This collection deals with the controversial question of the origin of language; the validity of deep-level reconsruction; the sociolinguistic modelling of prehistory; and the use of oral tradition.

Exploring a wide range of techniques developed by specialists in each discipline, this first volume of Archaeology and Language deals with broad theoretical and methodological issues and provides an indispensable background to the detail of the studies presented in volumes II and III. This collection deals with the controversial question of the origin of language, the validity of deep-level reconstruction, the sociolinguistic modelling of prehistory and the use and value of oral tradition. Roger M. Blench, Cambridge Institute for the Study of Pacific and African Languages; Bernard Bichakjian, Catholic University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Gabor Gyori, Janus Panno