Nomads of the Borneo rainforest : the economics, politics,and ideology of settling down /

Sellato's profound study of Penan hunter-gatherers in Borneo sets the foundation for all future analyses. Based on six years of fieldwork, brilliant oral history analysis, and bibliographic and archival resources, Sellato's clearly written work provides detailed ethnographic description and documents the Penan ideology of nomadism over two centuries, persistent despite the pressures toward sedentary life inherent in trading with farmers for metal axes and other goods. The book also illumines the society's jungle ecology and argues incisively for Penan antiquity (contra Carl Hoffman's The Punan: Hunters and Gatherers of Borneo, 1986), a position that will animate theoretical debates in the fields of prehistory and Southeast Asian history, as well as studies of hunter-gatherers and the process of change from nomadic to settled life. The 19 detailed original maps of the Penan regions and migrations are a major contribution. Clear type, sewn signatures, black-and-white photos, and good bibliography. This masterful work is essential for collections in Southeast Asian and human geography, and is highly recommended for students of ecology, archaeology, and anthropology. Upper-division undergraduates and above. L. A. Kimball; Western Washington University