Warfare in Prehistoric Britain

Warfare in Prehistoric Britain
Author: Julian Heath
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2009-05-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 144561992X

Download Warfare in Prehistoric Britain Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Warfare in Prehistoric Britain explores the dark shadow of war which has hung over humanity for centuries

Warfare, Violence and Slavery in Prehistory

Warfare, Violence and Slavery in Prehistory
Author: Michael Parker Pearson
Publisher: British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN:

Download Warfare, Violence and Slavery in Prehistory Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Proceedings of a Prehistoric Society conference at Sheffield University

Prehistoric Warfare and Violence

Prehistoric Warfare and Violence
Author: Andrea Dolfini
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2018-07-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319788280

Download Prehistoric Warfare and Violence Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

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.

Warfare in Bronze Age Society

Warfare in Bronze Age Society
Author: Christian Horn
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2018-04-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1316949222

Download Warfare in Bronze Age Society Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Warfare in Bronze Age Society takes a fresh look at warfare and its role in reshaping Bronze Age society. The Bronze Age represents the global emergence of a militarized society with a martial culture, materialized in a package of new efficient weapons that remained in use for millennia to come. Warfare became institutionalized and professionalized during the Bronze Age, and a new class of warriors made their appearance. Evidence for this development is reflected in the ostentatious display of weapons in burials and hoards, and in iconography, from rock art to palace frescoes. These new manifestations of martial culture constructed the warrior as a 'Hero' and warfare as 'Heroic'. The case studies, written by an international team of scholars, discuss these and other new aspects of Bronze Age warfare. Moreover, the essays show that warriors also facilitated mobility and innovation as new weapons would have quickly spread from the Mediterranean to northern Europe.

War Before Civilization

War Before Civilization
Author: Lawrence H. Keeley
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1997-12-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0199880700

Download War Before Civilization Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

The myth of the peace-loving "noble savage" is persistent and pernicious. Indeed, for the last fifty years, most popular and scholarly works have agreed that prehistoric warfare was rare, harmless, unimportant, and, like smallpox, a disease of civilized societies alone. Prehistoric warfare, according to this view, was little more than a ritualized game, where casualties were limited and the effects of aggression relatively mild. Lawrence Keeley's groundbreaking War Before Civilization offers a devastating rebuttal to such comfortable myths and debunks the notion that warfare was introduced to primitive societies through contact with civilization (an idea he denounces as "the pacification of the past"). Building on much fascinating archeological and historical research and offering an astute comparison of warfare in civilized and prehistoric societies, from modern European states to the Plains Indians of North America, War Before Civilization convincingly demonstrates that prehistoric warfare was in fact more deadly, more frequent, and more ruthless than modern war. To support this point, Keeley provides a wide-ranging look at warfare and brutality in the prehistoric world. He reveals, for instance, that prehistorical tactics favoring raids and ambushes, as opposed to formal battles, often yielded a high death-rate; that adult males falling into the hands of their enemies were almost universally killed; and that surprise raids seldom spared even women and children. Keeley cites evidence of ancient massacres in many areas of the world, including the discovery in South Dakota of a prehistoric mass grave containing the remains of over 500 scalped and mutilated men, women, and children (a slaughter that took place a century and a half before the arrival of Columbus). In addition, Keeley surveys the prevalence of looting, destruction, and trophy-taking in all kinds of warfare and again finds little moral distinction between ancient warriors and civilized armies. Finally, and perhaps most controversially, he examines the evidence of cannibalism among some preliterate peoples. Keeley is a seasoned writer and his book is packed with vivid, eye-opening details (for instance, that the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times). But he also goes beyond grisly facts to address the larger moral and philosophical issues raised by his work. What are the causes of war? Are human beings inherently violent? How can we ensure peace in our own time? Challenging some of our most dearly held beliefs, Keeley's conclusions are bound to stir controversy.

Ancient Warfare

Ancient Warfare
Author: John Carman
Publisher: The History Press
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2009-11-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 0752495216

Download Ancient Warfare Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This ambitious and innovative book sets out to establish a new understanding of human aggression and conflict in the distant past. Examining the evidence of warfare in prehistoric times and in the early historical period, John Carman and Anthony Harding throw fresh light on the motives and methods of the combatants. This study marks a significant new step in this fascinating and neglected subject, and sets the agenda for many years to come. By integrating archaeological and documentary research, the contributors seek to explain why some sides gained and others lost in battle and examine the impact of warfare on the social and political developments of early chiefdoms and states. Their conclusions suggest a new interpretation of the evolution of warfare from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, through the military practice of the Ancient Greeks and the Romans, to the conflicts of the Anglo-Saxons and of medieval Europe.

Prehistoric Britain

Prehistoric Britain
Author: Robert Munro
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2020-09-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1465613765

Download Prehistoric Britain Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

As the word "prehistoric" has no limitation in the past history of the country, it logically follows that a treatise on "Prehistoric Britain" would have an equally wide range; but by a judicious discretion we limit the scope of this book to the period during which man was an inhabitant of Western Europe, prior to the invention of written records. But the Britain of that early period differed widely from the Britain of to-day both in climate and geographical area, and to some extent in its flora and fauna. Consequently our first duty is to describe with as much precision as modern researches will admit of, but very briefly, the physical conditions which obtained in prehistoric Britain when it comes within the above-defined scope of the present work. From this standpoint we have practically to discuss the entire field of the development of human civilization, as disclosed by the remains of Palæolithic and Neolithic races, both of which, have left traces of their existence within the British area. On the other hand, the pre-history of our island, outside the limitation imposed on it by the appearance of man on the scene, goes back to the dawn of life on the globe; and it is largely to the modifications effected under the influence of cosmic agencies during this infinitely longer period that the country became a suitable habitat for Homo sapiens. A few preliminary words on this aspect of the subject will not, therefore, be considered out of place, as thereby the true starting-point of our main thesis will be brought into clearer relief. As we cannot endorse the opinion long held as a dogma in theological cosmogonies, that the multitudinous phenomena of the material world—the distribution of land and water, the evolution of plants and animals, the recurrence of seasons, etc.—were specially designed to minister to the welfare of man- kind, we are bound to account for them on some other hypothesis. On this point all we affirm is that they were the outcome of the fixed laws which then governed, and still govern, the universe. Evidence in support of this conclusion is not far to seek. In the Geological and Palæontological records we have ample details of the successive changes the earth has undergone since it cooled down sufficiently to admit of organic life on its surface.

The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland

The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland
Author: Richard Bradley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 29
Release: 2007-03-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1139462016

Download The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Sited at the furthest limits of the Neolithic revolution and standing at the confluence of the two great sea routes of prehistory, Britain and Ireland are distinct from continental Europe for much of the prehistoric sequence. In this landmark 2007 study - the first significant survey of the archaeology of Britain and Ireland for twenty years - Richard Bradley offers an interpretation of the unique archaeological record of these islands based on a wealth of current and largely unpublished data. Bradley surveys the entire archaeological sequence over a 4,000 year period, from the adoption of agriculture in the Neolithic period to the discovery of Britain and Ireland by travellers from the Mediterranean during the later pre-Roman Iron Age. Significantly, this is the first modern account to treat Britain and Ireland on equal terms, offering a detailed interpretation of the prehistory of both islands.

The Origins of War

The Origins of War
Author: Jean Guilaine
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2008-04-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0470775394

Download The Origins of War Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Stretching across continents and centuries, The Origins of War: Violence in Prehistory provides a fascinating examination of executions, torture, ritual sacrifices, and other acts of violence committed in the prehistoric world. Written as an accessible guide to the nature of life in prehistory and to the underpinnings of human violence. Combines symbolic interpretations of archaeological remains with a medical understanding of violent acts. Written by an eminent prehistorian and a respected medical doctor.

Food and Farming in Prehistoric Britain

Food and Farming in Prehistoric Britain
Author: Paul Elliott
Publisher: Fonthill Media
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2017-03-13
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Download Food and Farming in Prehistoric Britain Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

From spit roasting pig to hanging cream cheese from the rafters, from baking roast pork under the ground in pits to cooking trout on wicker frames over an open fire, cooking techniques in prehistoric Britain are ingenious and revealing. There were no ovens and many vegetables and breeds of animal familiar to us today had not yet arrived. In reconstructing some of these techniques and recipes, the author has discovered a different world, with a completely different approach to food. This is native cuisine, cooked in a manner that persisted through the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. This book first tells the story of prehistoric settlement, and moves on to explore the hunting and foraging techniques of the Mesolithic. After discussing the way in which the Britons farmed, and what they grew, the book moves into the roundhouse and the tools and utensils available. The final half of the book examines the varied techniques used, from covering fish in clay, to baking meat underground, spit roasting, brewing mead, boiling water with hot stones and so on. All the techniques have been carried out by the author.