Consumers, not Contributors? The Study of the Mesolithic and the Study of Hunter-Gatherers

This article examines the relationship between the archaeology of the Mesolithic and the broader archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers. Bibliographic reviews of articles presented at past MESO conferences and recent high-ranking Mesolithic research publications are compared to content reviews of contributions towards previous Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies conferences. The results of these are presented as evidence to suggest that, whilst Mesolithic archaeologists consume the results of the broader field of hunter-gatherer research, we do not contribute to this field as much as might be expected. We argue that this lack of engagement impoverishes both Mesolithic archaeology and hunter-gatherer studies and that closer collaboration between these fields would open up new avenues for interdisciplinary research with the capacity to address the challenges of hunter-gatherer societies living around the world today.