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A definitive handbook for the identification of kiln-fired bricks used in the construction of historic buildings.

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CHOICE Review

This work sets a new standard for an important class of artifact. Writing for both field and research archaeologists, Gurcke (National Park Service, Skagway, Alaska) seeks to improve the reporting and interpretation of brickwork. Heretofore, ``bricks were bricks''-unexceptional objects taken for granted. The author develops a technique, related to brickmaking and its methods, for categorizing bricks according to their manufacture and purpose. The nature of culture assures that there will be different traditions in varied times and places. Gurcke does note, however, that bricks were often moved from area to area, so that his Pacific Northwest study must even account for brick making in England and Scotland. As promised in a handbook, there is a reference list of more than 100 pages to brick brands in the US and Canada (their provenance, dates, and the information source); the author's own references run to 35 pages. This book is a successful attempt to collate widely scattered data coupled with an organized approach to interpretation. Portions of the study will interest Pacific Northwest historians, although it will be of greatest value to historical archaeologists. Appropriate for upper-division undergraduates and up.-R.F.G. Spier, University of Missouri-Columbia