Reviews for Envisioning Landscape: Situations and Standpoints in Archaeology and Heritage

The average rating for Envisioning Landscape: Situations and Standpoints in Archaeology and Heritage based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-02-28 00:00:00 Stanley Walker If you've ever traveled in New York State, outside of the city, you may have seen these little dark blue signs on the side of the road marking a historical person, event, or an old building. These are usally found in small towns located well off the freeway. According to the author of this book, there are about 900 of these signs that are still out there, hidden among the by ways of New York State. I love finding these little signs, because they are a reminder that history has happened all around us. in this book, the author writes about aspects of New York state history, using the historical markers as a guide to illustrate facts and stories in his text. Not well written, but a fun book to skim through if you have evenr wondered about the larger stories behind these little signs. The author also tries to list the location and text of these signs in 21 of New York's upstate counties, organized by county and town.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-08-12 00:00:00 Lois Lightfoot The Sakuteiki (Records of Garden Making) is some 1,000 years old, the oldest surviving treatise on gardening in the world. Written in the eleventh century, it provides principles and rules for the construction of the gardens featured in aristocratic residences and temples, including instructions for the use of stones, streams, islands, and waterfalls. It also deals extensively with taboos the violation of which could spell trouble or even disaster for the owner of a residence. This translation, published in 2008, prefaces the Sakuteiki with extensive historical and cultural notes on life in Japan's Heian period, nature (which provides the inspiration for gardens), geomancy, Buddhism, and the convoluted collection of taboos that developed from varying religious streams and influenced every aspect of life in those times. This background occupies the first half of the volume, with the Sakuteiki and translator's footnotes comprising the second half. For most of us, it's unlikely we will learn much of relevance to our own gardens from this book. We aren't aristocrats, after all. Most of our properties aren't even a fraction of the size of the gardens discussed here. Still, it's a fascinating read for anyone interested in history, religion, or gardening in general, and some of the principles presented in the Sakuteiki cross cultures and millennia to speak to us today: nature as the inspiration for gardens, gardens as a place for contemplation, the peace and tranquility of gardens. Even if we never build a garden of the scale and complexity of those presented here, it's a interesting read and possibly a source of inspiration.