This 2001 volume is an interdisciplinary text on hunter-gatherer populations world-wide.

1. Lines of enquiry Catherine Panter-Brick, Robert H. Layton and Peter Rowley-Conwy; 2. The behavioural ecology of hunter-gatherers Bruce Winterhalder; 3. How original is the 'original affluent society'? Time, change and the archaeology of hunter-gatherers Peter Rowley-Conwy; 4. Hunter-gatherer technology: macro and micro-scale approaches Robin Torrence; 5. The antiquity of hunter-gatherers Steven L. Kuhn and Mary C. Stiner; 6. Language shift and language spread among hunter-gatherers Patrick McConvell; 7. Hunter-gatherer demography Renee Pennington; 8. Nutritional ecology: diet, growth, physical activity and body size Mark Jenike; 9. Evolutionary biology of hunter-gatherer populations Alain Froment; 10. Hunting for images, gathering up meanings: art for life in hunting-gathering societies Margaret W. Conkey; 11. Hunter-gatherers, their neighbours and the nation state Robert H. Layton; Glossary.