Farmers as hunters : the implications of sedentism /

This is an interesting book that struggles with a complex set of central themes; but while it is stimulating, it is not entirely successful. It is concerned with why farmers hunt, even when there are no apparent ecological or dietary reasons to do so; and it is concerned with the relations between mobility patterns and hunting patterns among sedentary peoples. The book opens with Kent's thematic essay, closes with her brief summary of the volume, and contains a series of case studies, all dealing in some way with the central themes of farming-hunting-sedentism. The case studies have points that stimulated thought about related issues in this reviewer's own research. Kent's opening essay is interesting, but quite frustrating. She attempts to explain why in all cultures hunting is more prestigious than plant collection, or other subsistence activities. She also seeks to do a great many other things, too many other things, weakening and even losing the linkages she wishes to make. The book is of value to anyone interested in hunter-gatherers, agriculturalists, hunting, sedentism, and many other topics. The book belongs in university-level libraries. -K. M. Ames, Portland State University