Lawrence Keeley’s overarching point of view is that primitive civilizations, despite previous opinion, were extremely violent and often engaged in warfare. The common philosophy is that the hunter-gathers were peaceful, nomadic people who didn’t turn violent until the beginning of agriculture. Instead, Keeley proves that there was no such thing as the “peaceful people” and that overall number of deaths due to violence has actually decreased since the hunter-gatherer days.
In civilized warfare, Keeley writes that “the motives or goals were economic and political- for example plunder, more territory, or hegemony” and Turney-High characterized these as “rational and practical”. They went to war to gain something that they believed to be valuable …show more content…
Even for the societies that did not engage in war, war is universal. In fact, research on warfare established that while a few societies did not engage in war, “the overwhelming majority of known societies (90 to 95 percent) have been involved in this activity” (Keeley 26). Three different studies and surveys were performed to determine the percentages of war engaging societies in that area. In one survey, only five societies out of fifty were known to engage in war, but those five were still violent within the individual society and had high homicide rates. The second survey showed that twelve out of nighty societies rarely engaged in warfare, and the primary reason for that was because they were under a forced ‘king’s peace” banning them from engaging in warfare. Finally, the third survey found that 21 groups out of 157 were recorded as rarely raiding other groups, however 14 of those 21 groups had raided before, once every few years instead of more than once a year. This leaves 7 truly peaceful societies that did not participate in raiding. The most common belief of why these overall ten to fifteen percent of groups did not participate in warfare is that they were too isolated. The most peaceful groups were “living in areas with extremely low population densities, isolated by distance and hard country from other groups” (Keeley 26). For the ‘peaceful societies’ that not engage in warfare with other societies, there was found to be a very high homicide rate within each society itself. One society in particular, the Kung San of the Kalahari Desert are viewed as extremely peaceful, but had a homicide rate four times higher than the United States during 1920-1955. Keeley writes that “armed conflict between social units dos not necessarily disappear at the lowest levels on social integration; often it is just terminologically disguised as feuding or homicide” (Keeley
In civilized warfare, Keeley writes that “the motives or goals were economic and political- for example plunder, more territory, or hegemony” and Turney-High characterized these as “rational and practical”. They went to war to gain something that they believed to be valuable …show more content…
Even for the societies that did not engage in war, war is universal. In fact, research on warfare established that while a few societies did not engage in war, “the overwhelming majority of known societies (90 to 95 percent) have been involved in this activity” (Keeley 26). Three different studies and surveys were performed to determine the percentages of war engaging societies in that area. In one survey, only five societies out of fifty were known to engage in war, but those five were still violent within the individual society and had high homicide rates. The second survey showed that twelve out of nighty societies rarely engaged in warfare, and the primary reason for that was because they were under a forced ‘king’s peace” banning them from engaging in warfare. Finally, the third survey found that 21 groups out of 157 were recorded as rarely raiding other groups, however 14 of those 21 groups had raided before, once every few years instead of more than once a year. This leaves 7 truly peaceful societies that did not participate in raiding. The most common belief of why these overall ten to fifteen percent of groups did not participate in warfare is that they were too isolated. The most peaceful groups were “living in areas with extremely low population densities, isolated by distance and hard country from other groups” (Keeley 26). For the ‘peaceful societies’ that not engage in warfare with other societies, there was found to be a very high homicide rate within each society itself. One society in particular, the Kung San of the Kalahari Desert are viewed as extremely peaceful, but had a homicide rate four times higher than the United States during 1920-1955. Keeley writes that “armed conflict between social units dos not necessarily disappear at the lowest levels on social integration; often it is just terminologically disguised as feuding or homicide” (Keeley