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The document discusses the conflicting views on the role of war in ancient forager societies, with some scholars viewing them as peaceful while others argue they were violent. The anthropological evidence is limited and complicated due to the isolation of modern foragers and the influence of modern states. Historical observations of forager populations in North America and Australia suggest that armed conflicts were common, but the interpretation of this evidence remains debatable.

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13 views1 page

tret14

The document discusses the conflicting views on the role of war in ancient forager societies, with some scholars viewing them as peaceful while others argue they were violent. The anthropological evidence is limited and complicated due to the isolation of modern foragers and the influence of modern states. Historical observations of forager populations in North America and Australia suggest that armed conflicts were common, but the interpretation of this evidence remains debatable.

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siddhul
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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“Finally, there’s the thorny question of the role of war in forager societies.

Some scholars imagine ancient hunter-gatherer societies as peaceful


paradises, and argue that war and violence began only with the
Agricultural Revolution, when people started to accumulate private
property. Other scholars maintain that the world of the ancient foragers
was exceptionally cruel and violent. Both schools of thought are castles in
the air, connected to the ground by the thin strings of meagre
archaeological remains and anthropological observations of present-day
foragers.
The anthropological evidence is intriguing but very problematic. Foragers
today live mainly in isolated and inhospitable areas such as the Arctic or
the Kalahari, where population density is very low and opportunities to
fight other people are limited. Moreover, in recent generations, foragers
have been increasingly subject to the authority of modern states, which
prevent the eruption of large-scale conflicts. European scholars have had
only two opportunities to observe large and relatively dense populations
of independent foragers: in north-western North America in the nineteenth
century, and in northern Australia during the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. Both Amerindian and Aboriginal Australian cultures
witnessed frequent armed conflicts. It is debatable, however, whether
this[…]”

Excerpt From
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari
This material may be protected by copyright.

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