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Richard B Lee

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University Professor of Anthropology, EmeritusUniversity of TorontoResearch in Kalahari region of southern Africa, 1963-2017Books: Man the Hunter (1968)Kalahari Hunter-gatherers (1976)The !Kung San (1979)Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers (1999)The Dobe Ju/'hoansi (4th ed. 2012)

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Papers by Richard B Lee

The San of Southern Africa: A Status Report, 2003

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2003

Problems in Kalahari Historical Ethnography and the Tolerance of Error

History in Africa, 1993

The !Kung San of Namibia and Botswana are among the most widely researched and documented hunting... more The !Kung San of Namibia and Botswana are among the most widely researched and documented hunting and gathering societies in the area of African Anthropology. From the research conducted in the past, two radically opposing viewpoints about the people have emerged. One, "sees the !Kung as hunters and gatherers living under changed circumstances and maintaining an old but adaptable way of life: the characteristic features associated with the hunter-gatherer subsistence or foraging mode of production. The other sees these same !Kung as products of a very different history, a history of long association with Bantu-speaking overlords, followed by intense involvement with merchant capital" (Lee and Guenther, 1993, p.185).

African Hunter-Gatherers: Survival, History, and the Politics of Identity

African Study Monographs, 2001

Given the continent's ongoing crises, African hunter-gathgerers have been remarkably successf... more Given the continent's ongoing crises, African hunter-gathgerers have been remarkably successful at surviving difficult times. They have faced war in Namibia, Angola, and the Congo, genocide in Rwanda, and economic difficulties almost everywhere else. Through the last three decades San, Pygmy, Hadza, Okiek, Mikea, and other foragers have sought to maintain coherent societies and systems of meaning and identity in the face of great odds, at times aided by sympathetic outsiders. This paper will explore the challenges they have faced and their responses, while atempting to situate these diverse peoples within the broader historical and political currents of the Twentieth century.

Anthropology at the crossroads: From the age of ethnography to the age of World systems

Social Dynamics, 1998

As we approach• the millenniumn the discipline of anthropology occupies a hiighly contested terra... more As we approach• the millenniumn the discipline of anthropology occupies a hiighly contested terrain, a battle-ground on which scientistic, humanistic, political-economic, anld postmodern agendas are puttinlg forth conficting claimns anid vying for hegemony (Lee 1992).,Onie readinig of anithropology is that it is a part of the discredited canon conlstructed by dead white males, architects and apologists for capitalismn and imiperialism. But despite the vogue fo'r anthropology-bashing • in some circles, I believe that quite differenlt r•eadigs are possibl: and I would like to present onie here. Anthropology's br•ief history as a discipline has beenl marked by both successes and failures. It is commiionplace to say it is a discipline in crisis; but on•e could argue thiat thiis has beenl true of its enltire history. Whiat I would like to do is give you a personal view of some of its strenigth~s and weaknesses; wher•e the disciplinie has come fromT and where it is goinlg. If I have anything to add to the usual rumninations on this subject it is thiat I feel that anthropology's politics are as muchi a part of its histo'ry and future as is its bodies of method, theory, anld knowledge. The paper will draw examples from anthropology generally but the ma7in line of marchi is to use a broad overview of th~e crisis and tranisformnation in anthropology as a point of departure to examine aspects of South• African society in the first post-Apartheid years. Regarding the disciplinie as a whole mny thesis is this: anthropology is un•dergoing a tranlsformnation that is pregniant with possibilities, but to paraphrase Gramnsci: whenever the old order is dyinlg anid the new struggling

Hunters, Clients and Squatters: The Contemporary Socioeconomuc Status of Btswana Basarwa

African Study Monographs, 1989

This paper examines the past and prescnt socioeconomic situation of the Basam'a (Bushmen. San... more This paper examines the past and prescnt socioeconomic situation of the Basam'a (Bushmen. San) of the Republic of Botswana. Changes in adaptive strategies are outlined. and it is shown that Basam'a groups have chosen a number of alternative lifestyles. In some cases, Basarwa have become clients of other groups: other people have been dispossessed and are now squatters on what used to be their land; and still others have continued foraging. Case studies of 5 communities are presented which range from the hunting and gathering! Kung of the Dobe region to the settled agropastoral Chwa of the Nata River area who arc engaged in self-help activities. Changes which will have implications for the future of the Basarwa are discussed, including the land reform program in the tribal grazing areas, the remote area development efforts of the Botswana Government. and the militarization of !Kung and other Basarn'a in Namibia. It is concluded that the future of the Basarn'a will dep...

Conferences on Hunting and Gathering Societies (CHAGS)

Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2020

Indigenous Rights and the Politics of Identity in Post-Apartheid Southern Africa

The terms indigenous rights and post-apartheid raise a number of questions in the context of sout... more The terms indigenous rights and post-apartheid raise a number of questions in the context of southern Africa. The situation with rights is straightforward enough: we know that South Africa has been grossly deficient in upholding those (at least until 1994); but what about indigenous rights? What exactly does indigenous mean in the South African context? And how do we gloss post-Apartheid in South Africa, since the laws are no longer on the books but the structural violence instituted by apartheid still affects the lives of millions of people? To start untangling the conundrums, I will begin from the premise that a complex terrain of struggle exists today at many levels in South Africa and its former satellites. The primary contradiction is, of course, the three-hundred-year struggle of African peoples against expropriation, racism, oppression, and underdevelopment under the European colonialists. But within that broad canvas are woven the strands of many smaller struggles by local g...

Hunter-Gatherers in Process: The Kalahari Research Project, 1963-76

!Kung spatial organization: An ecological and historical perspective

Human Ecology, 1972

The ecological and social bases of spatial organization among hunters and gatherers are examined.... more The ecological and social bases of spatial organization among hunters and gatherers are examined. After criticizing the patrilocal band model of social organization, the author documents the flexible, nonterritorial groupings of the !Kung Bushmen of Botswana and relates them to rainzfall and surface water scarcity and variability. The paper goes onz to consider the effects of extra-Bushman contacts on the breakdown of sociospatial organization and finds that the observed flexibility occurred in both the pre-and the postcontact periods. The final section attempts to relate the analysis to general issues. Three areas that need further work if a more valid model of hunter spatial organization is to be developed are the problems of time perspective in research, adaptation to long-term climatic variability, and critical thresholds of population density.

Existe-t-il un mode de production " fourrageur "?

Anthropologie et Sociétés, 1980

The !Kung and I: Reflections on My Life and Times with the Ju/'Hoansi

Ethnoarchaeology, 2012

Introduction: Updating the San, Image and Reality of an African People in the Twenty First Century

... They have sought, sometimes successfully, for land and civil rights in the countries in which... more

Problems in Kalahari Historical Ethnography and the Tolerance of Error

History in Africa, 1993

The !Kung San or Bushmen of Namibia and Botswana are one of the most thoroughly documented huntin... more The !Kung San or Bushmen of Namibia and Botswana are one of the most thoroughly documented hunting and gathering societies in the annals of African anthropology. In recent years two radically different views of the !Kung San have emerged in the anthropological literature. One sees the !Kung as hunters and gatherers living under changed circumstances and maintaining an old but adaptable way of life: the characteristic features associated with the hunter-gatherer subsistence or foraging mode of production.The other sees these same !Kung as products of a very different history, a history of long association with Bantu-speaking overlords, followed by intense involvement with merchant capital. In this view it was the !Kungs' experience of domination and incorporation, not the dynamics of autonomous foraging that shaped their economy and social life. Their well-documented egalitarian politics and gender relations are thus a product not of their own history, but of their history of sha...

Errors Corrected or Compounded? A Reply to Wilmsen

Current Anthropology, 1995

L'A. repond a un ouvrage de Wilmsen qui s'etait penche sur les facteurs economiques du Ka... more

Three Decades of Ethnographic Research Among the Ju/'Hoansi of Northwestern Botswana: 1963-1996

... Ebert, Liz Cashdan, Renee Pennington, Helga Vierich, Jackie Solway and Eric Wood. In one way ... more

Hunters, Clients and Squatters: The Contemporary Socioeconomuc Status of Btswana Basarwa

by Mathias Guenther, Robert Hitchcock, and Richard B Lee

This paper examines the past and prescnt socioeconomic situation of the Basam'a (Bushmen. San) of... more This paper examines the past and prescnt socioeconomic situation of the Basam'a (Bushmen. San) of the Republic of Botswana. Changes in adaptive strategies are outlined. and it is shown that Basam'a groups have chosen a number of alternative lifestyles. In some cases, Basarwa have become clients of other groups: other people have been dispossessed and are now squatters on what used to be their land; and still others have continued foraging. Case studies of 5 communities are presented which range from the hunting and gathering! Kung of the Dobe region to the settled agropastoral Chwa of the Nata River area who arc engaged in self-help activities. Changes which will have implications for the future of the Basarwa are discussed, including the land reform program in the tribal grazing areas, the remote area development efforts of the Botswana Government. and the militarization of !Kung and other Basarn'a in Namibia. It is concluded that the future of the Basarn'a will depend upon how political, economic, and environmental issues are resolved. and whether or not the Basarwa are included in decision-making regarding development action.

Foragers, Genuine or Spurious?: Situating the Kalahari San in History

Current Anthropology, 1992

Recent studies of societies hitherto portrayed as autonomous and self-regulating have sought to r... more Recent studies of societies hitherto portrayed as autonomous and self-regulating have sought to re-situate them in the context of wider regional and international economies, polities, and histories. In this revisionism there is danger of imputing links where none existed and assuming that evidence for trade implies the surrender of autonomy. Examination of the different historical experiences of two San groups, one largely dependent on its Bantuspeaking neighbours and the other (until recently) substantially autonomous, suggests that contact may take many forms, not all of which lead to dependency, abandonment of foraging, or incorporation into "more powerful" social formations. JACQUELINE S. SOLWAY is Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Ont., Canada M5S iAi). Born in I950, she received her Ph.D. from that university in I987. She has taught at McMaster and York Universities and the University of Western Ontario and has done fieldwork in the Comoro Islands and in Botswana. Among her publications is "Affines and Spouses, Friends and Lovers: The Passing of Polygyny in Botswana" (fournal of Anthropological Research 46[ i]).

Art, Science, or Politics? The Crisis in Hunter-Gatherer Studies

American Anthropologist, 1992

In the complex history of hunter-gatherer studies, several overlapping and at times antagonistic ... more In the complex history of hunter-gatherer studies, several overlapping and at times antagonistic discourses can be discerned. However, one critique has emerged that would render all huntergatherer discourses irrelevant and do away with the concept altogether. The paper explores the poststructuralist roots of this "revisionism" and then argues why the concept of hunter-gatherer continues to be politically relevant and empirically valid. However, if they are to fulfill their promise of illuminating an increasingly fragmented and alienating modernity, hunter-gatherer studies will have to become more attuned to issues ofpolitics, history, context, and reflexivity. HUNTER-GATHERER STUDIES HAVE HAD a rather stormy history. The field has always been marked by controversy, and even the concept of hunter-gatherers itself has waxed and waned in importance. There have been periods in the history of anthropology when the very concept was tabooed, others when it was popular. Within the discipline today, the idea of hunter-gatherer has radically different receptions. Some see it as totally absurd, a derivative of outmoded evolutionary theory, while others see it as an eminently sensible category of humanity with a firm anchor in empirical reality. I noted a strong tendency toward the latter view at the Sixth Conference on Hunter-Gatherers (CHAGS) at Fairbanks, May-June 1990. At least no one advocated canceling the sixth CHAGS for lack of subject matter. Even if it is agreed that hunters and gatherers exist, almost everything else about them is a matter for contestation. While some fields have crystallized a canon, there is no danger of that in hunter-gatherer studies; the field remains as fractious and controversyprone as ever. And in recent years a new element has been added to the many voices within the field, a body of opinion that would call into question the entire enterprise and abolish the concept of hunter-gatherers altogether. It would be hard to imagine a more fundamental challenge. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to define the range of anthropological practices that constitute hunter-gatherer studies today and to explore the roots-social, ideological, and epistemological-of the field's crisis in representation. Some of these difficulties become apparent at the outset when we try to define what we mean by hunter-gatherers.' Economically we are referring to those people who have historically lived by gathering, hunting, and fishing, with minimal or no agriculture and with no domesticated animals except for the dog. Politically gatherer-hunters are usually labeled as "band" or "egalitarian" societies in which social groups are small, mobile, and unstratified, and in which differences of wealth and power are minimally developed. Obviously there is a degree of fit between "forager" subsistence strategies and "band" social organization, but the fit is far from perfect. Strictly economic definitions of foragers will include a number of peoples with ranking, stratification, and even slavery-the Northwest Coast groups-while the notion of"egalitarian bands" will include a number of small-scale horticultural and pastoral societies-in Amazonia, for example, and some Siberian "small peoples."

The San of Southern Africa: A Status Report, 2003

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2003

Problems in Kalahari Historical Ethnography and the Tolerance of Error

History in Africa, 1993

The !Kung San of Namibia and Botswana are among the most widely researched and documented hunting... more The !Kung San of Namibia and Botswana are among the most widely researched and documented hunting and gathering societies in the area of African Anthropology. From the research conducted in the past, two radically opposing viewpoints about the people have emerged. One, "sees the !Kung as hunters and gatherers living under changed circumstances and maintaining an old but adaptable way of life: the characteristic features associated with the hunter-gatherer subsistence or foraging mode of production. The other sees these same !Kung as products of a very different history, a history of long association with Bantu-speaking overlords, followed by intense involvement with merchant capital" (Lee and Guenther, 1993, p.185).

African Hunter-Gatherers: Survival, History, and the Politics of Identity

African Study Monographs, 2001

Given the continent's ongoing crises, African hunter-gathgerers have been remarkably successf... more Given the continent's ongoing crises, African hunter-gathgerers have been remarkably successful at surviving difficult times. They have faced war in Namibia, Angola, and the Congo, genocide in Rwanda, and economic difficulties almost everywhere else. Through the last three decades San, Pygmy, Hadza, Okiek, Mikea, and other foragers have sought to maintain coherent societies and systems of meaning and identity in the face of great odds, at times aided by sympathetic outsiders. This paper will explore the challenges they have faced and their responses, while atempting to situate these diverse peoples within the broader historical and political currents of the Twentieth century.

Anthropology at the crossroads: From the age of ethnography to the age of World systems

Social Dynamics, 1998

As we approach• the millenniumn the discipline of anthropology occupies a hiighly contested terra... more As we approach• the millenniumn the discipline of anthropology occupies a hiighly contested terrain, a battle-ground on which scientistic, humanistic, political-economic, anld postmodern agendas are puttinlg forth conficting claimns anid vying for hegemony (Lee 1992).,Onie readinig of anithropology is that it is a part of the discredited canon conlstructed by dead white males, architects and apologists for capitalismn and imiperialism. But despite the vogue fo'r anthropology-bashing • in some circles, I believe that quite differenlt r•eadigs are possibl: and I would like to present onie here. Anthropology's br•ief history as a discipline has beenl marked by both successes and failures. It is commiionplace to say it is a discipline in crisis; but on•e could argue thiat thiis has beenl true of its enltire history. Whiat I would like to do is give you a personal view of some of its strenigth~s and weaknesses; wher•e the disciplinie has come fromT and where it is goinlg. If I have anything to add to the usual rumninations on this subject it is thiat I feel that anthropology's politics are as muchi a part of its histo'ry and future as is its bodies of method, theory, anld knowledge. The paper will draw examples from anthropology generally but the ma7in line of marchi is to use a broad overview of th~e crisis and tranisformnation in anthropology as a point of departure to examine aspects of South• African society in the first post-Apartheid years. Regarding the disciplinie as a whole mny thesis is this: anthropology is un•dergoing a tranlsformnation that is pregniant with possibilities, but to paraphrase Gramnsci: whenever the old order is dyinlg anid the new struggling

Hunters, Clients and Squatters: The Contemporary Socioeconomuc Status of Btswana Basarwa

African Study Monographs, 1989

This paper examines the past and prescnt socioeconomic situation of the Basam'a (Bushmen. San... more This paper examines the past and prescnt socioeconomic situation of the Basam'a (Bushmen. San) of the Republic of Botswana. Changes in adaptive strategies are outlined. and it is shown that Basam'a groups have chosen a number of alternative lifestyles. In some cases, Basarwa have become clients of other groups: other people have been dispossessed and are now squatters on what used to be their land; and still others have continued foraging. Case studies of 5 communities are presented which range from the hunting and gathering! Kung of the Dobe region to the settled agropastoral Chwa of the Nata River area who arc engaged in self-help activities. Changes which will have implications for the future of the Basarwa are discussed, including the land reform program in the tribal grazing areas, the remote area development efforts of the Botswana Government. and the militarization of !Kung and other Basarn'a in Namibia. It is concluded that the future of the Basarn'a will dep...

Conferences on Hunting and Gathering Societies (CHAGS)

Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2020

Indigenous Rights and the Politics of Identity in Post-Apartheid Southern Africa

The terms indigenous rights and post-apartheid raise a number of questions in the context of sout... more The terms indigenous rights and post-apartheid raise a number of questions in the context of southern Africa. The situation with rights is straightforward enough: we know that South Africa has been grossly deficient in upholding those (at least until 1994); but what about indigenous rights? What exactly does indigenous mean in the South African context? And how do we gloss post-Apartheid in South Africa, since the laws are no longer on the books but the structural violence instituted by apartheid still affects the lives of millions of people? To start untangling the conundrums, I will begin from the premise that a complex terrain of struggle exists today at many levels in South Africa and its former satellites. The primary contradiction is, of course, the three-hundred-year struggle of African peoples against expropriation, racism, oppression, and underdevelopment under the European colonialists. But within that broad canvas are woven the strands of many smaller struggles by local g...

Hunter-Gatherers in Process: The Kalahari Research Project, 1963-76

!Kung spatial organization: An ecological and historical perspective

Human Ecology, 1972

The ecological and social bases of spatial organization among hunters and gatherers are examined.... more The ecological and social bases of spatial organization among hunters and gatherers are examined. After criticizing the patrilocal band model of social organization, the author documents the flexible, nonterritorial groupings of the !Kung Bushmen of Botswana and relates them to rainzfall and surface water scarcity and variability. The paper goes onz to consider the effects of extra-Bushman contacts on the breakdown of sociospatial organization and finds that the observed flexibility occurred in both the pre-and the postcontact periods. The final section attempts to relate the analysis to general issues. Three areas that need further work if a more valid model of hunter spatial organization is to be developed are the problems of time perspective in research, adaptation to long-term climatic variability, and critical thresholds of population density.

Existe-t-il un mode de production " fourrageur "?

Anthropologie et Sociétés, 1980

The !Kung and I: Reflections on My Life and Times with the Ju/'Hoansi

Ethnoarchaeology, 2012

Introduction: Updating the San, Image and Reality of an African People in the Twenty First Century

... They have sought, sometimes successfully, for land and civil rights in the countries in which... more

Problems in Kalahari Historical Ethnography and the Tolerance of Error

History in Africa, 1993

The !Kung San or Bushmen of Namibia and Botswana are one of the most thoroughly documented huntin... more The !Kung San or Bushmen of Namibia and Botswana are one of the most thoroughly documented hunting and gathering societies in the annals of African anthropology. In recent years two radically different views of the !Kung San have emerged in the anthropological literature. One sees the !Kung as hunters and gatherers living under changed circumstances and maintaining an old but adaptable way of life: the characteristic features associated with the hunter-gatherer subsistence or foraging mode of production.The other sees these same !Kung as products of a very different history, a history of long association with Bantu-speaking overlords, followed by intense involvement with merchant capital. In this view it was the !Kungs' experience of domination and incorporation, not the dynamics of autonomous foraging that shaped their economy and social life. Their well-documented egalitarian politics and gender relations are thus a product not of their own history, but of their history of sha...

Errors Corrected or Compounded? A Reply to Wilmsen

Current Anthropology, 1995

L'A. repond a un ouvrage de Wilmsen qui s'etait penche sur les facteurs economiques du Ka... more

Three Decades of Ethnographic Research Among the Ju/'Hoansi of Northwestern Botswana: 1963-1996

... Ebert, Liz Cashdan, Renee Pennington, Helga Vierich, Jackie Solway and Eric Wood. In one way ... more

Hunters, Clients and Squatters: The Contemporary Socioeconomuc Status of Btswana Basarwa

by Mathias Guenther, Robert Hitchcock, and Richard B Lee

This paper examines the past and prescnt socioeconomic situation of the Basam'a (Bushmen. San) of... more This paper examines the past and prescnt socioeconomic situation of the Basam'a (Bushmen. San) of the Republic of Botswana. Changes in adaptive strategies are outlined. and it is shown that Basam'a groups have chosen a number of alternative lifestyles. In some cases, Basarwa have become clients of other groups: other people have been dispossessed and are now squatters on what used to be their land; and still others have continued foraging. Case studies of 5 communities are presented which range from the hunting and gathering! Kung of the Dobe region to the settled agropastoral Chwa of the Nata River area who arc engaged in self-help activities. Changes which will have implications for the future of the Basarwa are discussed, including the land reform program in the tribal grazing areas, the remote area development efforts of the Botswana Government. and the militarization of !Kung and other Basarn'a in Namibia. It is concluded that the future of the Basarn'a will depend upon how political, economic, and environmental issues are resolved. and whether or not the Basarwa are included in decision-making regarding development action.

Foragers, Genuine or Spurious?: Situating the Kalahari San in History

Current Anthropology, 1992

Recent studies of societies hitherto portrayed as autonomous and self-regulating have sought to r... more Recent studies of societies hitherto portrayed as autonomous and self-regulating have sought to re-situate them in the context of wider regional and international economies, polities, and histories. In this revisionism there is danger of imputing links where none existed and assuming that evidence for trade implies the surrender of autonomy. Examination of the different historical experiences of two San groups, one largely dependent on its Bantuspeaking neighbours and the other (until recently) substantially autonomous, suggests that contact may take many forms, not all of which lead to dependency, abandonment of foraging, or incorporation into "more powerful" social formations. JACQUELINE S. SOLWAY is Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Ont., Canada M5S iAi). Born in I950, she received her Ph.D. from that university in I987. She has taught at McMaster and York Universities and the University of Western Ontario and has done fieldwork in the Comoro Islands and in Botswana. Among her publications is "Affines and Spouses, Friends and Lovers: The Passing of Polygyny in Botswana" (fournal of Anthropological Research 46[ i]).

Art, Science, or Politics? The Crisis in Hunter-Gatherer Studies

American Anthropologist, 1992

In the complex history of hunter-gatherer studies, several overlapping and at times antagonistic ... more In the complex history of hunter-gatherer studies, several overlapping and at times antagonistic discourses can be discerned. However, one critique has emerged that would render all huntergatherer discourses irrelevant and do away with the concept altogether. The paper explores the poststructuralist roots of this "revisionism" and then argues why the concept of hunter-gatherer continues to be politically relevant and empirically valid. However, if they are to fulfill their promise of illuminating an increasingly fragmented and alienating modernity, hunter-gatherer studies will have to become more attuned to issues ofpolitics, history, context, and reflexivity. HUNTER-GATHERER STUDIES HAVE HAD a rather stormy history. The field has always been marked by controversy, and even the concept of hunter-gatherers itself has waxed and waned in importance. There have been periods in the history of anthropology when the very concept was tabooed, others when it was popular. Within the discipline today, the idea of hunter-gatherer has radically different receptions. Some see it as totally absurd, a derivative of outmoded evolutionary theory, while others see it as an eminently sensible category of humanity with a firm anchor in empirical reality. I noted a strong tendency toward the latter view at the Sixth Conference on Hunter-Gatherers (CHAGS) at Fairbanks, May-June 1990. At least no one advocated canceling the sixth CHAGS for lack of subject matter. Even if it is agreed that hunters and gatherers exist, almost everything else about them is a matter for contestation. While some fields have crystallized a canon, there is no danger of that in hunter-gatherer studies; the field remains as fractious and controversyprone as ever. And in recent years a new element has been added to the many voices within the field, a body of opinion that would call into question the entire enterprise and abolish the concept of hunter-gatherers altogether. It would be hard to imagine a more fundamental challenge. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to define the range of anthropological practices that constitute hunter-gatherer studies today and to explore the roots-social, ideological, and epistemological-of the field's crisis in representation. Some of these difficulties become apparent at the outset when we try to define what we mean by hunter-gatherers.' Economically we are referring to those people who have historically lived by gathering, hunting, and fishing, with minimal or no agriculture and with no domesticated animals except for the dog. Politically gatherer-hunters are usually labeled as "band" or "egalitarian" societies in which social groups are small, mobile, and unstratified, and in which differences of wealth and power are minimally developed. Obviously there is a degree of fit between "forager" subsistence strategies and "band" social organization, but the fit is far from perfect. Strictly economic definitions of foragers will include a number of peoples with ranking, stratification, and even slavery-the Northwest Coast groups-while the notion of"egalitarian bands" will include a number of small-scale horticultural and pastoral societies-in Amazonia, for example, and some Siberian "small peoples."