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ZOOARCHAEOLOGY IN GREECE: RECENT ADVANCES. Edited by E. KOTJABOPOULOU, Y. HAMILAKIS, P. HALSTEAD, C. GAMBLE, and P. ELEFANTI. London: British School at Athens (British School at Athens Studies 9). 2003. Pp. 310.
IN SEPTEMBER 1999, a few days before the first symposium on Greek zooarchaeology was scheduled to take place in Athens, a major earthquake struck the city and the conference was unavoidably cancelled. It is a tribute to the persistence and dedication of the organisers that the proceedings of the conference "that could not be held" have nonetheless been published. I believe that this collection represents the first full survey entirely dedicated to Greek zooarchaeology. By and large it is an Anglo-Greek enterprise, although the international diversity of the contributors is impressive-twelve different countries are represented in the authors' addresses. Most researchers who have carried out significant zooarchaeological or related work in the last decade or so in Greece are represented. The book is mainly in English, with just one chapter-by the late German zooarchaeologist Gunter Nobis-in Greek. However, very sensibly, all abstracts are also translated into Greek, and a useful glossary of English and Greek terms is included at the end of the book.
The twenty-eight chapters are divided into three main parts, each introduced by one or two of the five editors. Eleni Kotjabopoulou and Clive Gamble take care of "Environment and Subsistence" (Part One), Yannis Hamilakis of "Beyond Subistence" (Part Two), and Paul Halstead of "Beyond Bones" (Part Three). Part One, which is the largest, is subdivided into three sections, the first of which is represented by two methodological papers, one introducing a new method for sexing animal bones (by D. Ruscillo) and the other dealing with a study of diet-related microwear analysis in sheep/goats (by I. Mainland). Both papers will be of much interest to zooarchaeologists, though I do not understand why they are included in the "subsistence" section. The second section-almost inevitably for a country with so many archipelagos-deals...