'I found the book stimulating and thought provoking. I recommend it to anyone interested in settlement size, growth, sedentism and change throughout time … the book is well worth the effort and time, and other readers will find other topics of interest in this complex but fascinating book.' American Antiquity

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Summary; Part I. Theoretical Context: The Role of the Material as Behaviour: 1. Archaeology, settlement growth and the material component of human behaviour; 2. The material as behaviour; 3. A hierarchy of social explanation: locating the material; Part II. The Limits of Settlement Growth: Behavioural Stress and the Material Management of Community Life: 4. The behavioural parameters of interaction and communication; 5. Settlement growth trajectories; 6. Settlement growth transitions and the role of the material; Part III. Implications: Transformations and Constraints of Community Life: 7. The development of sedentism; 8. The development of agrarian and industrial urbanism; 9. Future urban growth; Technical notes; References; Index.

'I found the book stimulating and thought provoking. I recommend it to anyone interested in settlement size, growth, sedentism and change throughout time … the book is well worth the effort and time, and other readers will find other topics of interest in this complex but fascinating book.' American Antiquity

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Summary; Part I. Theoretical Context: The Role of the Material as Behaviour: 1. Archaeology, settlement growth and the material component of human behaviour; 2. The material as behaviour; 3. A hierarchy of social explanation: locating the material; Part II. The Limits of Settlement Growth: Behavioural Stress and the Material Management of Community Life: 4. The behavioural parameters of interaction and communication; 5. Settlement growth trajectories; 6. Settlement growth transitions and the role of the material; Part III. Implications: Transformations and Constraints of Community Life: 7. The development of sedentism; 8. The development of agrarian and industrial urbanism; 9. Future urban growth; Technical notes; References; Index.

'I found the book stimulating and thought provoking. I recommend it to anyone interested in settlement size, growth, sedentism and change throughout time … the book is well worth the effort and time, and other readers will find other topics of interest in this complex but fascinating book.' American Antiquity

• List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Summary; Part I. Theoretical Context: The Role of the Material as Behaviour: 1. Archaeology, settlement growth and the material component of human behaviour; 2. The material as behaviour; 3. A hierarchy of social explanation: locating the material; Part II. The Limits of Settlement Growth: Behavioural Stress and the Material Management of Community Life: 4. The behavioural parameters of interaction and communication; 5. Settlement growth trajectories; 6. Settlement growth transitions and the role of the material; Part III. Implications: Transformations and Constraints of Community Life: 7. The development of sedentism; 8. The development of agrarian and industrial urbanism; 9. Future urban growth; Technical notes; References; Index.