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The Causes and Origins of "Primitive Warfare": On Evolved Motivations for War
... Between rival families competing for mates, the field studies also revealed strong conflicts that can be fatal (26)(27)(28)(29). Sexual jealousy is considered one of the main causes of homicide worldwide (27,(30)(31)(32). In particular, in Yanomamo society, kin and in-laws cooperate in raids that are motivated by sexual jealousy (22,27). ...
How does social complexity depend on population size and cultural transmission? Kinship structures in traditional societies provide a fundamental illustration, where cultural rules between clans determine people’s marriage possibilities. Here, we propose a simple model of kinship interactions that considers kin and in-law cooperation and sexual rivalry. In this model, multiple societies compete. Societies consist of multiple families with different cultural traits and mating preferences. These values determine interactions and hence the growth rate of families and are transmitted to offspring with mutations. Through a multilevel evolutionary simulation, family traits and preferences are grouped into multiple clans with interclan mating preferences. It illustrates the emergence of kinship structures as the spontaneous formation of interdependent cultural associations. Emergent kinship structures are characterized by the cycle length of marriage exchange and the number of cycles in society. We numerically and analytically clarify their parameter dependence. The relative importance of cooperation versus rivalry determines whether attraction or repulsion exists between families. Different structures evolve as locally stable attractors. The probabilities of formation and collapse of complex structures depend on the number of families and the mutation rate, showing characteristic scaling relationships. It is now possible to explore macroscopic kinship structures based on microscopic interactions, together with their environmental dependence and the historical causality of their evolution. We propose the basic causal mechanism of the formation of typical human social structures by referring to ethnographic observations and concepts from statistical physics and multilevel evolution. Such interdisciplinary collaboration will unveil universal features in human societies.
... Between rival families competing for mates, the field studies also revealed strong conflicts that can be fatal (26)(27)(28)(29). Sexual jealousy is considered one of the main causes of homicide worldwide (27,(30)(31)(32). In particular, in Yanomamo society, kin and in-laws cooperate in raids that are motivated by sexual jealousy (22,27). ...
How does social complexity depend on population size and cultural transmission? Kinship structures in traditional societies provide a fundamental illustration, where cultural rules between clans determine people's marriage possibilities. Here we propose a simple model of kinship interactions that considers kin and in-law cooperation and sexual rivalry. In this model, multiple societies compete. Societies consist of multiple families with different cultural traits and mating preferences. These values determine interactions and hence the growth rate of families and are transmitted to offspring with mutations. Through a multilevel evolutionary simulation, family traits and preferences are grouped into multiple clans with inter-clan mating preferences. It illustrates the emergence of kinship structures as the spontaneous formation of interdependent cultural associations. Emergent kinship structures are characterized by the cycle length of marriage exchange and the number of cycles in society. We numerically and analytically clarify their parameter dependence. The relative importance of cooperation versus rivalry determines whether attraction or repulsion exists between families. Different structures evolve as locally stable attractors. The probabilities of formation and collapse of complex structures depend on the number of families and the mutation rate, showing characteristic scaling relationships. It is now possible to explore macroscopic kinship structures based on microscopic interactions, together with their environmental dependence and the historical causality of their evolution. We propose the basic causal mechanism of the formation of typical human social structures by referring to ethnographic observations and concepts from statistical physics and multilevel evolution. Such interdisciplinary collaboration will unveil universal features in human societies.
Sexual violence has likely been a feature of warfare throughout human history and may even have been present during prehistoric conflicts. In recent decades, international policymakers have improved efforts to prohibit and prosecute wartime sexual violence, including holding criminal tribunals for suspected perpetrators of wartime rape. Social scientists have offered a range of potential explanations for wartime rape and have attempted to bring the data on wartime rape under a single, unified theory. Many such theories have identified sociocultural factors such as patriarchal values, hostile attitudes toward women, or hatred toward specific ethnic groups as potential causes of wartime rape. We review the competing sociocultural theories of wartime rape citing evidence from evolutionary psychology, biology, and anthropology. We highlight strengths of the biosocial theory, which consider the influence of both social and biological factors on wartime rape, and enjoy strong theory-data fit. Specifically, we emphasize the ability of the biosocial theory to not only explain the existence of wartime rape as a near-universal phenomenon, but also its ability to explain variation in rates of wartime rape across armed conflicts.
The study of conflict, warfare, and their impact on settlement patterns in the Northern Frontier of Mesoamerica during the Late Classic (500–900 CE) is hindered by colonial notions of warfare and fragmented archaeological records. This article proposes a new geospatial analytical framework to investigate conflict in ancient West Mexico. We present the results of our UAV-based aerial survey at Cerro de en medio, Aguascalientes, and using a GIS approach, this study investigates the relationship between defensiveness and conflict as a range from sporadic raids carried by small bands to Inter-polity/Interregional warfare. We found visual control was not an essential concern during this period and based on the site’s hiddenness and capacity to sustain small-scale conflict, we argue that Cerro de en medio was a refuge rather than a fortress. Thus, the evidence of sporadic or seasonal conflict in the region challenges previous interpretations and calls for renewed investigations.
The following study used a multidisciplinary method to reconstruct aspects of the diet, culture and lifestyle of the deceased of site 117. Archaeological, geological, technological, palaeopathological, palaeonutritional and palaeodemographical analyses were used to determine the environment in which the deceased of site 117 lived and their adaptations to this environment.
Essential (i.e. necessary to sustain life) and non-essential cultural aspects were theorized based on the resulting observations in an effort to understand the circumstances of life and death for this population. Ethnographical comparisons were also used to support several of the theories put forth. In addition to their role in forming these theories, the palaeopathological, palaeonutritional and palaeodemographical analyses were used to determine the effects of the environment and the aforementioned cultural adaptations on the nutrition, morbidity and mortality of the population. Together, these observations were used in an effort to reconstruct the settlement pattern, subsistence methods, burial traditions and possible causes for interpersonal violence evident at this cemetery.
This study and reinterpretation of the available evidence suggests that the deceased of site 117 belonged to a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer-fisher group. The majority, if not all, of the population interred at the site were fatally injured during battle or a massacre. There is no evidence to support the hypothesis that there was a depletion of resources leading to competition between tribes. Instead, the violence was likely a result of personal disagreements or other matters of control or honour. While it has been suggested that all deaths occurred during the same massacre this study suggests that this cemetery was revisited and reused. This cemetery also shows evidence of several possible traditions or rituals which have also been interpreted in an effort to understand the ideology of the population.
The results of this cross-cultural study suggest that war may be caused mostly by a fear of nature and a partially resultant fear of others. A history of unpredictable natural disasters strongly predicts more war, as does socialization for mistrust (but less strongly). It seems that people, particularly in nonstate societies, may try to protect themselves against future disasters by going to war to take resources from enemies.
This article argues that reported wars among Native peoples of Amazonia are not representative of pre-Columbian warfare. The well-known cases that are the bases for our conceptions of Amazonian warfare, as well as dozens of less prominent instances of war, can be attributed largely to circumstances created by the European intrusion. The broader implication is that anthropological theory and teaching about war are distorted by an unexamined premise that reported cases of war among nonstate or tribal peoples are self-generated phenomena. [warfare, Amazonia, Western contact, anthropology and history, the Columbian encounter]
We present cross-cultural data on the existence of a pervasive institutional and ideological complex of male supremacy in band and village sociocultural systems, and we identify warfare as the most important cause of this complex. We explain the perpetuation of warfare in band and village society and its interaction with selective female infanticide as a response to the need to regulate population growth in the absence of effective or less costly alternatives. Our hypothesis is supported by a demographic analysis of 561 local band and village populations from 112 societies.
Blood revenge is one of the most commonly cited causes of violence and warfare in tribal societies, yet it is largely ignored
in recent anthropological theories of primitive warfare. A theory of tribal violence is presented showing how homicide, revenge,
kinship obligations, and warfare are linked and why reproductive variables must be included in explanations of tribal violence
and warfare. Studies of the Yanomamö Indians of Amazonas during the past 23 years show that 44 percent of males estimated
to be 25 or older have participated in the killing of someone, that approximately 30 percent of adult male dealths are due
to violence, and that nearly 70 percent of all adults over an estimated 40 years of age have lost a close genetic relative
due to violence. Demographic data indicate that men who have killed have more wives and offspring than men who have not killed.
Sexual selection theory suggests that willingness to participate in risky or violent competitive interactions should be observed primarily in those age-sex classes that have experienced the most intense reproductive competition (fitness variance) during the species' evolutionary history, and in those individuals whose present circumstances are predictive of reproductive failure.Homicidal conflicts in the city of Detroit in 1972 are reviewed in the light of the above perspective. Homicide in Detroit, as elsewhere, is overwhelming a male affair. Victim and offender populations are almost identical, with unemployed, unmarried, young men greatly overrepresented. The most common conflict typologies are described, and it is suggested that many, perhaps most, homicides concern status competition.Other manifestations of “taste for risk,” such as daredevilry and gambling are briefly reviewed. The evidence suggests that such a taste is primarily a masculine attribute, and is socially facilitated by the presence of peers in pursuit of the same goals.Such dangerous, competitive acts as the classic “trivial altercation” homicide often appear foolhardy to observers. However, it remains unknown whether the typical consequences of such acts are ultimately beneficial or detrimental to the perpetrators' interests.