David W. Frayer, Debra L. Martin

Violence in the Ethnographic Record Violence Against Women: Raiding and Abduction in Prehistoric Michigan Violence Against Women in the La Plata River Valley (AD 1000-1300) Patterns of Violence in Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Societies of Coastal Southern California Violence and Gender in Early Italy Wife Beating, Boxing, and Broken Noses: Skeletal Evidence for the Cultural Patterning of Violence Ofnet: Evidence for a Mesolithic Massacre Evidence for Human Sacrifice, Bone Modification and Cannibalism in Ancient Mexico Osteological Indications of Warfare in the Archaic Period of the Western Tennessee Valley The Evolution of Northwest Coast Warfare Frontier Warfare in the Early Neolithic Violence and War in Prehistory

Evidence amassed in Troubled Times indicates that, much like in the modern world, violence was not an uncommon aspect of prehistoric dispute resolution. From the civilizations of the American Southwest to the Mesolithic of Central Europe, the contributors examine violence in hunter-gatherer as well as state societies from both the New and Old Worlds.
Drawing upon cross-cultural analyses, archaeological data, and skeletal remains, this collection of papers offers evidence of domestic violence, homicide, warfare, cannibalism, and ritualized combat among ancient peoples. Beyond the physical evidence, various models and explanations for violence in the past are explored.