The Oxford Companion to Archaeology (Oxford Companions)
Editor Fagan (Ancient Civilizations, Addison Wesley, 1996) is well known for his publications, which elucidate the development and character of archaeology. In this encyclopedic companion, Fagan has created an impressive work of approximately 700 entries. There is little to fault in its coverage of human fossils, historical sites, geographical areas, and the people, history, theory, and substance of archaeology. Some topics, however, lack a bibliography or receive skimpy coverage. A list of the entries, although lengthy, would have been helpful to the user, who must rely on the index to find a starting point. There are no references to the maps and tables from the relevant entries. Moreover, maps and tables are not numbered, and their order and purpose are not always apparent. Despite these minor faults, the work is authoritative, well written, and the only recent work of its kind. This companion fills a gap in the reference literature for archaeology and should be purchased for all reference collections.?Joyce L. Ogburn, Old Dominion Univ. Lib., Norfolk, Va.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.