Hunters and gatherers /

In the past 20 years there have been significant critical developments in the study of hunting and gathering societies. Most evident is the shift from concerns with ecological adaptation to issues of social change, reflected in these papers from the fourth international conference on such societies held in London in 1986. Eighteen authorities discuss particular societies and issues of comparative analyses. The subjects of this research are portrayed as anything but "pristine" or "timeless." Many contributors explore the historical trajectories of hunters-gatherers, not simply in response to external pressures (environmental or political), but in terms of internal dynamics. In particular, successful strategies of change, it is noted, must address the needs of "cultural reproduction," the requirement that a culturally meaningful model be transmitted across the generations. Altogether, this approach offers not only a much more multidimensional understanding of foragers, but one that recognizes them as principal actors in their own destiny. Written for the specialist, it is also an indispensable resource for any anthropology program above the introductory level. -O. Pi-Sunyer, University of Massachusetts at Amherst