Currids volume is a useful introduction to archaeologyits history, vocabulary, and methodsfor the beginner. The systematic unveiling of these themes provides a stratigraphy for study that many students and lay persons will find fascinating. In addition, the short bibliographies add substance to the work, allowing readers to take the additional step of further study. Such aids to first-time student excavators have often taken the form of Xeroxed handouts. Currid has provided them with an easy reference work that they can read on the plane to Israel and pull out during the excavation to explain what is happening around them. -- Victor H. Matthews, Southwest Missouri State University
