This volume is the first of two that describe the results from fieldwork at the Niah Caves in Sarawak (north Borneo). The present volume provides an account of past human activity within the cave system, while the second will provide a detailed review of fieldwork from 1954–2004. As a cave with a well-preserved, well-dated and near continuous record of human activity spanning c. 50 000 years, the authors are able to interrogate burning archaeological questions about the human history of this region. A primary research aim is to re-examine the transition between foraging and farming, and the extent to which ‘Neolithic’ arrivals revolutionised the natural and cultural environment. Other research aims are to assess the antiquity of human activity in the wider region and to establish the extent to which Pleistocene human communities adapted to new rainforest environments. Although not specified as a research aim, the volume also examines the gradual emergence of behavioural modernity, including symbolic behaviour, throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene periods, as well as the nature and chronology of ‘Neolithic’ and ‘metal age’ human communities.

The preface and first two chapters provide context for the Niah Project, describing the site as: “a series of enormous—veritably cathedral-like interconnected caverns” (p. xvii), before exploring previous research at these caves and unresolved research questions for the region's (pre)history. The introductory chapters provide a wonderful—often whimsical—historical narrative, reinforced by excellent illustrations, about a largely undocumented period of archaeological research in Borneo. Genuine respect is shown for past researchers, whose data are integrated with skill and sophistication throughout the volume. Tom Harrison, who excavated at the site in the 1950s and 1960s, appears at the heart of many an outrageous story and is described by David Attenborough as “explorer, museum curator, guerrilla fighter, pioneer, sociologist, documentary film maker […] arrogant, choleric, swashbuckling, often drunk, and nearly always outrageous” (p. 9)!

Chapters 3–8 provide results from the recent excavations (2000–2004) within the Niah Caves complex. This includes the data-rich Chapter 3, which assesses complex stratigraphy and associated site chronology and climate history. Subsequent chapters provide a chronological narrative (terminal Pleistocene to late Holocene) of human activity in the Niah Caves, with results presented alongside thoughtful interpretation of regional significance. This is particularly true for Chapters 4, 7 and 8, which afford remarkable insight into how the hominids at Niah behaved. For example, in Chapter 7, the authors use an impressive range of archaeological data (including strontium analysis, burial practices/positions, lithic residues and petrographic analysis of ceramics) to argue for the use of the Niah Caves by multiple human communities, with segregated areas for the living and the dead. The authors identify complexities that do not fit with the Austronesian voyager-farmer model, suggesting instead gradual change throughout the terminal Pleistocene and Holocene and the selective integration of a Neolithic ‘package’. Arguably, the most fascinating results in the volume surround human activity during the late Holocene. Burial practices, grave goods, ceramics and lithics are used to demonstrate human individuality, community affiliation and “multiple or shifting trade alliances” (p. 339) with people as far away as India and China.

Should there be any weakness to this volume it is the repetition of information. The majority of the chapters are self-contained narratives incorporating broad arrays of context and discussion that make for rewarding reading; this format, however, also means that sizable chunks of information from Chapter 3 (e.g. chronology, environment history, stratigraphy) reappear in some of the later chapters. Nonetheless, such repetition detracts little considering the quantity of information that the volume provides, the accessibility of its writing style and the wider contribution of each chapter. The authors have successfully collated, condensed and interpreted the Niah Caves excavations, providing remarkable insights into the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Borneo and its broader implications for world (pre)history.