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4000 Years of Migration and Cultural Exchange: The Archaeology of the Batanes Islands, Northern Philippines ed. by Peter Bellwood, Eusebio Dizon (review)

While no editor is credited, the volume has clearly had extensive editing; despite multiple section authors, the writing is clear and concise and the arguments are presented in a straightforward and methodical manner throughout. Color versions of the figures are available on the web site, along with full data sets showing sherd counts, density calculations, excavation data, and site sketches. The website also provides GIS maps (in AutoCAD dxf or GeoTIFF formats) produced during the project. All of this website data is remarkably well documented, with good metadata that makes it easy to understand and incorporate into other projects (although the combination of dxf files and the use of a Chinese UTM system that is incompatible with the World Geodetic System datum may make the GIS data difficult for some scholars to use in wider contexts). The entire settlement analysis rests on a single premise, that “larger populations leave more garbage on the landscape than smaller populations do” ( p. 57). While this is likely for garbage in general, when it comes to ceramic sherds, it is less clear. One wonders whether the ceramic concentrations identified as ancient population centers instead were kiln sites or disturbed cemeteries. While the team apparently recorded archaeological architectural and grave features when encountered ( p. 54), no use is made of this information nor is it included in the website data. This seems a lost opportunity, as it would be interesting to see whether settlement patterns detected by sherd analysis corresponded with structural features, at least for later time periods. In sum, this is a volume of the sort one might think would be very common but in fact is vanishingly thin on the ground: a detailed explanation of the use of archaeological survey to address an academic (as opposed to strictly heritage management) question. As such it is of interest not only to those exploring the social development of northeast China, but to a wide audience of archaeologists concerned with maximizing the knowledge returned from survey work.