Proceedings of a conference held in the Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow, April 2000. The 25 papers published in these proceedings are the outcome of a conference held at Glasgow University in 2000. The objective of the event was to emphasise the unique contribution archaeology can make towards explaining actions (individual and corporate) and reactions to a range of experiences which, for better or worse, define us as humans: that is our propensity to use violence to resolve situations. The range of papers offered stretched from the C4th BC through to WWII, and geographically from Mexicoto Russia and South Africa.