Many fracture processes whether brittle or ductile in character are preceded by a process of damage accumulation. A number of variables such as stress state (e.g. hydrostatic pressure) and temperature influence the process of damage accumulation. In this case the following aspects of damage accumulation are considered a) distributed damage in which failure occurs at same control level of damage accumulation b) damage which is localized by same extended microstructural feature such as occurs in delamination fracture c) cases where damage initiation rather than growth is the dominant process d) cases where damage results in particle communication prior to fracture These processes are considered by in terms of simple continuum models and the development of various diagrammatic representations such as fracture maps.