The monograph of the famous American social anthropologist, recognized today as a classic, is devoted to the problems of the uniqueness of the economy of primitive society. The author was the first to identify and examine in detail the phenomenon of underproduction in primitive society, and also examined in detail the functional role of kinship relations and the specifics of gift-exchange relations.

CONTENTS:A. V. Korotaev. Preface 6 Stone Age Economics Introduction 15 The Society of Primitive Affluence 19 The Home Mode of Production: The Structure of Underproduction 53 The Home Mode of Production: Intensification of Production 102 The Spirit of the Gift 142 On the Sociology of Primitive Exchange 170 Appendix A Notes on Reciprocity and the Rank of Kinship 211 Appendix B Notes on Reciprocity and the Rank of Kinship 222 Appendix C3 remarks about reciprocity and wealth 233 Exchange value and the diplomacy of primitive trade 241Bibliography 254