Akkadica
Assyriological Center
Georges Dossin
Georges Dossin
|
Akkadica Assyriological Center
Georges Dossin |
Conspectus Librorum - Book Review:
Price: Euro 72,- / sFr 122,- Orders: service@harrassowitz.de. For a complete catalogue of titles see also: www.harrassowitz.de/verlag "Technologische Innovationen im zweiten Jahrtausend vor Christus" is based on a manuscript to obtain a master's degree, presented to the Faculty of Philosophy at the University Georg-August in Göttingen in 1999/2000. In the Bronze Age of the second millennium B.C. many important technological innovations can be recognized in the East Mediterranean Region. In her study Heike Wilde proposes a "classification system" which can be applied to the introduction and development of new techniques and materials in the Levant. This "classification" consists of four successive phases, beginning with the "Primärphase" (a "get-to-know-phase") in which the first contact with the new material is predominant. Also typical for this phase is that the material is expensive and difficult to obtain. This again results in the creation of "prestige goods". The second or "Sekundärphase" can be considered as an "experiment-phase" in which for the first time the characteristics and advantages of the materials are fully recognized. Distinctive for the third or "Expansivphase" is a kind of serial production. Very often the production of certain materials is centralized which might eventually result in massproduction. Characteristic than for the final stage, called the "Akzeptanzphase", is the widely spread production of the materials. In the second part of this work Heike Wilde investigates the introduction, development and expansion of three innovative technologies, i.e. glass manufacturing techniques, metalurgical techniques used to produce tin-bronze and the introduction of the chariot, while applying the proposed four successive production- and development-phases. The third chapter concentrates on the productionphases from a historical and geographical perspective. The book concludes with a bibliography, a geographical map pointing out the most important sites mentioned in the text, and a catalogue with 22 tables. Comments on particular aspects of this study can be restricted to the fact that the quality of the illustrations (tabels 1-22) is rather varied, and there is no subject index. Although there is still a lot of research to be done on this topic, Heike Wilde's work is certainly of importance to those interested in the archaeology and early history of materials, crafts and technology in the ancient East Mediterranean. References: R.J. FORBES, Metallurgy in Antiquity, Leiden, 1950. R.J. FORBES, Studies in Ancient Technology III: Glass, Leiden, 1966: p.112-136. P.R.S. MOOREY, Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries. The Archaeological Evidence. Winona Lake, Indiana, 1999. Ingrid Swinnen Vrije Universiteit Brussel |