In response to your question regarding why men participate in large game hunting if it is a dangerous , low-yield activity the answer is two fold. First, in many cases, men are free to particpate in an activity that does not predictably yield a food resource because the gathering activities of the other members of thier group produces a sufficient amount of food for them. (It should also be noted that hunters will gather food while engaged in hunting activity, either to feed themselves if the hunt is long or to bring back to camp.) For hunter/gatherer peoples that have not been recently forced into marginal environments, gatherable food resources are usually plentiful throughout the year. Second, hunting is a prestige activity that yields a much-valued food. A successful hunter has much to gain in terms of social standing, improved reproductive opportunities and having the werewithal to build social and politcal alliances. The scarcity of this food resource, and its high price in terms of the time and technology necessary to obtain accounts for its high value, and the benefits that accrue to an individual who can supply it. I agree that meat from large-game is a valuable, high-quality protein addition to the diet. However, if it is not available there are other resources that can supply the same foodstuff. The group can obtain their protein needs through the consumption of nestling birds, songbirds, eggs, lizards, mice, insects, rabbits, etc. etc. etc.. As long as the total calorie intake is sufficient, a relatively small amount of dietary protein will suffice to keep the females fertile and lactating, the children and adolescents growing at optimal speed and the adults healing and manufactuirng any polypeptides necessary for maintenance and upkeep. References on the diets and food-getting activities of hunter-gatherer groups are scattered throughout the ethnographic literature, and much information on this topic can be obtained through a search in the Human Relation Area Files. I can also refer you to such workds as Richard Lee and Irven DeVore"s Man the Hunter (Aldine, Chicago, 1968), M. G. Bicchieri's Hunters and Gatherers Today, (Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1972) and Frances Dahlberg's Woman the Gatherer (Yale University Press, 1981) Lorraine Heidecker Department of Anthropology California State University Sacramento