How war began / Keith F. Otterbein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Otterbein, Keith F.

Series:

Texas A & M University anthropology series ; no. 10.

Texas A & M University anthropology series ; no. 10

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War.

Warfare, Prehistoric.

War--Causes.

War and society.

Physical Description:

xv, 292 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, 2004.

Summary:

Questions about the origin and inherent motivations of warfare have long engaged philosophers, ethicists, and anthropologists as they speculate on the nature of human existence.

In How War Began, author Keith F. Otterbein draws on primate behavior research, archaeological research, and data gathered from the Human Relations Area Files to argue for two separate origins. He identifies two types of military organization: one that developed two million years ago at the dawn of humankind, wherever groups of hunters met, and a second that developed some five thousand years ago, in four identifiable regions, when the first states arose and proceeded to embark upon military conquests.

In careful detail, Otterbein marshals evidence for his case that warfare was possible and likely among early Homo sapiens. He argues from comparison with other primates, from Paleolithic rock art depicting wounded humans, and from rare skeletal remains embedded with weapon points to conclude that warfare existed and reached a peak in big game hunting societies. As the big game disappeared, so did warfare-only to reemerge once agricultural societies achieved a degree of political complexity that allowed the development of professional military organizations. Otterbein concludes his survey with an analysis of how despotism in both ancient and modern states spawns warfare.

A definitive resource for anthropologists, social scientists, and historians, How War Began is written for all who are interested in warfare, whether they be military buffs or those seeking to understand the past and the present of humankind.

Contents:

2 Perspectives on How War Originated 22

3 Early Humans 39

4 Hunters and Gatherers 63

5 Early Agriculturalists 91

6 Four Pristine States and Their Warfare 121

7 Early States 177

8 Tribes 199.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical (pages 261-278) references and index.

ISBN:

1585443298

1585443301

OCLC:

54501578