This work explores the culturally-constructed nature of prehistoric settlement in terms of place, process and practice. Posing critical questions, such as "how do we define and identify settlement units?", a team of contributors investigate issues such as the impact of gender and family constructs on the study of settlement in this period. Examining several areas of archaeological reserach, the contributors inter-link both people and landscape through the construction of biographies of place. Case studies include: Mississippian and pueblo North America; neolithic and bronze age Britain; contemporary Southern Africa; and Joman Japan.