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Scientists Say Warfare Began After People Formed Villages
Seattle Times ^
| 9-16-2003
| Dan Vergano
Posted on 09/16/2003 5:33:47 PM PDT by blam
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To: Eternal_Bear
"I heard chimps also indulge in warfare but they don't have villages. Nomadic people also fight from time to time. You don't need villagers for a good rumble." I agree.
Anthropologist Marvin Harris (Bless his soul, he died this year at age 74), said that government began with agriculture, surplus food. The strongest got to distribute the surplus during a crisis/famine and they were also responsible for defending those who produced the surplus....original taxes.
41
posted on
09/16/2003 7:20:11 PM PDT
by
blam
To: blam
My anthropology teacher said that warfare is something agricultural people do. It makes sense. A hunter-gatherer, while he may have a few favorite spots, can hunt or gather anywhere. If he's chased out of a particular area by others, he can still feed himself. A farmer, on the other hand, is tied to a piece of ground until his crops are in. If the farmer is chased off of his land, he'll starve. He has to defend a stationary asset in order to survive. This, understandably, makes the agriculturalist and his neighbors more prone to violence. They learn quickly that they may have to fight if they want to eat. And they eventually learn that warfare not only defends a field, it can get new ones.
42
posted on
09/16/2003 7:24:45 PM PDT
by
Redcloak
(...from the occupied Republic of California.)
To: Redcloak
A hunter-gatherer, while he may have a few favorite spots, can hunt or gather anywhere. If he's chased out of a particular area by others, he can still feed himself.
What you're saying is: There's always another hunting ground around the corner so why defend this one? That doesn't wash. Ancient hunting grounds weren't like McDonalds.
Most likely ancient hunting grounds were fiercely defended precisely because good ones were scarce and when hunters found one they fought to keep it.
Fighting over hunting grounds the way American Indians did, before the advent of the white man, is a more likely scenario, and probably the source of warfare itself. By the time agriculture came along warfare was most likely a well developed skill that farmers used to defend their land.
43
posted on
09/16/2003 8:38:35 PM PDT
by
Noachian
(Liberalism belongs to the Fool, the Fraud, and the Vacuous.)
To: Noachian
As evidence, my teacher pointed to the Indians of California. Even in pre-Columbian times California was (relatively speaking) densely populated; however, the tribes didn't fight over who got to hunt or gather in a particular area. California Indians, as a rule, rarely fought one another despite the crowded conditions.
There is, however, one notable exception to this peaceful picture: The Mojaves. They were one of the most aggressive and warlike tribes in North America. (They actually liked the Spanish since killing an armored man shooting a gun from horseback was more of a challenge. Much more fun that going after other Mojaves!) The Mojaves, in addition to being California's only warlike tribe, were the area's only agriculturalists. They fought to protect farmland along the Colorado River.
44
posted on
09/17/2003 9:19:38 AM PDT
by
Redcloak
(...from the occupied Republic of California.)
To: Behind Liberal Lines
In other words, the collective, not the individual, causes wars. Actually, if these scientists are correct it would appear more likely that the recognition and defense of property rights causes wars.
45
posted on
09/17/2003 9:22:53 AM PDT
by
r9etb
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