MARIJKE VAN DER VEEN. Consumption, trade and innovation: exploring the botanical remains from the Roman and Islamic ports at Quseir al-Qadim, Egypt (Journal of African Archaeology Monograph Series 6)

This rigorous and detailed scientific re- port on the ar- chaeobotanical evi- dence from the Ro- man and Islamic ports of Quseir al- Qadim on the Red Sea coast of Egypt actually feels more like a gripping novel. This is not the first time that Marijke van der Veen has shown her ability to recount fascinating botanical investigations of the past in a stimulating and thorough way. In order to discover how plants can inform the story of human daily life and culture, we must acquire great experience in interpretation of plant macroremains; we could also learn a lot by reading these pages. The book under review combines analyses of plant remains and texts with sociological and anthropological approaches, and for this reason it is set to become a classic in the archaeological literature.