This is a book about a particular idea of violence. This well-produced collection is notable as an engagement with the mimetic theory of René Girard and, to an extent, inter-personal violence at Çatalhöyük. Girard sees human violence as serving an adaptive role in a functional framework, and as a means of dealing with social competition; violence becomes focused on one person, a scapegoat, and this is thereafter incorporated into ritual. The book attempts to apply this framework to the Neolithic sites of Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe, two settlements separated by considerable geographic distance and thousands of years. Overall, the volume provides a strong, cohesive presentation, tightly centred on Girard's theory, with common thematic threads woven between chapters. The chapters by Knüsel et al. and Clare et al. are focused on archaeology, while those by Anspach, Johnsen, Chantre, Alison and others are largely centred on iconographic representation and the interrogation of Girard's work. Most of these chapters are focused on a deep reading of symbolism and iconography. For example, Alison argues for a “decoding of the leopard imagery” at Çatalhöyük (p. 204) and for the existence of two different types of violence related to different animals. Discussion of inter-personal violence in the volume assumes that violence is innate to all cultures and that Girard's theory is transportable to the past. For those interested in the work of Girard, this book provides interesting and provocative chapters to interpret the act, symbolism and meaning of interpersonal violence.

In the introduction, Hodder outlines that this book applies Girard's work to archaeology, stating: “So here is a theory in search of examples in order to pursue a generality” (p. 4). In the quest to frame the Neolithic through the lens of Girard's theory, however, this book fails to address several critical methodological issues and social questions regarding the evolution and potential function of interpersonal violence. To what extent can archaeologists recognise interpersonal violence, and how do researchers differentiate between individual acts of violence as opposed to a systemic practice? There is no consideration of whether the patterns from Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe are representative of broader regional practices. With one exception, discussions fail to draw upon excavations from other Neolithic sites, including Aşikli Höyük, Tell Halula and Çayönü. Nor do the chapters consider how the skeletal information from other settlements adds richness, contrast or complexity to the data from Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe. Ultimately, the aim of this book is to advance Girard's adaptive and functional interpretation of the role of violence, through a consideration of wall paintings and relief sculpture. The end product is a series of chapters that largely comprise isolated discussion of two sites, but without substantial comparative perspective.

Reflecting upon the second half of the book, Hodder argues that “The evidence tends to be iconographic, based on the interpretations of wall paintings or relief sculpture, or osteological” (p. 10). This wording identifies one of the central challenges for the reader: how to reconcile evidence from iconography and skeletal materials. The chapters by Knüsel et al., and to an extent Clare et al., discuss the physical skeletal evidence of violent acts at Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe. After a discussion of limited evidence for interpersonal violence in Palaeolithic and Neolithic Western Asia, Knüsel et al. present some Çatalhöyük skeletal data documenting repeated acts of interpersonal violence. Trying to connect this to the mimetic theory of Girard, they present a single burial case study that “may well represent evidence of repeated acts of scapegoating” (p. 82). Knüsel et al. speculate that clay balls found at Çatalhöyük, commonly thought to be used for cooking, actually served as sling stones, and could create damage similar to that observed on the Çatalhöyük skeletal material. They argue that the clay balls might have been used in conflicts between members of different villages. It is not made clear how this hypothesised use of clay balls in intra-village conflict fits with Girard's theory, other than to document the existence of violence in Neolithic villages.

In the second chapter focused on archaeology, Clare et al. provide a close interpretive reading of sculpture, one founded on Klaus Schmidt's interpretation of Göbekli Tepe as a place of the dead. This interpretation does not, however, consider clear evidence for rectangular residential buildings and material culture associated with domestic life, nor the absence of intact human burials. As with many of the other chapters, this one provides a reading of zoomorphic stone carving, arguing in some cases that the opposition of different animals reflects predation and tension (for example, fig. 5.6). According to Clare et al., Göbekli Tepe and Körtik Tepe provide no evidence for human or animal sacrifices: “Any attempt to identify evidence for human sacrifice at Göbekli Tepe is made difficult by the absence of intact human burials from the site” (p. 119). Finally, when considering the archaeological record from Körtik Tepe, where there is clear skeletal evidence for interpersonal violence, Clare et al. note that “Their interpretation as universal subjects of hate (scapegoats and sacrifices) is entirely speculative” (p. 118) (emphasis added). This phrasing is revealing, as, in many ways, this book is built around a particular idea of violence, yet provides a surprisingly thin discussion of, or data for, interpersonal violence in the Neolithic.

The strength of this book is its varied discussion of Girard's theory. While the stated goal of the volume is to apply Girard's theory to archaeological datasets, the end result is not really satisfying, as discussions focus almost exclusively on Çatalhöyük and Göbekli Tepe, the latter of which produced no intact human skeletons. With no consideration of alternative explanations for Neolithic interpersonal violence, this book comes across to the critical reader as forced, with almost no comparative conversation or broader reflection focused on ethnography or archaeology. Surprisingly, this book fails to help us understand the growing evidence of Neolithic interpersonal conflict, with people as active agents, let alone the broader social, economic or political context of violence within Neolithic communities. Indeed, as noted by the editor in the introduction, in some ways this book illustrates how researchers employing Girard's theory are still searching for archaeological examples to advance a generality.