The Origin of Human Social Institutions

9780197262504, OUP Oxford

Hardback, published 4 October 2001

270 pages, numerous tables and figures
24.2 x 16.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.601 kg

These papers bring an interdisciplinary approach to bear on what is arguably the central question in the study of human social evolution: how did the simple hunting and foraging bands of the Upper Palaeolithic evolve into the institutionally complex societies of the so-called Neolithic Revolution? The contributors to this volume are leading experts from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and game theory, all of whom share a common evolutionary perspective. The ideas presented here form a major addition to the widespread current interest in evolutionary theory as applied to human behaviour.

Subject Areas: Prehistoric archaeology [HDDA]