Lethal aggression in mobile forager bands and implications for the origins of war

It has been argued that warfare evolved as a component of early human behavior within foraging band societies. We investigated lethal aggression in a sample of 21 mobile forager band societies (MFBS) derived systematically from the standard cross-cultural sample. We hypothesized, on the basis of mob...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 341; no. 6143; p. 270
Main Authors: Fry, Douglas P, Söderberg, Patrik
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 19.07.2013
Subjects:
Aggression - psychology
Agriculture - history
Animal Husbandry - history
Anthropology
Female
History, 19th Century
Homicide - ethnology
Homicide - history
Homicide - psychology
Humans
Male
Motivation
Warfare
ISSN:1095-9203, 1095-9203
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:It has been argued that warfare evolved as a component of early human behavior within foraging band societies. We investigated lethal aggression in a sample of 21 mobile forager band societies (MFBS) derived systematically from the standard cross-cultural sample. We hypothesized, on the basis of mobile forager ethnography, that most lethal events would stem from personal disputes rather than coalitionary aggression against other groups (war). More than half of the lethal aggression events were perpetrated by lone individuals, and almost two-thirds resulted from accidents, interfamilial disputes, within-group executions, or interpersonal motives such as competition over a particular woman. Overall, the findings suggest that most incidents of lethal aggression among MFBS may be classified as homicides, a few others as feuds, and a minority as war.
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ISSN:1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1235675