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SHACKLEY, M. S. 2005. Obsidian. Geology and Archaeology in the North American Southwest.

xvi + 246 pp. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Price US $55.00 (hard covers). ISBN 0 8165 2396 7.

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Steven Shackley has produced a short but valuable book that clearly demonstrates the multifaceted archaeological benefits of the study of obsidian artifacts and of the material itself, and provides useful summaries of Native American archaeology from the southwest of North America. The archaeology and scientific evidence are integrated fully within the research discussed. This is a great strength, and the book offers a good example of the considerable benefits in archaeological understanding available through such an approach.

Highly readable and in places almost conversational, Shackley’s knowledge of the subject is obvious, and his great enthusiasm for the archaeological application of obsidian studies palpable. The text is peppered with Shackley’s experiences and illustrated with examples drawn often from his own work and that of his students and colleagues under the auspices of the Southwest Archaeological Obsidian Project. The nine chapters of the book are divided into two parts: the first (Chapters 1–4) introduces the history of studies of obsidian in the North American Southwest, the geology of obsidian, a detailed description of the known sources within the region covered by the book and characteristics of their obsidian, and the experimental methods applied to archaeological . . . [Full Text of this Article]