This is a traditional site report that draws together the results of work at the important Palaeolithic site of Grotte des Pigeons, Morocco, focusing on the later Late Stone Age layers. It also attempts to draw together the archives and records of earlier interventions. A volume on the earlier Middle Stone Age layers is in preparation. The site has been known and intermittently investigated since the nineteenth century, but has not been well noted in broader summaries of North African Palaeolithic studies. Partly this may be a result of the division of North Africa into regions of interest by different European countries. Different approaches, languages and interests have prevented effective integration of Palaeolithic North Africa for a long time. This division, plus the sheer size of the region, its physical geography and political distinctions have left North Africa mostly outside the main debates in human evolution and Palaeolithic archaeology. This is now changing, and work on the greening of the Sahara, the finding of the earliest modern human fossils at Gebel Irhoud (dated to c. 300 000 years ago) and DNA studies on the ancient populations of Africa are now putting North Africa back into prominence. North Africa is important for so many reasons—as an African region, as an adjoining region to the Middle East and as part of the circum-Mediterranean zone—so this is long overdue. The Late Stone Age has much to tell us about modern human adaptation to the region, the diversification of populations into identifiable societies and the increasing use of resources leading towards more settled lifeways. The Grotte des Pigeons, as published in this volume, has a significant part to play in these narratives. It is also an example of how to deal with renewed excavations at a site that has been previously explored and how to balance new investigation with old archives. Such a programme is never easy!

The book begins with a general scene-setting chapter by the editors that draws together the setting of the site, the earlier work there and introduces six research questions to be addressed by the project. One of the key points to be noted is that the site comprises extensive middens of land snail and that preservation of materials, both organic and inorganic, is exceptional for the period and the region. There is a sequence of deposits spanning the period 23 000–12 500 years cal BP. These are associated with an industry termed the Iberomaurusian. This is a blade and flake industry with numerous backed tools, microliths and bladelets. It is found widely in North-west Africa and has also been excavated as far east as the site of Haua Fteah, Cyrenaica, Libya.

Chapters 1 and 2, by Collcutt and Macphail respectively, describe the sediments in more detail before a crucial multi-authored chapter on dating. A combination of AMS radiocarbon dating, luminescence and tephra has been used. This chapter is followed by analysis of charcoal (Marco), charred plant materials including pine nuts and acorns (Morales), and phytoliths (Jones, Ward and Parker), before moving on to faunal remains: molluscs (Bell), mammals (Turner), birds (Cooper) and micro-fauna (the editors and Gleed-Owen with Barton). The next chapters deal with artefactual material—lithics (Hogue and Bouzzougar), organics (Desmond) and inorganics (Barton and Collcutt). Each chapter presents tables and figures of data. There is a lot to absorb, but the presentation is clear, effectively linked into the text and of high quality. The lithic sequence is divided into four phases, a lower, a ‘mixed’ or transitional, a middle and an upper. All are broadly Iberomaurusian, but with variations in techniques for producing microliths and frequencies of different tool types. The approach was based upon a more techno-typological perspective involving the chaîne opératoire. While this makes sense in contemporary lithic studies, it does not make comparisons with other North African sites easy, as these often lack the details needed.

One of the most significant features of the site is the presence of human remains (including a significant number of infants), some burials and others mixed within general midden material. A necropolis was described by earlier workers at the site and further remains were recovered during the more recent work. The burial evidence is described in Chapter 15 (Humphrey et al.), the physical anthropology of the remains in the next (Humphrey) and isotope work on the recently excavated material after that (Lee-Thorp et al.). There is evidence of cut marks on some bones and for treatment with ochre. Dating of the burials makes this one of the oldest well-dated cemeteries in Africa at c. 15 000 BP. This is followed by the synthesis and interpretation by the editors and other team members (Chapter 18). The synthesis begins with a section on the theoretical background, which is a rarity for a site report. It usefully introduces a series of themes that have influenced thinking about Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherer populations including the broad spectrum revolution, intensification and optimal foraging theory. This is a valuable addition to the work and helps to deflect any claims of environmental determinism in the interpretation of hunter-gatherer behaviour. It also highlights the issues that face researchers attempting to work on sites that have been substantially dug in the past. Unfortunately, in complex sites, and with large areas lost to earlier work, it is difficult to determine the extent and period(s) of occupation. The excavators believe, however, that the cave was not abandoned for any great length of time. There is an intensification of activity at the site from 15 000 BP that may reflect a change in regional exploitation strategies, with the site moving from a task-centred use to a broader settlement.

Overall, this is a significant contribution to the Late Stone Age in North-west Africa. The authors pull together a range of diverse sources to discuss the occupation and role of the site and place it within the broader regional context. They work within the limitations of their data and suggest several new lines of enquiry and questions to develop. The volume is dense with material, but the synthesis and discussion should be a major source for a variety of readers. The volume makes a significant contribution to regional archaeology, so it is regrettable that it lacks summaries in Arabic and French that could take it to a wider audience.