World Archaeo‐Geophysics: Integrated Minimally Invasive Approaches Using Country‐Based ExamplesBy CarmenCuenca‐Garcia, AndreiAsăndulesei, and Kelsey M.Lowe (eds.), Springer, 2024. 482 pp. Free (E‐book); $39.99 (paperback). ISBN: 978‐3‐031‐57900‐4. https://doi.org/10.1007/978‐3‐031‐57900‐4

As an edited volume, World Archaeo-Geophysics: Integrated Minimally Invasive Approaches Using Country-Based Examples holds the ambitious goal of providing summary chapters on the current state of archaeological geophysics from countries around the world. Its editors united 74 experts who explored how near-surface (primarily ground-based) geophysical methods were being employed in 24 countries, each sharing a variety of perspectives and case studies. As this book is freely available online, it provides a great opportunity for those interested to become familiar with the development and current state of archaeological prospection in countries around the world. As someone not involved in the co-creation of this collective work, I have much praise for the authors, their case studies, and ideas. Equally, I hope that my critiques are taken constructively (as intended) and not as “boos from the cheap seats.” There is much to love about this new volume, particularly in that it draws together the collective voices of international scholars advocating against common problems. This is perhaps its greatest contribution, and the editors rightly point out some of these commonalities in the preface. Common problems include the limited legislative support for archaeological prospection, diminished training and funding opportunities for the next generation of researchers, the need for continued standardization of data collection, analysis, interpretation and storage strategies, and lack of acceptance from the wider archaeological field. Another great aspect of this book is in demonstrating the value of interdisciplinary collaborations in the interpretation of archaeological geophysics results. Specifically, its combination with soil science and geoarchaeology is apparent across all chapters in this volume. Finally, if nothing else, many chapters highlight spectacular archaeological geophysics results from around the world, which will hopefully inspire many researchers in the future. The contributed chapters come from world-renowned experts in archaeological prospection and readers can be assured as they gaze upon the fantastic maps of ancient structures and settlements that, from my perspective as another archaeo-geophysics specialist, there are few errors. My criticisms for this volume lie in apparent absences rather than flaws. The two main flaws I see with this volume is its variable cohesion and the lack of a concluding chapter. As the editors noted, World Archaeo-Geophysics was created following a dedicated conference session at WAC-9 in Prague. Like any conference session, some chapters are very precisely aligned to the overarching objective of the book, while others read as independent research papers better suited for a journal. All chapters were interesting, but some left me wondering about the state of archaeological geophysics in the espoused country because they focused more heavily on the interpretation of results. In contrast, the chapters that specifically outlined the development, timelines, case studies, and perspective for future directions from their country (or countries) proved to be most effective. Similarly, the volume simply ends with the Ukraine chapter with no concluding remarks or discussion. This left me unsettled (like not seeing the end of a movie) because I believe this is where discipline-oriented futures could have been imagined. Instead, despite individual country-based recommendations, I was left with many questions about where we (as a field) go from here. Additionally, I observed several noteworthy absences. First, there were many countries that were not included in this volume that I believe would have expanded on the developmental history of the field. The editors allude to this in the opening pages, referencing the early prospection surveys. Students of archaeological geophysics history will know of the many early and recent developments that came from the United States, Austria, Germany, and Japan, but chapter contributions from these countries are notably not included in this volume. This is not a criticism of the editors, who are obviously limited to the contributed chapters, but the lack of reference to these nations and their contributions, particularly in reference to developmental histories, left me (once again) perturbed. Their absence, however, can be partly explained by the European Union origin of the volume, as it was funded/largely produced by members of the Soil Science and Archaeo-Geophysics Alliance (SAGA). Furthermore, although cross-border technical standardization was repeatedly evoked as a crucial need, only a few chapters attempted to trace their methods and theory back to the original developments. As a result, the volume represents the field as isolated teams, primarily united by a similar investment in technology, and unintentionally implies that the places you studied at (or worked) and the cultural milieu you were engaged in (e.g., “The Vienna School”) matter. Rather than re-emphasizing cross-border differences, methodological standardization might instead benefit from the development of consolidating histories and academic genealogies (see, for example, an academic genealogy of famous anthropologist Franz Boas (https://academictree.org/anthropology/tree.php?pid=3008&pnodecount=2&cnodecount=2)), which seek to bring together and anchor individuals/teams within key developments, departments, and founders of archaeological prospection. Since this volume lacked a concluding chapter, where the case studies could be drawn together and discussed, I found the social and archaeological significance behind the volume under-explained. Relatedly, although global diversity was a clear objective of the book, the case studies represent a large European sample bias (11/18 chapters), which may also be reflective of the funding/membership criteria for SAGA. While issues effecting European archaeology (e.g., the efficacy of geophysics in commercial/rescue archaeology) are adequately addressed, the book was missing meaningful discussions of issues effecting the global archaeological community (e.g., climate change and war/terrorism) and its current trends (e.g., shifts towards community-based/activist frameworks). Around the world, we have colleagues currently employing geophysical technologies for these purposes, but apart from a few mentions in select chapters, absence of discussion here re-emphasized a disciplinary disconnect between the “Archaeo-” and the “Geophysics.” Despite my anxieties and minor quibbles about World Archaeo-Geophysics, I ultimately believe it is a fantastic contribution to the literature and will be an excellent reference book for students, educators, and practitioners for years to come. The collective effort of the authors and editors should be commended as they have provided the rest of us with thought-provoking reference material, from which to base future surveys and international collaborations …. It is also free, so you cannot argue with the price!

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