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Presentation of the book Tierra arrasada (Crítica, 2023). With Alfredo González Ruibal, author, and Gonzalo Ruiz Zapatero, professor of Prehistory at the UCM Debris, ash and bones, these are the remains that we often find when exploring an ancient battlefield or the ruins of a village, scorched earth that hides thousands of stories, from the last breaths of a fallen soldier to the muffled cries of a family devastated by war. Often the rapid occurrence of events that we understand as history has numbed us to these traumatic realities, disconnecting us from the violence and suffering that it encompasses and that rarely shocks us. We tend to forget that behind the destruction and barbarism there are people, their memories and hopes silenced by the edge of a sword; recurring human stories that make history something vibrant and tangible. Using archaeology as a tool, Alfredo González-Ruibal helps us to tune our ears, to listen to these whispers and decipher their stories of violence and aggression, bringing us closer to reality without the opaque hues of war or ideology. It is precisely these last vestiges that speak most eloquently about our nature and its disturbing inclination to destruction. With him we explore the beginnings of human violence until today, embarking on a journey that spans centuries and continents, from the Neolithic races to the trenches of Verdun, in a fascinating story that overflows with humanity and erudition. Alfredo González Ruibal (Madrid, 1976) has a PhD in Prehistoric Archaeology from the Complutense University of Madrid and is a senior scientist at the Institute of Heritage Sciences of the CSIC. As an archaeologist and ethnoarchaeologist, he has investigated everything from hunter-gatherer communities to post-industrial societies in various countries around the world (Spain, Brazil, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia and Somaliland). His articles have appeared in some of the main international journals and his most recent books include “Return to the Trenches. An Archaeology of the Civil War” (Alianza Editorial, 2016).