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Enclosures of Central and NorthernEurope. In: D. Calado, M. Baldia & M. Boulanger, eds. Monumental Questions:Prehistoric Megaliths, Mounds and Enclosures. International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Societies. Proceedings of the XV World Congress (Lisbon, 4 – 9 September 2006). Vol. 8. Session C68 (Part II) .British Archaeological Reports InternationalSeries 2123. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp.195 – 212.Bueno Ramírez, P., Balbín Behrmann, R., deBarroso Bermejo, R. & Carrera Ramírez,F. 2011. Painting Versus Engraving:Palaeolithic and Postpalaeolithic Rock Art in the International Tagus — Sierra de SanPedro (Santiago de Alcántara andValencia de Alcántara, Cáceres). In:P. Bueno Ramírez, E. Cerrillo Cuenca & A. González Cordero, eds. From the Origins: The Prehistory of the Inner Tagus Region , British Archaeological ReportsInternational Series 2219. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 7 – 22.Holtorf, C. & Williams, H. 2006. Landscapesand Memories. In: D. Hicks & M. Beaudray, eds. Cambridge Companionto Historical Archaeology . Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, pp. 235 – 54. Jones, A. 2007. Memory and Material Culture .Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Malone, C. 2007. Ritual, Space and Structure:the Context of Cult in Malta and Gozo.In: D.A. Barrowclough & C. Malone, eds. Cult in Context. Reconsidering Ritual in Archaeology . Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 23 – 34.Montufo Martín, A.M., Afonso Marrero, J.A.,Cámara Serrano, J.A., Molina González,F. & Spanedda, L. 2011. RelacionesVisuales Entre Los Yacimientos Arqueológicos Prehistóricos de Las Peñasde Los Gitanos (Montefrío, Granada).Estrategias de Ocultación, Control DelEspacio Productivo y Límites. Antiqvitas ,23: 73 – 85.Scarre, C. 2010. Rocks of Ages: Tempo and Time in Megalithic Monuments. European Journal of Archaeology , 13(2): 175 – 93.Spanedda, L., Cámara Serrano, J.A. & SalasHerrera, F.E. 2010. Bronze Age Settlement Patterns in Dorgali Municipality (Sardinia). Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche , 60: 283 – 306.Stoddart, S. 2007. The Maltese Death Cult in Context. In: D.A. Barrowclough & C. Malone, eds. Cult in Context.Reconsidering Ritual in Archaeology .Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 54 – 60. Wheatley, D. & Gillings, M. 2002. Spatial Technology and Archaeology: Archaeological Applications of GIS . London: Taylor andFrancis. V ITTORIO B RIZZI Biology and Evolution Department, Ferrara University, Italy DOI 10.1179/174127212X13300836898699 Trond Lødøen and Gro Mandt. The Rock Art of Norway (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2010,338pp, 241 figs, pbk. ISBN 978-I-905119-28-8) This book is written by two of the best-known specialists in Scandinavian rock art.In 2005, Lødøen and Mandt published Bergkunst: Helleristningar i Noreg (Samla-get). Five years on, The Rock Art of Norway offers an illustrative and current view of Norwegian rock art in the Englishlanguage. This is a work of high quality not only in terms of its contents but alsoin terms of its graphic design and itsnumerous pictures and maps. It is anessential book for the foreign archaeologist who wishes to understand Nordic rock art.From the way the subjects are organizedin this book, it could be seen as a guidefor visiting Norwegian rock art. The order in which the reader finds the informationappears to follow geographical criteria, Reviews 163 rather than being grouped according tosubject as in a conventional manual.However, this first impression belies thedensity of information it offers. It is the way in which the content is structuredthat makes it a pleasure to read. We couldsay that landscape archaeology is not only present in the way the rock art is con-ceived, but also in the manner of organizing the information, i.e. following geographic rather than thematic criteria. The book is also well illustrated with pic-tures and maps. In keeping with thetheoretical and methodological line takenby the authors, the pictures are not exclu-sively of the engraved panels, but alsoinclude numerous views of the landscapeand of the sites ’ surroundings. The book is divided into 23 sections,each preceded by a legend or historical talethat is an attractive way of introducing usto the site the authors go on to describeand to an impression of the long life of some sacred sites. The first section is a general introduction to rock art, while sec-tions 2 – 22 describe the different archaeological sites the authors show usalong the journey. Here, I would like topoint out the cave paintings inNord-Trøndelag and Nordland and thebig panels in Norland and the complexcompositions of Storsteinen or Amtmannsnes. The final section is devoted to a reflec-tion on the state of conservation of theengravings and the causes of their deterio-ration; this section also includes somebrief observations on the problems associ-ated with the public presentation of rock art. Therefore, in terms of the quantity and quality of its content, this book can beconsidered as a point of reference for our core knowledge of Norwegian rock art. The authors guide us through Norway'smain rock art sites, from the northernmost in Alta to the southernmost in Øsfold,and from hunters ’ art or the Northern Tradition to the Southern Tradition of thesecond and first millennia BC . As the book progresses, it reveals different aspects of the subject: Sami religion and tradition,engraving technique, forms of represen-tation, the survival of the rock art sitesover the centuries, the relationshipbetween the two traditions of rock art,their possible use as places of worship or ritual, etc. In summary, the content doesnot follow a conventional order, but isconditioned by the information providedby the panel being observed. This methodof structuring the information could makeit difficult to use as a reference book; onthe other hand, it manages to turn anarchaeological tome into a relaxing readsuitable for both specialists and the inter-ested non-expert.One of the outstanding merits of thispublication is its multidisciplinary approach to rock art, in which it analysesin equal measure the symbolic, technical,and environmental aspects. We can high-light the study of the surroundings of thepetroglyph, wherever possible taking intoaccount the environmental reconstruction,the distance to the coast when the engrav-ing was made, the results of excavations,etc., as well as aspects directly related tothe panel itself: iconography, visibility,chronology, etc. In this work the study of rock art does not end with the panels; it also takes into account a multitude of aspects that conditioned their creation. The study of rock art placement is a key aspect. From a European perspective, thecoastal factor seems clear in rock art created between the third and first millen-nia BC in widely separated geographicalareas such as the Iberian north-west, theBritish Isles or Scandinavia. It seems sig-nificant that in all these three zones,panels with similar scenes appear, withthemes related with hunting and warfare,as well as the sea, the shoreline and navi-gation, especially in Scandinavia, where 164 European Journal of Archaeology 15 (1) 2012 the predominant motifs are boats. Thesefactors open up the possibility that in later prehistory there must have been contactsbetween the communities who carved thisrock art. The control of key points of marine and terrestrial transits, using rock engravings, can be related with the impor-tance of the contacts between thecommunities of the second and first mil-lennia BC . The control of such routes,especially those associated with the tradeof metals and prestige goods, could consti-tute a key element for the development of European societies in later prehistory: withtrade routes working to exchange not only goods but also images. Another aspect worth highlighting isthat the authors do not shy away fromapproaching the meaning and possiblefunction of the engravings. For this they analyse the location, the configuration of the surroundings, the iconography of thepanels, and – in the case of the Northern Tradition – Sami beliefs. In the case of the Southern Tradition, the recourse totraditions is more complicated and their approach is more problematic. Here,studies of Indo-European religions may help, not for deciphering the meaning of the engravings, but possibly to assist in anapproach to them. Another aspect to highlight is the idea the authors have about the rock art sites.On the one hand, they see them as poss-ible places for action and not only for contemplating the figures. As places of action they may have acted as aggregationsites: as spaces in which to contact super-natural beings or divinities; as places for developing rituals linked to social repro-duction; as outstanding enclaves in thelandscape that contributed to the significa-tion of the territory. A good example issituated in the neighbouring Bohüslan(Sweden). In Kville, tying in with theBronze Age sea level, there exist somemarine passages with simple carvingsrepresenting ships, antropomorphs, zoo-morphs, etc. We can consider thesepassages as lines of movement to reach thecentral area located in Torsbo, situatedsome hundred metres away from the sea.In Torsbo we can see the most complexcarvings with large-sized warriors, ships,bulls, etc. in the vicinity of a wetland. Onthe other hand, in this area, it has not been possible to find any evidence of dom-estic settlements.Possibly, these areas were attractive tothe contemporary communities as they could have been used for different pur-poses: subsistence and social aggregation, with a predominance of either or a combi-nation of both. In some cases the primary function of rock art sites could be for peri-odic aggregation of social communities who lived scattered in groups in a territory. As we can see in this book, it is necessary to examine the relationship between thecarvings and contemporary domesticsettlements. In other European regions,rock art is outside the settlements andoutside its vicinities. Not only does rock art not pay attention to domestic activitiesand does not represent them, but it alsoseparates physically from them. We couldsay there is a coincidence between thelocation of petroglyphs and the possibleactivities that may have happened aroundthem – that is, activities related to the wild world and to the world of the warrior and the hunter. It is not strange, then,that hunting is the most recurrent topic.On the other hand, the authors discusssites with memory, where the more recent engravers from the second or first millen-nia BC would have come across earlier figures – those drawn by hunters – with which they would have established a complex relationship, as complex as therelationship today between our modernsociety and the rock art sites. In somecases, carvings created in the Mesolithic or Neolithic period were continued in the Reviews 165 Bronze Age and through the Iron Age,Middle Ages, and up to the present day. The trans-cultural continuity throughout prehistoric, proto-historic, and historicperiods is relatively frequent in sacredplaces, and their preservation remains a problem today.For this reason, the final reflection of the book is devoted to the conservation of rock art and how to present it to thepublic. Lødøen and Mandt clearly reject the custom, fortunately now in decline, of painting over engravings to make themeasier for visitors to see. Visibility dependson the position of the sun, presence of clouds, or if the rock surface is wet or dry,and, as the authors suggest, perhaps allimages should not be seen together at thesame time. As Lødøen and Mandt makeclear, the presence of paint deprives theobserver of other visual experiences that are only possible by observing the figuresin the changing natural light that givesthem plasticity and returns to them the vividness with which they were conceived.M ANUEL S ANTOS E STE ́ VEZ Instituto de Historia, Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain DOI 10.1179/174127212X13300836898734 Corinna Riva. The Urbanisation of Etruria: Funerary Practices and Social Change,700-600 BC (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 247pp., 58 figs., hbk ISBN978 0 521 514477)Corinna Riva's book focuses on themaking of the urban civilization inEtruria, from the mid-eighth to the end of the seventh century BC : a major issue for Etruscology, largely debated in recent years (Manganelli & Pacchiani, 2002;Paoletti & Camporeale, 2005). The book's starting point is the primacy of the funerary sphere for the articulationof socio-political relations, and the evalu-ation of the material culture as a reflectionof these socio-political relations as well asa contribution to their construction. Thispoint is very important, and, according toRiva, from that derives not simply themanipulation of funerary material cultureand symbolism for political ends by élitesgroups, which in Etruria became explicit during the Orientalizing period (even if it appeared in the second Iron Age phase),but also the constitution of the tomb asthe ‘ tool ’ for the transformation of theélite prestige of political authority throughthe new élite burial ritual. In this way, thenew collective funerary ideology created inOrientalizing Etruria from the mid-eighthto the end of the seventh century BC , built a new form of political authority. On thebasis of this statement, the author investi-gates the real nature of this political power and its relationship with urbanization, for burial ritual is a focus of the socio-politicaldefinition of early urban settlement; theburial evidence can actually define thetransition from the proto-urban to theurban political authority of the élites.In Chapter 1, Riva reminds us of the virtual lack of written sources about thistopic and the Hellenocentric bias of thescholarly literature about Greek influenceon Etruscan urbanization; recent researchhas indeed encouraged a view of Etruscanurbanization as an indigenous phenom-enon. In the final pages of this chapter the 166 European Journal of Archaeology 15 (1) 2012
