This is the first book to explore prehistoric warfare and violence by
integrating qualitative research methods with quantitative, scientific
techniques of analysis such as paleopathology, morphometry, wear
analysis, and experimental archaeology. It investigates early warfare
and violence from the standpoint of four broad interdisciplinary themes:
skeletal markers of violence and weapon training; conflict in
prehistoric rock-art; the material culture of conflict; and intergroup
violence in archaeological discourse. The book has a wide-ranging
chronological and geographic scope, from early Neolithic to late Iron
Age and from Western Europe to East Asia. It includes world-renowned
sites and artefact collections such as the Tollense Valley Bronze Age
battlefield (Germany), the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Tanum (Sweden),
and the British Museum collection of bronze weaponry from the late Shang
period (China). Original case studies are presented in each section by a
diverse international authorship.
The study of warfare and violence in prehistoric and pre-literate
societies has been at the forefront of archaeological debate since the
publication of Keeley's provocative monograph 'War Before Civilization'
(Oxford 1996). The problem has been approached from a number of
standpoints including anthropological and behavioural studies of
interpersonal violence, osteological examinations of sharp lesions and
blunt-force traumas, wear analysis of ancient weaponry, and field
experiments with replica weapons and armour. This research, however, is
often confined within the boundaries of the various disciplines and
specialist fields. In particular, a gap can often be detected between
the research approaches grounded in the humanities and social sciences
and those based on the archaeological sciences. The consequence is that,
to this day, the subject is dominated by a number of undemonstrated
assumptions regarding the nature of warfare, combat, and violence in
non-literate societies. Moreover, important methodological questions
remain unanswered: can we securely distinguish between violence-related
and accidental trauma on skeletal remains? To what extent can wear
analysis shed light on long-forgotten fighting styles? Can we design
meaningful combat tests based on historic martial arts? And can the
study of rock-art unlock the social realities of prehistoric warfare? By
breaking the mould of entrenched subject boundaries, this edited volume
promotes interdisciplinary debate in the study of prehistoric warfare
and violence by presenting a number of innovative approaches that
integrate qualitative and quantitative methods of research and
analysis.
