This is a book that only Peter Woodman could write. It is a personal exploration of the archaeology of the Mesolithic in Ireland. It is also a very ambitious book. It seeks to change attitudes to an undervalued and under-studied period of Ireland's prehistory. Woodman wants to counter the many misunderstandings of the period that he has come across in the archaeological literature. He further seeks to situate the Irish Mesolithic in its wider European context, while simultaneously seeing it as distinct and in need of treatment on its own terms. In all of this, he succeeds admirably. If some of the questions he asks cannot be answered, it is not his lack of skill but the lack of current evidence that stands in the way.

The book provides both a useful and comprehensive introduction to the details of the Irish Mesolithic and a thought-provoking challenge to current understanding. There are five major sections: 1) the historical context of Irish Mesolithic studies; 2) an account of the Irish Mesolithic archaeological record; 3) a re-evaluation of the period—especially initial settlement and lithic technology; 4) a re-evaluation of the Mesolithic way of life in Ireland; and 5) suggestions for future research.

The book's introduction is in many ways quite traditional and follows the lead of Grahame Clark in Britain by foregrounding the ecological context of the Mesolithic, providing an account of the late and post-glacial environment and the distribution of lithic raw materials.

Part 1 is a welcome history of Mesolithic studies in Ireland, placed in their wider context with reference to developments in Britain. Full regard is given to the unique place of Irish religion and politics as constraints on early archaeological endeavours. Nevertheless, research followed a similar timescale to studies in Britain, with slow recognition of the Mesolithic during the 1920s and then firm foundations laid in the 1930s. Likewise, Woodman recognises a perception of the Irish Mesolithic as marginal and primitive, lacking confidence about its own identity within the Mesolithic of Europe. Woodman's own contribution to establishing the Irish Mesolithic and moving on from the old stereotypes is clear. The lesson he derives is valuable for archaeologists everywhere: “We should be humbled to see how often conventional wisdom constrained the exploration of alternative ideas and approaches” (p. 69).

Part 2 is a straight account of the archaeological record. It is comprehensive with abundant illustrative plans. Where this part is particularly useful is in Woodman's discussion of how this record has been compiled since the nineteenth century, along with environmental factors affecting its discovery and the resulting biases in the evidence. The predominantly low-lying riverine, lacustrine and coastal distribution of the Mesolithic is evident. Woodman has a lot to say on lithic material, correcting current misconceptions about typology and dating.

Part 3 covers the origins of post-glacial settlement in Ireland. Woodman discusses the likelihood of evidence for Palaeolithic settlement being found or not, and in passing also gives a good, clear summary of the British evidence. The earliest secure settlement of Ireland is from c. 9800 cal BP and seems to be strongly related to the earliest phases of the later Mesolithic in Britain, perhaps arriving through the Manx basin. There is an early emergence of a distinctive Irish Mesolithic, and Woodman puts forward a suggested chronological scheme of an Early Mesolithic in two phases (Mount Sandel and Creagh) of 9800–88/8600 cal BP, and a Late Mesolithic, also of two phases (Cushendun and Newferry), of 88/8600–c. 6000 cal BP.

Providing chronological clarity is only the first step, rather than the aim of archaeology. Accordingly, in Part 4, Woodman turns his attention to Mesolithic ways of life. On site location, he is tentative about territoriality and mobility—which is to be welcomed as a form of archaeological honesty—although he highlights the need to look more closely into movement between coastal and inland resources. Looking at the foods exploited, he suggests the importance of eels in the diet as well as off-shore marine foods. While he considers the whole range of potential resources, his discussion underlines the need for more evidence—there is more to Mesolithic archaeology than flint-tool typologies. Woodman emphasises that there was probably no single subsistence strategy across the whole of Ireland, and that archaeologists need to begin to think regionally.

The final part of the book looks at what future work could be undertaken. Woodman asks whether there is enough of the right kind of fieldwork, critically examining excavation methods, and suggesting the need to search in areas where sites are likely to be preserved under later deposits. He also asks whether there are any new areas of research that could be pursued. In some ways, this is the least satisfactory part of the book. As he points out, the evidence from both Ireland and Britain differs from that in other parts of northern Europe and, in many cases, is simply lacking or has not been seriously studied (e.g. the evidence for the treatment of the dead). This leads to the contradictory position of looking abroad (chiefly to Denmark and other parts of northern and western Europe) to inform understanding of some (non-economic) aspects of Mesolithic life in Ireland. The application of these comparisons to the Irish context is necessarily somewhat speculative. More fruitful is his treatment of the transition to the Neolithic as a complex phenomenon that has yet to be studied in thoughtful ways. He usefully presents the evidence from between 6200 and 5800 cal BP, such as cow bones on various late Mesolithic sites, and urges an understanding of the complexity and variety that might underlie the change from Mesolithic to Neolithic culture.

Woodman sums up by reiterating that the Irish Mesolithic is different, and that while much is known, much remains to be discovered and understood. What he provides is, in places, a welcome rethinking of his own earlier views. An important underlying thread running through the book is the limited quality of the available evidence and the need for more excavated sites and finds from secure contexts. The archaeology of the Irish Mesolithic needs to be more than a contest between visions of the noble savage and the impoverished native. Woodman's account is a worthwhile step to advance the archaeology of this period.