VIOLENCE & CONFLICT in the STONE AGE | A Prehistory Guys Special

Not so long go that it was assumed that the advent of farming and a settled lifestyle in prehistory brought with it peace, co-operation and an idyllic, Arcadian way of life. Only when copper, bronze and iron came along, new weaponry ruined that idyll and the attainment of power through violence released the darker side in us humans. However, studies in recent years and and a new paper tell a very different story. The farming life could actually be a pretty brutal one, it seems.
The Prehistory Guys investigate.
ORIGINAL PAPER 'Conflict, violence, and warfare among early farmers in Northwestern Europe' at PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...
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[@josephkania642]

I read of an account written by an early Australian colonist about a particular Aboriginal man he befriended. The man had several different types of arrowheads, some for killing animals but a wide variety of types for using on humans. Some were made to maim and not necessarily to kill while others had little pits in them that held dirt or gravel and were meant to cause a slow death via infection. Maybe an examination of these different Australian arrowhead types would shine light on these European ones.

[@JHaven-lg7lj]

That would be really interesting

[@TheInvoice123]

Aussie Aboriginies used mainly wood/bone tip spears

[@Zane-It]

​@@TheInvoice123and I bet you many Euro tribes such as the ballaric Islanders didn't have stone spear or arrowheads either.

[@mattosborne2935]

Competition over land, resources, and especially women account for most of the violence in prehistory, just like history. Our pacifistic image of the distant past is a modern projection, the famous "noble savage" of Rousseau. A Hobbesian theory of state formation turns out to be correct, that humans have developed the state to manage (not eliminate, but manage) violence. Defensive wall construction is key evidence of this, I argue. Maybe you could examine Los Millares some time? Europe has well-studied prehistoric fortifications and they are fascinating.

[@kathyjohnson2043]

There are reasons why going to the effort to dig a pit. For example, leaving rotting bodies around would have encouraged large scavengers and predators.

[@BlueBaron3339]

Hence that marvelous British euphemistic phrase for violent death, "getting knocked on the head." Excellent video!

[@cork..]

"Stuff went on in the past" should be the name of your next feature-length movie or series

[@speakupriseup4549]

The advent of farming isn't the gentle nirvana everyone thinks it is, I've personally been pecked, butted, trodden on, kicked, bitten and nearly gored plenty of times, I'm just thankful my neighbours aren't spear and club wielding maniacs.

[@jenniferharrison4319]

🤣

[@sislater6334]

Farming only spread via violence

[@TheInvoice123]

Mine are

[@alexandrasmith4393]

Why do people think that ancient man was any different from us?

[@feralbluee]

it’s us who are like them. we haven’t changed much, have we? just think of neighborhood boy gangs and adult Mafia gangs. why were knight combats, Roman coliseum battles, boxing, wresting, and judo matches developed but to channel and regulate aggression, or, for that matter, athletic team events?

[@jonhart8801]

its becasue theres actually very little evidence for warfare. theres a lot of evidence for local fighting/disputes no much evidence for largescale battles, a key difference between stone age and modern humans. the evidence suggests peaceful trade, even with other homonid species.

[@frankwiersema]

lovely piece as always! One detail: the "battle axes" from the mentioned Battle Axe Culture were not used for violence on humans. In a recent experimental study, Karsten Wenkink found from use wear analysis on these axes (that were found as grave goods) that these were used for chopping tree roots, which is an important step in making land ready for agriculture. So the term "battle axe culture" is a bit outdated ;)

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Thank you for that! Much appreciated. M.

[@greenjack1959l]

Those stone battleaxes would be pretty useless as tools. The edge geometry does not lend itself to cutting wood.A simple flaked axe would have cut far better. Plus there's the fact that weapons tend to be embellished or decorated or of a fine quality, such as a polished axe. Nobody really decorates their tools.

[@irenerodriguez6593]

O

[@ianbruce6515]

​@@greenjack1959l You have a point on the embellishments. However, flaked tools would degrade almost immediately chopping roots. In tests on felling trees (less tough and gritty than roots)--ground and polished axes fared much better. The speed at which a flaked axe could be made, compared to the 40-70hrs of hard labor needed to produce a ground and polished axe, would indicate that the ground axes were far more useful--otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered

[@sallyreno6296]

@@greenjack1959l But you are speculating. Experimental anthropology says otherwise. Though better for stump pulling than root chopping per se. Btw, folks decorate their tools like crazy. Depends on the tool and the folks.

[@mortalclown3812]

Ancient road rage. But nothing as posh as your accents describing these horrors. Delightful channel.

[@roxiepoe9586]

As a reasonably well educated, somewhat cultured woman, I often find myself held back from violence only by the realities of retaliation. I am not at all surprised that these folks have such injuries.

[@alastairbrewster4274]

Blimey

[@SandraNelson063]

I have found myself firmly gripping my cane, remembering my mad Swedish Viking DNA, eyeing up a man yelling at a woman. Staring the man in the eye, I firmly let the woman know that I'm willing to help. Would she like help? I could call the police if she liked. Hungrily staring at the man, who by this point has realized that the limping, old lady is a mad Swedish Viking just looking for the chance to use blunt force trauma on his ass. As bullies do, the guys would shrink, get quiet, let the ladies do the talking. Alright, we're fine, thank you. The ladies choose to save the bullies' lives. I sigh, limp off. Unfulfilled.

[@sarahgilbert8036]

Yes, some people are only alive and/or unharmed, because their miserability isn't worth my being punished.

[@alastairbrewster4274]

@@sarahgilbert8036 you sound fun

[@myruffleddreams1906]

Yes ,that meme “ I’ve already killed you 3 times in my head” comes to mind.

[@sawahtb]

Who dug the "pit" that these bodies were found in? It's a lot of work unless you're planning on staying. They weren't trying to cover up a crime.

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Good point. Though in at least one example, it is assumed that the 'grave' was dug by survivors or returning members of the community. M.

[@kimberlywalker_]

Remember in WW2. You know who made people dig their own graves then killed them. Humans come up with wild stuff. Ya never know.

[@sawahtb]

@@ThePrehistoryGuys I'm trying to guess why they would dig the pit, which is lots of work, then toss the bodies in with no ceremony or dignity. Kimberly thinks the attackers made them them dig the pit, which I would concede makes some sense except .. why? Are they hiding the crime? Did they intend to stay and didn't want the exposed bodies? It's just another mystery.

[@jenniferharrison4319]

Yes, if it was just a raid then why bother burying the dead.

[@user-yj8mh1uk8r]

Maybe in cases where there was already a pit there the victors chucked the bodies in, and thus they were preserved. Maybe when there was no handy hole the bodies were just left, and so were lost to archaeology. So perhaps this slaughter happened more often than the archaeology shows. The age range of the bodies found might suggest that sometimes the slaughtered were the unwanted captures of a slave raid. Wealth in the past sometimes included "two-footed cattle" as well as "four-footed cattle", maybe.

[@harryr52]

A lot can be learned from historical accounts of conflict amongst peoples with similar technologies etc. in colonial era, and pre civil war America, and even more recently in the Highlands of New Guinea. What would also be interesting would be a survey of the proportion of trauma injuries dating from the Mezolithic through into historical eras up until say the late middle ages. For example what percentage of remains from the Roman occupation or the early Angl-Saxon period have trauma injuries as an indicators of warfare or interpersonal conflict.

[@rialobran]

Dan Davies an author of mostly Bronze Age fiction has pondered whether the 'battle axe' culture is the birthplace of the god Thor, with his hammer. I'd not heard of those two Neolithic battle sites, I must read up on them.

[@carolynjaussi709]

Please remember, also, that large animal handlers still incur severe trauma on a regular basis. A large horned head turning suddenly, even without intent, can simply take you down.

[@feralbluee]

i love listening to you guys. such a great way to learn and think about anthropology and sociology. because we are like our forefathers and mothers. we haven’t changed much, have we? just think of neighborhood boy gangs and adult Mafia gangs. why were knight combats, duels, Roman coliseum battles, boxing, wrestling, and judo matches developed, but to channel and regulate aggression, or, for that matter, athletic team events, and many olympic events which started out as contests of log throwing, knife throwing, archery, races, etc. we know that heads were used for ball games by the Aztecs - was that part of regulation of aggression, too? (i’m not even going to get into religious battles!). so much to think about.

[@Mrcool12684]

I would love to see a DNA result of these mass killings and see the family relations. I feel that the people that came in were killing for turf or something like that? maybe a warrior tribe community? Like wolf packs of the IE people? maybe the dates dont match but its super interesting. Love your channel guys!

[@MichaelMikeTheRussianBot]

Or retaliation? Person from Group A kills someone from Group B, in such a way that it violates the normal expectations of the time. When they get the chance, Group B kills everybody they can get hold of, in revenge?

[@napalmholocaust9093]

I had a job with meat. Breaking down whole pigs by the thousands. After a few months of it, you don't hit the bones when separating joints, you flex it back and open it up, fold it even and put pressure where you cut. The most evidence would be where the bones always interlock like the spine or a ball socket. Where you have to poke first.

[@mkrmkr3805]

And now Birdlip is a popular dogging site too. Oh how oye ancestors would have laughed.

[@sawahtb]

Cattle raiding doesn't seem to require killing the children, but maybe they stole to older children for slaves and didn't want the more helpless ones.

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

No - you're right. I don't think cattle raiding involved wholesale slaughter at all. We tried to separate out the 'massacre' site stuff from the later indications of violence among the elites in long barrows and the like. The is a whole discussion to be had about the motives for the mass killing sites. There is a lot of underlying detail we didn't have time to go into. M.

[@ilari90]

Also, sometimes there might be other reasons than wealth for some battles, for example just personal gripes that have something to do with honor or sancticity of a place which leads to a feud, plenty of those in Iceland for example. For Rupert: broader arrows are for hunting, they make a big wound so that the animal bleeds out faster, and doesn't go that deep. In warfare you want more slender pointy thing that goes deep in, and possibly through some leather and wool pieces you are carrying over your delicate skin.

[@kimmcroberts5111]

Thank you for your work!

[@lenabreijer1311]

One thing to remember, agriculture is a dangerous occupation. Modern day about 50% of child deaths occur on farms. It was hard physical labour with sharp tools and large animals and large heavy burdens. Forestry, mining was similar.

[@RSLtreecare]

Very good, always fascinating.

[@sallyreno6296]

I love y'all. Thank you.

[@SandraNelson063]

Blunt Force Trauma should be the name of a Metal group. It's an awful thought that it's how people died. Because it's up close and personal, full of hate. Someone hated babies enough to violently end them. This is what we come from.

[@jenniferharrison4319]

The grave in Germany didn’t include women or adolescent boys, only men and children. Sounds like the women and boys were taken maybe as slaves, the children would have been a burden. Maybe they were killed because the raiders wanted the women to produce their own children. Either way, not a good outcome.

[@sarahgilbert8036]

Many still do - look at the 72+ mass killings in the US 2023 Jan 1 to Feb 17!

[@sallyreno6296]

Not only is it where we come from, it is where we are.

[@ernststravoblofeld]

Seems to me, that mass burials are more likely to be found than individual burials, which could be easily missed or plowed up over time. And if mass burials are more likely to be the result of violence, it would skew our perception of the prevalence of violence.

[@killgazmotron]

Its hard to miss large bones. This sounds mostly like wishful thinking.

[@ernststravoblofeld]

@@killgazmotron A large bone in a mass burial draws attention. A one-off large bone might be a sheep. Less likely to be reported, studied, cataloged...

[@killgazmotron]

@@ernststravoblofeld yes but too assume this would be of some huge enough degree to offset the findings of violent mass graves and other such hugely violent incidents in humanities past, to enough of a degree to make them significantly obscure rare events by comparison, is, to me, seamingly a huge stretch of logic for the sake of some ideal of inherent "goodness" in our species that "somehow got corrupted". Specially when nature itself is so brutal and violent. And especially when you consider these mass scenes of violence take place in a time where the comparative population what EXTREMELY tiny in comparison to today. A mass grave today is peanuts compared to a mass grave thousands and thousands of years ago. We got people a dime a dozen, they did not.

[@michaellewis7959]

Thanks!

[@michaellewis7959]

Hello from America, love the show. Best on KZbin in my opinion!

[@dougniergarth236]

Some of those massacres were on the timeline and area of the Yamnaya expansion were they not?

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

The Yamnaya were much later than the examples here. The massacre sites belong with the end of the Linearbankeramik culture time period - 5,000-4,500 BCE. M.

[@doncook2054]

hell beings have always been here.

[@sleepingsealproductions]

Besides the issues of who were buried and who weren’t, another issue with these rates is that they are based on bones from a long period of time over sometimes relatively large geographical areas and several thousand years. In the LBK, they know there was more violence toward the end of the LBK than in the beginning, but these rates will not reflect that. I also think they gloss over the problem of whether some of the cranial trauma was intentional versus accidental. David Lawrence reports very high rates of cranial damage at the Tomb of the Eagles and attributes almost all of it to violence, but these were people who lived near high cliffs, were known to scale those cliffs in search of bird eggs, and who were engaging in monument building with large stones. Many of the skulls found there also showed cranial deformities and it is possible that those buried in the tomb were “special” and did not reflect the population. Also Lawrence argues that there must have been violence because there were huge walls around the Ness of Brodgar, but they are now pretty sure the walls were not defensive because they do not actually extend completely around the complex. In Colin Richard’s excavations around the Bay of Firth in Orkney, he does not record any walls or palisades around the settlements from the same time period. So, we need to be careful. Maybe there was less violence than indicated by the rates and maybe there was actually more. It is not something we will likely ever know.

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Yes - the Tomb of the Eagles data is fascinating on so many levels. We realise we've only had time to lift the edge of the carpet on this topic and thanks for the input. M.

[@grahamharris4941]

Thanks

[@napalmholocaust9093]

A smooth point is gonna go farther and drop less. I carry a range in my quiver from 25 yards to 75. Its all based in the tip, the wicked "Toxic" brand ones drop like rocks. A smooth point or a hidden blade mechanical reach-out. "Normal" points are intermediate. Makes sense for the most dangerous game. Staying back a bit.

[@alexandrasmith4393]

That is so interesting. I’ve only recently started to notice any of this.

[@olivemd]

Interesting as always.

[@ianbruce6515]

The narrower leaf blades arrowheads may have been intended to pierce some sort of primitive armour--matting, boiled leather or wicker. Hunting arrows may have had difficulty penetrating. Such armour would have left little or no trace.

[@aimeemorgado8715]

Bravo

[@petermccarthy9108]

The Māori had 1000 years of extreme violence after they colonised New Zealand, an island with no land animals, only birds and insects. They were not raiding cattle, but presumably very short of meat. Any study of prehistoric violence should include the Māori.

[@jenniferharrison4319]

There are some who say the Maori massacred the original inhabitants of New Zealand. Bit of a controversial subject l believe

[@TheInvoice123]

Chasing Moa?

[@user-ru3ql6ji4p]

The leaf shaped arrow heads would make removing the arrow heads much easier. Perhaps they had rules analogous to the Geneva Convention.

[@Foundry_made]

What differentiates a tool from a weapon? Necessity of use.

[@charlessmarr7107]

I wonder if the introduction of agriculture brought on or coincided with any detected ecological instability.

[@tonymitchell5649]

Fascinating stuff as ever. I wonder, is it possible the remains found were not representative of the population in general? Might they have been an elite, and a greater proportion of warriors, for example? And how many were female?

[@dalewarke7763]

One easy to understand point when it comes to arrows is simple points would be made quickly and in large numbers. Where finely crafted point would be made to trade with and used when hunting for food where the hunter would want the best points to give them every advantage to score a "one shot, one kill". This idea equates in modern times, the basic ammo for combat and a precision made bullet for a precision sniper rifle.

[@cargilekm]

I would think that the nature of humans to see friends or enemies when dealing with new people. To this day we have a problem with migrants in many places. Population density can create competition for limited resources in an environment. Do we think that we would welcome newcomers or be welcomed as newcomers. The odds of violence in these situations might be easily expected. Humans can be inhuman. Cheers

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Implication is that at the end of the Linearbandkeramik period, they had been so successful that there was increasing competition for land and resources among people of the same culture. M.

[@taylorlibby7642]

Farming is still a hard, dangerous life. I can well imagine that it was only more so in the long long ago.

[@kylefenrick9168]

One of my meditation teachers, talked about a past life she remembers, where there were major conflicts based on two groups, One thought only god/nature should decide where food grows, and the other wanted to organize it and change the natural order.

[@janetmackinnon3411]

Oh good!

[@douginorlando6260]

Not that long ago Papua New Guinea head hunters had special arrow tips for humans … made to be impossible to remove

[@StuArch1]

The geographical spread looks very interesting. Was the attack from inland settled neighjbours who didn''t like this new fangled technology?

[@hectorpascal]

The entire written history of mankind has revealed extreme violence between differing human communities. Why would we expect early humans NOT to follow the same pattern? There was never any "Golden Age".

[@doncook2054]

Yes, but there have been "less dangerous ones". There is no such thing as a "Golden Age".

[@petrairene]

Exactly. The most recent hunter-gatherers in Papua New Guinea had extremely violent tribal conflicts. North and South American native tribes were constantly fighting each other. So why should early farmers not have done it.

[@doncook2054]

@@petrairene because apples and oranges never add up to evidence?

[@petrairene]

@@doncook2054 Early farmers and pastoralist5s had even more reason to fight with neighbors. After all, robbing your stationary neighbor who depends on possessing land and livestock is much easier and more profitable than attacking a roaming tribe with relatively little wealth. If anything, early farmers and pastoralists were even more involved in warfare than the hunter-gatherers.

[@doncook2054]

@@petrairene again; now v there....what happens today cannot be what happened thousands of years ago...and "much easier' is a projection that we cannot, in all good conscience, employ.

[@doncook2054]

Perhaps it came with there introduction of top-down societal "governing" ... that's usually when massacres and warfare become the norm.

[@conniead5206]

Were the earlier finds around the time the Yamnaya headed into what is now Europe? I gather that the male chromosomes of farmers disappeared wherever the Yamnaya went. They seem to have kept a fair number of the local females since their mitochondria did not disappear. “Stuff” has likely always been going on to varying degrees. I don’t think our species is very peaceful.

[@wayne00k]

Dennis Dennett has offered a very good bio-psychological argument for human propensity for believe in god(s)/myths. As we aren't all that far removed from these individuals' histories, I wonder how prevalent death-cult or other superstitious thinking was and might this be a reason for so many back-of-skull instances? As mentioned here, this is a very efficient method of dispatching another.

[@maggiemaloney8599]

Could these early massacres have to do with agricultural people's moving into and taking the land from Hunter gatherers? Also, unrelated to this subject, there was a term used in early North American European settlements for the "Hunter grazier", meaning those who engaged in hunting wild game and grazing cattle as a form of subsistence, as opposed to farming and harvesting. So it seems that this pre-agricultural practice continued into the 17th and 18th centuries of the new world.

[@n.d.m.515]

There would be evidence of farming at the same time as the massacre if that was the case. The sedentary evidence was not at the sight, or known from that time period at that place.

[@user-ck3uu8rj3x]

Personally, i think that every creature has a 'maximum 'stocking density ' , after which aggression and violence are likely to erupt with little warning. I believe humans have a stocking density of about 200 people.

[@andrewswanlund]

Seems likely there were different levels of moral development living in close proximity, with some groups developing higher stages of moral reasoning and experiencing more social cooperation and higher material outcomes, but that attracting anyone passing that was hungry and saw what was accumulated as theirs for the taking.

[@pigspigs76]

I am getting an audio hum that is really noticeable when the white hair guy has his microphone active .. may want to ensure you don’t have other electronics overlapping signals

[@pixiepianoplayer114]

Finally, some stats Ireland didn't show up in. Of course...we tend to slash and send to the bog , for whatever reason. Just style I suppose. Humans love a good bashing, I'm not shocked. Saddened, but not shocked. Which is my default mood anymore of late...😔

[@sallyreno6296]

Have you done or will you do Tollense?

[@Yestradamus-]

I wonder what solar / volcanic / earthquake events happened at that time? Hungry people are desperate people.

[@alexandrasmith4393]

Haven’t agricultural tools always been used for war? Thinking of cultures like Japan and China forbidding all but a small section of society to bear sword.

[@Zane-It]

Swords where only 7in to 14in in the neolithic period the size of a large knife by today's standards.

[@chrisball3778]

Surprised they didn't mention Herxheim- another site in Germany from around the end of the LBK culture. If you look it up, be warned, it's the stuff of nightmares. Hundreds of people seem to have been brought there, sometimes from many miles away, to be killed (possibly in some kind of human sacrifice) and then eaten. Something very, very bad was happening in Germany 7000 years ago. On a slightly less dark note, it's possible that some of the other interred victims of violence may not be representative of their societies as a whole. As many are thought to be 'elites' it's worth remembering that in many societies elite status is tied to warrior status, so they tend to die in battle at higher rates than the general population. This can also lead to higher rates of violent death for their families, as someone who seizes power over a group or place violently may want to 'remove' all rival claimants to that power. It might also be possible that people who'd been killed in battles or raids were held in some special kind of reverence, much as we give war dead special status today. They might therefore have been more likely to have been interred in or near the kind of monuments and ritual sites that tend to attract the attention of archaeologists. All of which is a long-winded way of saying that we should consider that there may be some form of 'survivorship bias' at play, and the very high rates of violent death in the bodies we've found from the Neolithic don't necessarily reflect the overall level of violence in the societies they lived in.

[@philiprowney]

The simpler arrows are more likely to fail via splintering and that means they can't be fired back if they hit something hard. You'd hide in rocks if someone was shooting at you! Watch Todd's workshop to learn more and widen your knowledge base ;-)

[@krono5el]

Why did i know exactly where all this violence took place before they even stated the amount of skulls.

[@larrybesel9423]

Your beard is incredible. It softens yet masculinizes your presentation!

[@sawahtb]

Me again. So, not Iron Age, but, what did the American Army do with the Indian bodies when they massacred villages in the case of the Cheyenne and Arapaho for example. I've no real idea about the eventual outcome but they were horrible I'm sure. We've all probably heard of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. Civilians were hired to bury the dead. 3000 years from now, the future archeologists will find these mass graves and go "what the hell happened". I don't know if there's any markers but they'd probably be eroded anyway. My point being, humans are not good at being able to live together if they're are too many differences and territorial expansion.

[@n.d.m.515]

You should read what many of the Indians did to themselves. Recently a professor studied the history of ancient California with archeology. He found bone evidence of horrible massacres and burned villiages during a 1000 year period.

[@sawahtb]

@@n.d.m.515 Aztecs, say no more

[@oddevents8395]

takes more resources to tend to wounded than dead

[@alexandrasmith4393]

Clubs, like maces, don’t change much across the world. Thinking of Maori and other cultures across the South Seas.

[@michaelleblanc7283]

Think of all the violent deaths not reorded over time beause of others ways of exhibiting extreme prejudice by garrotting, flint slashings etc.

[@louisbaldwin7097]

A few points. Maybe the tombs were for people who died violent deaths. The random arrowheads in tombs suggest the bodies were not excarnated before the internment in tombs as the arrowheads were still in the fleshy parts of the body. Barbed and tang arrowheads are beaker, not Neo. Hazelton North's conclusions are vague, does not prove he had the wives all at once. and if he did would four wives cause such upheaval?? Now if he had twenty maybe, also women have always been taken as slaves throughout history through warfare and raiding not because someone had four wives. Many causeways seem to be attacked across the west country around 3300bc perhaps representing a period of stress and change.

[@m.pearce3273]

Look at the Windover culture 8k years ago in Southern Florida the cated for sick people and no war 8 thousand years ago

[@robertmiller9735]

A non-barbed arrow would be easier and quicker to pull out and reuse, which might be a factor when fighting people.

[@tedkrasicki3857]

Is it possible that Fred and Barney got to fighting because one was behaving badly due to Ergot or Rabies?

[@808bigisland]

With the decline of intellectual ability and the breeding habit of the new agrarian humanoids vs the hunter/gatherer homo sapiens sapiens and depletion of natural resources because of increased population densities...puts a great question mark on todays society where we stack surplus humanoids in large cities... The interpersonel conflicts dominate the herd...largely living outside civilisation...or progress. Beeing aware...I choose to live far away in the Pacific...and watched the onslaught from a heightened position. The worldwide decline of IQ make this world less safe for us homo sapiens sapiens cogens...the real humans. Something needs to be done to stop the ever dumber beasts of burden.

[@colgategilbert8067]

Re Polygamy in less technically advanced cultures, among many of the North American Indigenous Peoples there very often were more women than men due to dangerous nature of the male role, including in many of their agricultural societies.

[@philipcallicoat3147]

The skull on the thumbnail has to have belonged to Goliath..Sez so in the Holy Bible 😂... According to the story of little David's encounter with the giant heathen,says that the old aphorism: "the outcome of the battle wasn't about the size of the combatants, it's about the size of the fight in the combatants... The kid named David kept his eyes on The Lord, not regarding any danger to him,he told the hulking giant exactly what was about to happen to him.... Because, Our Heavenly Father is the strength we all must have within ourselves.... ✝️🕊️🙏☝️

[@TheWonderwy]

🙏💕❤👍😊

[@francislankester805]

Are the burials a cross section of the whole of society given that many people probably did not get a burial?

[@parrotraiser6541]

Polygamy and cattle raiding sound an awful lot like the behaviour of some African societies (e.g. Masai) almost up to the present, The economic and social forces are much the same.

[@jimprah3872]

Your average of the average of the deaths is not the percent of all deaths but the average of the the percent from various places. You should have used the sum of all deaths by violence from all sites divided by the total number of deaths to get the average of violent deaths.

[@abisu5273]

Move over Tarantino

[@gerrystevens9041]

we grow grass we grow cows but the lizards grow us..all the past murdered for their pineal glands and red blood.....the farmers of men are green scaley vampires. the Gods...

[@alastairbrewster4274]

Is there any evidence that these were ritualistic killings? If you’re dumped in a pit, I’d guess not but in many cultures sacrifices to the gods were considered the norm.

[@jackwardrop4994]

Can you imagine the fear before these people died?

[@fetus2280]

We cant . We have modern eyes so its impossible to imagine how "they felt" . They may have been religious minded and thought that was Great to them . Like the Celts, someone would Gladly allow the group to sacrifice them for the greater good, with no fear and only warmth and love of whats to come next . As we are an "Enlightened" civilization, we dont see things as simplistic as they did i would imagine . They knew what they knew and thats that . For all we know they were Happy to die ? we will never know . Cheers .

[@lenabreijer1311]

@@fetus2280 yes we can. Just read about the witnesses of the holocaust. Or the death squads in South America. Modern days aren't better.

[@fetus2280]

@@lenabreijer1311 Youre comparing Our Views to those of Thousands of Years ago. That is a fallacy . You cant comprehend Anything from our past whatsoever . We are an Advanced group. We will never know thiie world view, how they "feel" about , well anything and its silly to Pretend we can . All we do is Compare and Asses the Evidence . Considering how Modern religion has this whole "Life after Death" nonsense ... As an advanced group.. Do you think we were Less Religious and Ignorant then? I would argue the Contrary. Everything to Primitive Man was unknown. Even during the height of the Greek Civilization, Rome etc .. Everything was made by and controlled by the Gods . That was Progression . Do you seriously think they were Less religious with even Less Knowledge ?

[@lenabreijer1311]

@@fetus2280 interesting how you read so far between the lines that you tied yourself into knots. I said none of that. I didn't even mention religion.

[@fetus2280]

@@lenabreijer1311 We are discussing a Primitive Group, of which Most on this planet viewed through that lens, Religion. Thats what we what we call it these days, they just called it Life as it was known to them . Thats why i Brought it up . Nor are there "Witnesses" to ANY of these events, which you brought into the subject too, i might add . This is whats called an Argument or a Discussion, of which i bought into account a world view, which has demonstrable Evidence to those world views . Hence im saying We will Never be able to Think or View things as They did . We arent of that mindset now are we? You cant place Modern eyes on Primitive things, not only do you Bias those results or theories but you Inject things we have in modernity, be it Feelings. items or just plain Ignorance to justify a position. Fear is a Feeling, of which we will Never Know if they either Had or Felt as we do now.For Example, We see a group being murdered as a genocide, to them they may have seen it as Survival or "Normal" if you will. You have to remember, they knew Nothing other than Fight Food Fuck and the best way to go about it . Truth of the matter is We Will Never Know and can only Guess, interpret it and Compare adding in a Chronological determination of When . Anything else is just talk . Nobody here is a Mind Reader nor are they Mind readers of the dead.

[@kaoskronostyche9939]

Oh, Duh ... I need to suffer through 29 minutes of talk to find out that Homo sapiens is violent? Really?

[@nukhetyavuz]

neanderthals in europe butchered each other😢

[@BinkyTheElf1]

And we’ll have to keep digging ever backwards to find the idyllic peace-loving Kumbayah matriarchies which some radical women assert were there in the past, before men ruined it all. No matter if archaeology, anthropology, the material record, or all recorded interactions with stone-aged tribes over the past century fail to provide any such evidence of widespread matriarchy. Follow the facts, not the blindered political theorizing.

[@ThePrehistoryGuys]

Must be thinking of those Scythians! No - wait ...

[@Moochiecones]

Pretty bad ringing. My ears 😭😭