Setting the scene: the palaeolithic and the late-glacial of Britain, adaptation and subsistence in a changing environment -- The view from the hills: sea-level rise, post-glacial climate change, landscape change and changing environments -- Tools of the trade: post-glacial toolkits, their use and their significance -- Coming home to a real fire: landscape utilisation and settlement patterning -- Food for thought: subsistence strategies and economic activity -- The living and the dead: ritual aspects of Mesolithic life -- The end is in sight: the adoption of new resources and the shift from hunting and gathering towards the integration and exploitation of domesticated animals and plants in subsistence strategies