What do we know about the Mesolithic? What distinguishes the Mesolithic from earlier and later periods of human history? What do the Mesolithic cultures of Europe have in common, and what differentiates them from one another? This comprehensive volume contains 89 papers which attempt to answer the questions of the Mesolithic. The volume is divided into nine thematic sections: In territoriality, the authors discuss the diversity of settlement patterns, and acknowledge that the hunter-gatherer groups of Europe were as a rule increasingly mobile. In exchange, the evidence for trade in the Mesolithic period is discussed for the first time, and the authors consider the movement of objects such as axes, flint blades, and people, between central and northern Europe. In spatial organisation, the authors make an attempt to identify regional settlement patterns and settlement hierarchies. The relations between old and new settlements are also discussed in sections on colonisation and hunter-gatherers in transition. Other sections include papers on ritual, enculturation and social groups. c. 800p, 575 b/w figs (Oxbow Books 2003)