Beyond Foraging and Collecting: Evolutionary Change in Hunter-Gatherer Settlement Systems (Fundamental Issues in Archaeology) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0306467534 ISBN 13: 9780306467530

Publisher: Springer, 2002

Synopsis

LEWIS R. BINFORD AND AMBER L. JOHNSON The organizers of this volume have brought together authors who have worked on local sequences, much as traditional archaeologists tended to do, however, with the modern goal of addressing evolutionary change in hunter-gatherer systems over long time spans. Given this ambitious goal they wisely chose to ask the authors to build their treatments around a focal question, the utility of the forager-eollector continuum (Binford 1980) for research on archaeological sequences. Needless to say, Binford was flat­ tered by their choice and understandably read the papers with a great deal of interest. When he was asked to write the foreword to this provoca­ tive book he expected to learn new things and in this he has not been disappointed. The common organizing questions addressed among the contributors to this volume are simply, how useful is the forager-eollector continuum for explanatory research on sequences, and what else might we need to know to explain evolutionary change in hunter-gatherer adaptations? Most sequences document systems change, in some sense. Though we don't necessarily know how much synchronous systemic variability there might have been relative to the documented sequence, most authors have tried to address the problem of within systems variability. In this sense, most are operating with sophistication not seen among traditional culture historians. The primary problem for archaeologists of the generation prior to Binford was how to date archaeological materials.

About this title

Review

"[...]important work that will be widely read by professionals and students alike. [...] The editors should be congratulated for pulling together this excellent review of the state of the art in hunter-gatherer settlement and subsistence research in archaeology."
(SAS Bulletin, 26:2, 2003)

"Binford's work stopped short of examining evolutionary change in mobility and subsistence regimes over long time spans. Ben Fitzhugh and Junko Habu's edited volume, Beyond Foraging and Collecting, provides this critical next step.  Foragers and Collectors is an important work that will be widely read for professionals and students alike despite its high price tag.  The editors should be congratulated for pulling together this excellent review of the state of the art in hunter-gatherer settlement and subsistence research in archaeology." (Society of Archaeological Sciences Bulletin; 26:2)

 

Synopsis

Twenty years after the development of the forager/collector model, it is still seen as one of the best tools for understanding variation in hunter-gatherer subsistence-settlement dynamics. The argument that the seasonal or short-term hunter-gatherer mobility should be patterned in predictable ways with respect to spatial and temporal variation in resource availability was a revolution in the study of hunter-gatherer settlement and land use. The research in this volume uses the theory as a starting point and expands the forager/ collector model. It broadens applications for its use in the field by enlarging the areas of: new geographic zones; evolutionary scale pertaining to foragers/collectors; ecological, economic, technological and ideological factors. This volume includes new research on the theoretical implications regarding the mechanisms of change in the geographical distribution of hunter-gatherer settlement and land use. It focuses on the long-term changes in the hunter-gatherer settlement on a global scale, including research from several continents.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0306467534
• ISBN 13: 9780306467530
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 459
• Editor: Fitzhugh Ben, Habu Junko