Lithic Materials and Paleolithic Societies provides a detailed examination of the Paleolithic procurement and utilization of the most durable material in the worldwide archaeological record. The volume addresses sites ranging in age from some of the earliest hominin occupations in eastern and southern Africa to late Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene occupations in North American and Australia. The Early Paleolithic in India and the Near East, the Middle Paleolithic in Europe, and the Late Paleolithic in Europe and eastern Asia are also considered.

The authors include established researchers who provide important synthetic statements updated with new information. Recent data are reported, often by younger scholars who are becoming respected members of the international research community. The authors represent research traditions from nine countries and therefore provide insight into the scholarly present as well as the Paleolithic past. Attempts are frequently made to relate lithic procurement and utilization to the organization of societies and even broader concerns of hominin behaviour. The volume re-evaluates existing interpretations­ in some instances by updating previous work of the authors ­and offers provocative new interpretations that at times call into question some basic assumptions of the Paleolithic.

This book will be invaluable reading for advanced students and researchers in the fields of palaeolithic archaeology, geoarchaeology, and anthropology.

Brooke Blades has conducted archaeological research and excavations for more than three decades in various temporal and geographic contexts in eastern North America and in western Europe. He held a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship to conduct archaeological research in Northern Ireland in 1979-80. His research in western Europe has been generously supported by the American Philosophical Society, International Relations and Exchanges Board (IREX), the National Science Foundation, and New York University.

Brian Adams is currently Assistant Director of the Public Service Archaeology & Architecture Program in the Anthropology Department of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include lithic analysis, microwear analysis of lithic artifacts, hunter-gatherer adaptations, and the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Europe. He has conducted research at Palaeolithic sites in Central Europe and Egypt, as well as prehistoric and early historic sites in the Midwest USA.