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The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers: The Foraging Spectrum. By Robert L. Kelly. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2013, 375 pp. ISBN 9781107024878 (Hardback) / ISBN 9781107607613 (Paperback). £60.00 (Hardcover) / £21.99 (Paperback).

The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers: The Foraging Spectrum. By Robert L. Kelly. Cambridge University... Book Review This impressive work lays bare the complexities of studying hunter-gatherers both past and present, and works academic wonders on multiple levels. Kelly's thoughtful prose expands on the author's previous approaches in the Foraging Spectrum (1995) by introducing the uninitiated -- or simply interested -- reader to a more nuanced way of understanding the complexities of hunter-gatherer studies, one that avoids invoking tired stereotypes and simple if not clumsy ethnographic analogy. Herein, the darker days of any simplistic "Man the Hunter" explanations are long gone. If you want to better understand the complexities of hunter-gatherers it seems reasonable to focus on the role of underlying evolutionary-important processes, which can be postulated, measured, and evaluated, as Kelly does here. Hunter-gatherer lifeways (however you define them) comprise the vast bulk of the deeptime of the human experience prior to (and often continuing past) the late occurrence of various agricultural transitions. It follows that the underlying processes to these lifeways may have had a significant effect on these peoples and their archaeological and anthropologically recovered residues. Kelly deals with the difficult job of organising various aspects of hunter-gatherer lifeways thematically, in a highly consistent manner. He uses throughout this volume http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of African Archaeology Brill

The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers: The Foraging Spectrum. By Robert L. Kelly. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2013, 375 pp. ISBN 9781107024878 (Hardback) / ISBN 9781107607613 (Paperback). £60.00 (Hardcover) / £21.99 (Paperback).

Journal of African Archaeology , Volume 12 (1): 101 – Nov 1, 2014

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1612-1651
eISSN
2191-5784
DOI
10.3213/2191-5784-10251
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Book Review This impressive work lays bare the complexities of studying hunter-gatherers both past and present, and works academic wonders on multiple levels. Kelly's thoughtful prose expands on the author's previous approaches in the Foraging Spectrum (1995) by introducing the uninitiated -- or simply interested -- reader to a more nuanced way of understanding the complexities of hunter-gatherer studies, one that avoids invoking tired stereotypes and simple if not clumsy ethnographic analogy. Herein, the darker days of any simplistic "Man the Hunter" explanations are long gone. If you want to better understand the complexities of hunter-gatherers it seems reasonable to focus on the role of underlying evolutionary-important processes, which can be postulated, measured, and evaluated, as Kelly does here. Hunter-gatherer lifeways (however you define them) comprise the vast bulk of the deeptime of the human experience prior to (and often continuing past) the late occurrence of various agricultural transitions. It follows that the underlying processes to these lifeways may have had a significant effect on these peoples and their archaeological and anthropologically recovered residues. Kelly deals with the difficult job of organising various aspects of hunter-gatherer lifeways thematically, in a highly consistent manner. He uses throughout this volume

Journal

Journal of African ArchaeologyBrill

Published: Nov 1, 2014

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