of such surveys: to reduce the area requiring ground
truthing. A further emphasis is that geophysical methods are
only as good as the analyst and his or her post-processing of the
data. Cheetham and Hanson deal with the differences between,
and requirements of, forensic and traditional archaeological
excavation and recording. The chapter introduces a series of
more methodological questions such as standardisation and
justification of practice. Neither chapter provides the sort of
detailed overview implied by the term ‘handbook’ but both
highlight the need for thoughtful evaluation of method under
the differing circumstances of forensic excavation.
The third section dealing with forensic anthropology is more
familiar material – the diagnosis of bone as human or nonhuman, dating, comingling, ancestry, age, sex, stature, trauma,
taphonomic effects and craniofacial identification. Some of
the chapters are simply a review and explanation of techniques
(e.g. Mulhern, Sauer and Wankmiller, Braz, Crowder, Willey,
Stephan). They are useful as a source of references and brief
overview but not meaty enough to be used by themselves. Others
such as Thompson on burnt remains are more a summary of
the history of studies than a substantive survey. However, other
chapters go well beyond the summary. Byrd and Adams describe
a range of techniques to identify commingling but go beyond
that to raise ethical questions about the procedures used. They
highlight that all forensic work has a range of stakeholders and
that desires of the community may not match the techniques
being engaged. Clement’s chapter on forensic odontology
discusses similar ethical issues and in particular the effects that
a failure to identify the missing may have on those who are left.
On a different line, Rogers’ chapter on aging rather than listing
techniques examines some of the underlying principles and the
interpretative paradigms used when ageing skeletal remains. It
is a good discussion of the need for a more fully integrated and
anthropological programme. These three chapters stand out
in highlighting the development of a discipline with a broader
focus than the pure identification of human remains.
Part four consists of case studies. There are two chapters
on domestic forensic work (Wolfe Steadman and Hunter). The
remainder deal with disaster victim identification (the tsunami,
the Bali bombings, United States guidelines) and political
violence (the Solomons, former Yugoslavia, Guatemala, Iraq).
All emphasise the interdisciplinary nature of the work and the
limited role that forensic archaeologists and anthropologists may
play. However, the chapters by Sledzik, Congram and Sterenberg,
and Flavel and Barker raise further ethical issues and the
potential role of anthropologists in dealing with the interaction
of family members and the needs of society. In particular the
Guatemalan and Iraq chapters raise the potential conflicts
between humanitarian and evidentiary goals of excavation
and identification. The Iraq chapter is especially interesting in
its discussion of the complex organisational landscape of mass
grave excavation.
The final section is labelled ‘The Professional Forensic and
Archaeologist and Forensic Anthropologist’. Blau raises a range
of ethical issues, many of which have been highlighted by earlier
authors but are bought together here. Wright and Hanson write
about dealing with large organisations, in a chapter which places
the forensic archaeologist in the foreground rather than as a
member of a large interdisciplinary team. The chapter by Ross
and Kimmerle on quantitative methods sits rather oddly in this
section. It fits more as a primer for new methods in dealing with
the statistics of identification. Henneberg describes the stages of
being an expert witness in a very accessible and practical fashion
while Ranson (with an Anglo-Australian bias) deals with the
legal aspects of identification. This section seemed to be more
of a mixed bag than the other sections of the book which were
very coherent.
In sum this volume is much more than the ‘handbook’
of the title suggests. In biological anthropology its closest
parallel is probably the edited book by Cox and Mays Human
Osteology in Archaeology and Forensic Science (2000, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge). Many chapters can be mined as
introductions to different aspects of forensic archaeology and
human identification but could not be relied upon as manuals
for practice. Other chapters, however, really serve as a detailed
and very grounded introduction to the discipline, the current
state of work, and the directions in which this work is going.
That difference makes it hard to identify the audience for this
book. In reality those teaching and working in areas of forensic
anthropology will find it useful both for their own interest and as
a source of set readings for students. It is a massive undertaking
and like the Oxenham volume before it does serve to situate
forensic anthropology and archaeology as concerns beyond the
northern hemisphere.
AUSTRALIA AND THE ORIGINS OF
AGRICULTURE
Rupert Gerritsen
British Archaeological Reports International Series S1874,
Archaeopress, Oxford, 2008, iii+205pp, ISBN 9781407303543
Reviewed by Harry Lourandos
81 Outlook Crescent, Bardon, QLD 4065, Australia
In this detailed book, Gerritsen’s argument is quite clear: that
agriculture can be identified in at least two of the traditional
regions of Indigenous Australia, and that in one of these its
origins are clearly local developments. As this can be perceived
as a somewhat provocative and controversial claim, as he
acknowledges, it needs to be examined in some detail. On what
evidence and arguments are these claims based? Essentially
Gerritsen’s approach is ethnohistorical, or ‘reconstructive
ethnography’ as he refers to it, with only scant archaeological
contributions. His study areas include the central west coast
of Western Australia (Nhanda), the Darling basin and the
Number 70, June 2010
75