This paper explores the theoretical and practical uses and limitations of battle-field archaeology. The author aims to paint a big picture of the subject of exca-vating, understanding and theorising about historical battlefields done every day by archaeologists. Its approach places much weight on a quantity of examples rather than exploring specific excavations in every detail, in an effort to give the reader an understanding about how battlefield archaeology works. It stresses the need for battlefield archaeology as a way of obtaining and securing impor-tant archaeological and historical information before it is lost to science. The author tries to evaluate the subject in a critical and pragmatic fashion in order to establish a clear understanding about the facts of battlefield archaeology..