Case-studies which examine the organization of lithic technology in the context of environmental change in the: eastern Pyrenees ( Xavier Terradas ); Basque country ( J. J. I. Estevez & J. E. G. Urquijo ); Portugal ( N. F. Bicho ); south-east Italy ( Sarah Milliken ); Jerxen-Orbke, Detmold, Germany ( C. Kempcke-Richter ); Switzerland ( Marie-Isabelle Cattin ); Paris basin ( Pierre Bodu ); eastern Mediterranean ( N. Goring-Morris, O. Marder, A. Davidson, F. Ibrahim ).

Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum houses seventeen collections of Palaeolithic material from Egypt, comprising a total of 1009 objects. None of the objects were recovered during excavation but many were found by pioneers of prehistoric archaeology and notable anthropologists. The most significant and largest collection, which forms the focus of much of this study, is that of Charles Seligmann and dates from the first fourteen years of the 20th century. The first half of the book sets the background, examining the origins of Egyptian Palaeolithic archaeology, supported by extracts from diaries and contemporary publications, as well as discussing the types of stone artefacts collected, the cultures of the Egyptian Palaeolithic and more recent developments in research. The second half of the book presents catalogues of each collection with the artefacts illustrated at actual size. An appendix lists items from Seligman's collections which are now housed in other museums.

Taking a broad perspective (from Palaeolithic to Post-Medieval and from pottery to metals) the contributors to this volume discuss the social organiztion of craft production in the past. Was there a trend towards increasing specialization as the complexity of the objects manufactured increased? What was the role of patronage in encouraging the growth of specialisms? These are all questions addressed in this volume of papers originally presented at the 3rd Meeting of the EAA, Ravenna 1997.