Dr Martin Smith is Senior Lecturer in Forensic and Biological Anthropology at the University of Bournemouth. Martin Smith is a Biological Anthropologist with particular interests in prehistoric populations. His past work has covered a range of periods with particular focus on the Neolithic and concerned principally on areas of taphonomy and trauma with relevance to both forensic and archaeological remains. Martin has strong interests in the study of conflict from prehistoric to modern times. A question that continues to fascinate him is the extent to which war /organized conflict is ‘hard-wired’ in human beings rather than simply a practical response to environmental or social circumstances. His current research includes experimentation with weapons such as crossbows, blackpowder weapons and modern firearms on animal bone and synthetic substitutes for human bone.