The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways

by Robert L. Kelly

Book by Kelly, Robert L.

Genres: Anthropology, Archaeology, Nonfiction

446 pages, Hardcover

First published July 17, 1995

About the author

Robert Laurens Kelly (born March 16, 1957) is an American anthropologist who is a professor at the University of Wyoming. As a professor, he has taught introductory Archaeology as well as upper-level courses focused in Hunter-Gathers, North American Archaeology, Lithic Analysis, and Human Behavioral Ecology. Kelly's interest in archaeology began when he was a sophomore in high school in 1973. His first experience in fieldwork was an excavation of Gatecliff Rockshelter, a prehistoric site in central Nevada. Since then, Kelly has been involved with archaeology and has dedicated the majority of his work to the ethnology, ethnography, and archaeology of foraging peoples, which include research on lithic technology, initial colonization of the New World, evolutionary ecology of hunter-gatherers, and archaeological method and theory. He has been involved in research projects throughout the United States and in Chile, where he studied the remains of the Inca as well as coastal shell middens, and Madagascar, where in order to learn about farmer-forager society, Kelly has participated in ethnoarchaeological research.A majority of his work has been carried out in the Great Basin, but after moving to Wyoming in 1997 he has shifted his research to the rockshelters in the southwest Wyoming and the Bighorn Mountains.

Outside of his research in archaeology, Bob Kelly also promotes tourism to historic and archaeological sites in Wyoming. In doing so, he has given many lectures around Wyoming and helped create a website to promote Wyoming’s heritage. The website, funded by the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund and maintained by the University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology, acts as a directory for information about Wyoming Prehistoric and Historic Sites. Kelly also served as an Amicus Curiae in the Kennewick case.. He has served as President of the Society for American Archaeology from 2001 to 2003.

Reviews

[Kass · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was a lot to take in

[Melissa Kidd · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book I just read previously, The Realm of Possibility sort of fits here to. The whole book discusses the variation and possibilities you can find in hunter-gatherer groups. Band level groups are not always what we used to think of them as; always mobile, egalitarian where everyone in the band is equal, etc. The book is dry, as expected for this type of material. I don’t know if there is a way to make this not dry. But it’s got really great information. It challenges the way anthropologists look at hunter-gatherers. So why the three stars? Well, partly because it was required reading and I tend to not like books as much when I’m forced to read it by weekly deadlines. And partly because this is not material I am looking to study. I think its interesting stuff, but I would have rather been reading something else. If you are interested in studying archaeology and/or hunter-gatherers, this may be the perfect book for you however.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This textbook starts with an introduction reviewing the history of hunter-gatherer studies, which have always been motivated by trying to generalize about the hunter-gatherer way of life, and argues that actually hunter-gatherers don't have much in common with each other. The rest of the book is data-heavy and divided up into chapters on topics like land tenure, food sharing, or division of labor. I get the impression that there's still an unhealthy difference in the research questions that investigators approach hunter-gatherers and other people with, and let they do lots of observation but not much communication.

[Jurij Fedorov · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super boring book. But if you want to suffer trough some boring pages to know something very useful about hunter-gatherers this is the book to read. It took me a month to read and I had to force myself to read it.