Description:
A classic study of anthropological economics, which tackles the nature of economic life and how to study it comparatively.
Review Quotes:
'Sahlins' forays into economic anthropology are full of interest.' - Cyril S. Belshaw, American Anthropologist
'The most sophisticated, extensive presentation, and argument in and about, the field of economic anthropology' - Walter C. Neale, Science
'This book is subversive to so many of the fundamental assumptions of Western technological society that it is a wonder it was permitted to be published. Calling on extensive research among the planet's remaining stone-age societies--in Africa, Australia and South-East Asia as well as anecdotal reports from early explorers, Professor Sahlins directly challenges the idea that Western civilization has provided greater 'leisure' or 'affluence, ' or even greater reliability, than 'primitive' hunter-gatherers.' - Whole Earth Review
'So rich in factual evidence and in ideas that a brief review cannot do it justice' - E. Evans-Pritchard, Times Literary Supplement
'If our species is to survive, we're going to have to come up with a new economic discipline which starts from very different questions ... there is perhaps no single work of anthropology that so lends itself to this task as Stone Age Economics.' - David Graeber, London School of Economics, UK