It is no accident that so many sites and artifacts of prehistory have a close relationship with conflict, either in offense, as in weapons, or in defense, as in fortifications or secured living spaces. In these ten essays contributors remark on the underappreciated role of conflict in prehistory, as recent findings have tended to focus on the purely domestic, but also acknowledge the ways in which both approaches can inform each other. They cover such issues as climate change and socio-political crises in Neolithic central Europe, invasion theories and warfare in Bulgaria, evidence of seventeenth-century conflict in Derry City, Indo-European warfare, evidence of a life of fear in Iron Age France, the development of warfare from 3000-500 BCE in the British Isles, Hexheim's lessons on war and ritual, conflict archeology in Ireland, and Finnish experiences of endemic violence. Includes related book reviews. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
