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Title: A Private Place: Death in Prehistoric Greece (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology , Vol 125) by Christopher Mee, William G. Cavanagh ISBN: 9-1708117-8-4 Publisher: Coronet Books Pub. Date: September, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $108.50

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: Essential for specialists, if a little too compressed
Comment: Cavanagh and Mee have provided a sorely-needed general account of prehistoric burials in Greece. Their chapters evaluate and summarize data from sites ranging in date from the Mesolithic to LHIIIC, and each chapter ends with a gazetteer that cross-references the excavation reports. Virtually the second half of the book is taken up with illustrations and plans reproduced (with permission and credit) from earlier publications; these are clear, informative, and sufficiently well-labeled that one does not necessarily have to return directly to the text to discover what one is looking at. The book's large bibliography, while non-exhaustive, is extensive and interesting.

The only points one might consider as detracting from the volume are the following:
1. The gazetteers are necessarily incomplete. Some sites (particularly those of earliest date) are listed with no publication references (it would have been useful to know how Cavanagh and Mee learned of them) and no descriptive information. The number of sites missing from the gazetteers will increase with every passing year of continued excavations in Greece, but it would have been something of a relief to those using this book to know that it was at least complete to publication acceptance date.
2. The analytical text, while sound and incisive, would be of even greater value were arguments presented in more detail and supported with reference to more of the sites. This, however, is probably not so much the fault of the authors as the result of constraint of the length of SIMA volumes (I have never seen one much more extensive than this one).

Overall, this is a superior and valuable book, and any problems I have experienced with it stem largely from wanting more of a good thing. It will be useful for specialists, researchers, and well-supervised and motivated students who already possess some conversance with the specialized terminology and problems of the field: introductory explanations, probably in the interest of economy, are kept to a minimum.