We have benefited considerably from the help of numerous colleagues who have been kind enough to read sections of the manuscript and provide information and illustrations. We thank most kindly (and alphabetically) Juan-Luis Arsuaga, Nick Ashton, Colin Ballantyne, Nick Barton, Mark Bateman, Martin Bates, David Bridgland, Barry Chandler, Chantal Conneller, Jill Cook, Lynden Cooper, Andy Currant, Andrew David, Rob Dinnis, Helen Drinkall, Julie Gardiner, John Gowlett, Chris Green, Sonja Grimm, Sanjeev Gupta, Emma Heslewood, Jon Humble, Roger Jacobi, Paul Jeffery, David Keen, Nigel Larkin, John Lewis, Adrian Lister, Shannon McPherron, Keith Moore, Julian Murton, Simon Parfitt, Matt Pope, Richard Preece, Chris Proctor, Mark Roberts, Penny Robinson, Helen Roe, Danielle Schreve, Beccy Scott, Kate Scott, Chris Stringer, Hartmutt Thieme, Erik Trinkaus, Beth Upex, Jeff Veitch, Ian Wall, Elizabeth Walker, Francis Wenban-Smith, Rob Westaway and John Wymer. We are also grateful to the following institutions for permission to reproduce figures: Bolton Museum, The Trustees of the British Museum, Creswell Heritage Trust, Harris Museum and Art Gallery Preston, University of Hull, Museum of London, National Museums and Galleries Wales, the Natural History Museum, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Portsmouth City Museum, the Prehistoric Society, the Royal Society, Torquay Museum.