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Pottery Technology: Ideas and Approaches. Gordon Bronitsky, editor. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado. 1989. vi + 220 pp. $32.50 (paper).

Ideally, the nature of archaeological logic would consist in making arguments—that is, in exchanging pro and con statements in a conversational setting. These statements establish propositions, which are tested and revised through dialogue with adversaries of each proposition (see Stutt and Shennan, Antiquity 64:766-777). The process should be fair and balanced and allow equal time for opposing points of view. Experts who interpret fossil bones with tunnel vision and based on preconceived ideas may fail to respond fairly to strong challenges to those ideas. This book contains significant examples of expert systems that have failed. On the other hand, there is no shortage of worthwhile papers, too. Buy the book, learn from its lessons, but read it very thoughtfully when you get to the interpretations.