These essays, in honour of John Coles, reflect his interests in experimental archaeology and in the exploration of wetland sites. Contents include: Palaeolithic Archaeology: Radiocarbon dating and the origins of anatomically modern populations in Europe ( P Mellars ); The Chauvet cave dates ( J Clottes ); The archaeology of Scotland: The Hidden landscape: the Neolithic of Tayside ( G J Barclay ); The stony limits - rock carvings in passage graves and in the open air ( R Bradley ); Evidence, North and South, in the earlier Neolithic ( R J Mercer ); The birth of the Scottish Bronze Age ( J N Graham Ritchie ); Drinking, driving, death and display: Scottish Bronze Age artefacts since Coles ( A Sheridan ). Bronze Age archaeology: Bronze Age landscapess in Southern Europe ( G Barker ); From Skane to Scotstown: some notes on amber in Bronze Age Ireland ( G Eogan ); Swords, shields and scholars: Bronze Age warfare, past and present ( A Harding ); Gold reflections ( J J Taylor ); Rise and fall: the deposition of Bronze Age weapons in the Thames valley and the Fenland ( R Thomas ); Bronze Age settlement in south Scandinavia - territorality and organisation ( H Thrane ); Experimental Archaeology: Getting to grips with music's prehistory: experimental approaches to function, design and operational wear in excavated musical instruments ( G Lawson ); Experimental ship archaeology in Denmark ( O Crumli-Pedersen ); Wood-tar and pitch experiments at Biskupin Museum ( W Piotrowski ); The nature of experiment in archaeology ( P J Reynolds ). Wetland Archaeology: Somerset and the Sweet conundrum ( B Coles ); Paths, tracks and roads in early Ireland: viewing people rather than the trees ( B Raftery ); Underwater medieval sites on Lake Paladru (Isere, France): from rescue excavations to cultural project ( M Colardelle & E Verdel ). Epilogue: Of weapons and wetlands ( T Champion ). J M Coles - a bibliography.