War and rumours of war
In the past, many assumptions have been made about warfare in prehistory, from beliefs in an almost constant pattern of aggression in early societies, to the imagination of a 'golden age' of peaceful societies. A major reason for these disagreements has been the limited range and nature of evidence used to identify warfare. The present paper attempts to develop a series of correlates intended to extend the range of evidence that could be utilised in this discussion with reference to warfare in pre-state communities. The proposed correlates are divided into four sections, comprising correlates related to possible causes of war, preparation for aggression, functional evidence of fighting and, finally, the possible after-effects of warfare. The paper suggests that war is a phenomenon that manifests itself over extended time scales, beyond the possibly short-lived episodes of actual combat; in seeking for symptoms of the 'before' and 'after' it may be possible to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the nature and effects of prehistoric warfare in general. Suggested correlates are compared against available evidence in three case studies, from differing periods in time, location, and types of society.
Wileman, Julie
War and rumours of war. In the past, many assumptions have been made about warfare in prehistory, from beliefs in an almost constant pattern of aggression in early societies, to the imagination of a 'golden age' of peaceful societies. A major reason for these disagreements has been the limited range and nature of evidence used to identify warfare. The present paper attempts to develop a series of correlates intended to extend the range of evidence that could be utilised in this discussion with reference to warfare in pre-state communities. The proposed correlates are divided into four sections, comprising correlates related to possible causes of war, preparation for aggression, functional evidence of fighting and, finally, the possible after-effects of warfare. The paper suggests that war is a phenomenon that manifests itself over extended time scales, beyond the possibly short-lived episodes of actual combat; in seeking for symptoms of the 'before' and 'after' it may be possible to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the nature and effects of prehistoric warfare in general. Suggested correlates are compared against available evidence in three case studies, from differing periods in time, location, and types of society.
war rumour war past many assumption_make warfare prehistory beliefs almost constant pattern aggression early society imagination golden_age peaceful society major reason disagreement limit range nature evidence use_identify warfare present paper attempt_develop series correlate intend extend range_evidence could utilised discussion reference warfare pre state community propose correlate divide_four section comprise correlate relate possible cause war preparation aggression functional evidence fighting finally possible after warfare paper suggest war phenomenon manifest extend time scale beyond possibly short_lived episode actual combat seek symptom before after may possible develop comprehensive nature effect prehistoric warfare general suggested correlate compare available_evidence three_case_study differ period_time location type society