Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory

New York: Plenum Press, 1991. 3rd Printing. Octavo with green and white pictorial wraps; xv, 257 pages: illustrations; index; 24 cm. Very good (+); neat intermittent highlighting. Hardcover. ISBN: 9780306436505, 0306436507

Hunter-gatherers have played a central role in the development of anthropological and evolutionary theory. This book examines the past and contemporary use of hunter-gatherers in the construction of large-scale, general theory and in the articulation and testing of lesser-scale theories derived from general theory. This work will interest theorists as well as anthropologists. Contents: 1 Progressive Social Evolution and Hunter-Gatherers.- 2 The History of Americanist Hunter-Gatherer Research.- 3 Middle-Range Theory and Hunter-Gatherers.- 4 Hunter-Gatherers as Optimal Foragers.- 5 More Complex Models of Optimal Behavior among Hunter-Gatherers.- 6 Marxist and Structural Marxist Perspectives of Hunter-Gatherers.- 7 Neo-Darwinian Theory and Hunter-Gatherers.- 8 Hunter-Gatherers and Neo-Darwinian Cultural Transmission.- 9 Hunter-Gatherers: Problems in Theory.- References