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The Archaeology of Ancient Eritrea. Edited by Peter R. Schmidt, Matthew C. Curtis, and Zelalem Teka. Trenton, NJ: The Red Sea Press, 2007. Pp. xix, 469; 256 figures. $39.95.
The editors of this important and exhaustively illustrated book provide a synthesis of the main results of archaeological investigations conducted in Eritrea since the independence of that country in 1993. The book focuses mainly on research conducted in the greater Asmara area by Asmara University's Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, as part of a fieldwork training program with the assistance of Peter R. Schmidt and Matthew C. Curtis in 1998-2002 (Chapters 5-14). In order to provide a more exhaustive picture of the prehistory and ancient history of Eritrea, the book also includes an overview of earlier archaeological work in the country (P.R. Schmidt and M.C. Curtis, Chapter 1); contributions by other researchers working along the Gulf of Zula in the 1990s (A. Beyin and J. Shea, Chapter 2); the site of Agordat (S.A. Brandt, A. Manzo, and C. Perlingieri, Chapter 3); Qohaito (S. Wenig and M.C. Curtis, Chapter 15); Adulis (L. Blue, Y. Gebreyesus, D. Glazier, D. Habtemichael, D. Peacock, and R. Russom, Chapter 16); a chapter on rock art (Z. Teka, Chapter 4); and an overview of investigations at the historical sites of Matara and Keskese (M.C. Curtis and D. Habtemichael, Chapter 17). It is rather curious, however, that Italian researchers from the Center for African Archaeology, Museum of Natural History (Milan) and the University of Florence, who collaborated with the National Museum in Asmara, were not invited to contribute to the book. A chapter is also dedicated to an interpretation of emerging social complexity in the northern Horn of Africa in the first millennium BCE (M.C. Curtis, Chapter 18). The final chapters deal with problems of cultural resource management (Z.D. Habtezion, Chapter 19), archaeological heritage and tourism (W. Okubay, Chapter 20), and possible future developments of the archaeology in the country (Z. Teka, Chapter 21).
A great merit of the book is that it has included the research of a number of Eritrean scholars who have very effectively contributed...