NILS ANFINSET, Metal, Nomads and Culture Contact. The Middle East and North Africa. London, Equinox, 2010, 241 pp., with illustrations, maps and photographs. ISBN 978-1-84553-253-6. U$D 96.00

Abstract

This is Dr. Nils Anfinset’s revision of his PhD Dissertation, Secondary Products, Pastoral Nomads and the Introduction of the Metal: The 5th and 4th Millennia BC in the Southern of Levant and Northeast Africa, defended at the University of Bergean in December 2005. The main purpose of this book is to describe the characteristics of the pastoral nomads located in northeastern Africa (Egypt and the northern part of Sudan) and the southern Levant. The main topics are related to the production, consumption, social organization, contact, exchange and, most importantly, to their role in the production and circulation of raw materials, especially copper, during the 5th and 4th millennia BC. The volume consists of eight chapters. In the first one, a brief introduction with the author’s hypothesis is presented; in the second, the author’s analytical approach is developed while discussing some concepts and theories (e.g. World-Systems theory). The third and fourth chapters focus on the communities’ description while the fifth one analyzes modern pastoral nomad societies as a reference to analyze ancient ones. The sixth chapter is devoted to the importance of copper and metallurgy; in the seventh one, he studies the exchange established between nomad pastoralist and agricultural societies; finally, a last chapter with his conclusions is presented.