Download or read book Warfare in Prehistoric Britain written by Julian Heath and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2009-05-15 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Warfare in Prehistoric Britain explores the dark shadow of war which has hung over humanity for centuries

Download or read book Warfare Violence and Slavery in Prehistory written by Michael Parker Pearson and published by British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited. This book was released on 2005 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Proceedings of a Prehistoric Society conference at Sheffield University

Download or read book Prehistoric Warfare and Violence written by Andrea Dolfini and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-20 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Prehistoric Britain written by Robert Munro and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 2020-09-28 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book War Before Civilization written by Lawrence H. Keeley and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1997-12-18 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Warfare in Bronze Age Society written by Christian Horn and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-26 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book An American Uprising in Second World War England written by Kate Werran and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2020-07-19 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The shocking story of a WWII shootout between black and white GIs in a quiet Cornish town that put the British-US “special relationship” on trial. On September 26, 1943, racial tensions between American soldiers stationed in Cornwall erupted in gunfire. Labelled a ‘wild west’ mutiny by the tabloids, it became front page news in Great Britain and the USA. For Americans, it bolstered a fast-accelerating civil rights movement, while in the UK, it exposed unsettling truths about Anglo-American relations. With new archival research, journalist Kate Werran pieces together the shocking drama that authorities tried to hush up. Her narrative examines everything from the controversy of American segregation on British soil to the shocking event itself and the resulting court martial. Extracted from wartime cabinet documents, secret government surveys, opinion polls, diaries, letters and newspapers as well as testimony from those who remember it, this story offers a rare window into a little-known dark side of the ‘American Invasion.’

Download or read book Ancient Warfare written by John Carman and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2009-11-16 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Warfare in Neolithic Europe written by Julian Maxwell Heath and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2017-07-31 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Neolithic ('New Stone Age') marks the time when the prehistoric communities of Europe turned their backs on the hunter-gatherer lifestyle that they had followed for many thousands of years, and instead, became farmers. The significance of this switch from a lifestyle that had been based on the hunting and gathering of wild food resources, to one that involved the growing of crops and raising livestock, cannot be underestimated. Although it was a complex process that varied from place to place, there can be little doubt that it was during the Neolithic that the foundations for the incredibly complex modern societies in which we live today were laid. However, we would be wrong to think that the first farming communities of Europe were in tune with nature and each other, as there is a considerable (and growing) body of archaeological data that is indicative of episodes of warfare between these communities. This evidence should not be taken as proof that warfare was endemic across Neolithic Europe, but it does strongly suggest that it was more common than some scholars have proposed.Furthermore, the words of the seventeenth-century English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, who famously described prehistoric life as 'nasty, brutish, and short', seem rather apt in light of some of the archaeological discoveries from the European Neolithic.

Download or read book Food and Farming in Prehistoric Britain written by Paul Elliott and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2017-03-13 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book The Cambridge World History of Violence Volume 1 The Prehistoric and Ancient Worlds written by Garrett G. Fagan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first in a four-volume set, The Cambridge World History of Violence, Volume 1 provides a comprehensive examination of violence in prehistory and the ancient world. Covering the Palaeolithic through to the end of classical antiquity, the chapters take a global perspective spanning sub-Saharan Africa, the Near East, Europe, India, China, Japan and Central America. Unlike many previous works, this book does not focus only on warfare but examines violence as a broader phenomenon. The historical approach complements, and in some cases critiques, previous research on the anthropology and psychology of violence in the human story. Written by a team of contributors who are experts in each of their respective fields, Volume 1 will be of particular interest to anyone fascinated by archaeology and the ancient world.

Download or read book Creating Prehistory written by Adam Stout and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-04-22 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Creating Prehistory deals even-handedly and sympatheticallywith the creation of several different sorts of prehistory duringthe volatile period between the two World Wars. Investigates the origins of professional archaeology in Britainduring the inter-war period Brings to life many fascinating and controversial personalitiesand their creeds, including the archaeologists O. G. S. Crawford,Mortimer Wheeler and Gordon Childe; Grafton Elliot Smith and W. H.R. Rivers (of ‘Regeneration’ fame); Alfred Watkins andThe Old Straight Track; and the thunderous George Watson MacgregorReid, who brought the Druids back to Stonehenge Examines the production of archaeological knowledge as a socialprocess, and the relationship between personalities, institutions,ideology, and power Addresses the ongoing debates of the significance of sites suchas Stonehenge, Avebury, and Maiden Castle

Download or read book Warfare in Northern Europe Before the Romans written by Julie Rosemary Wileman and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-03-31 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the developments in the defences, weaponry and armour of the northern 'barbarians' from the earliest traces of stone age aggression to the sophisticated warfare of the tribes who met the Romans in battle. It uses evidence from monuments such as the great hillforts of the Bronze and Iron Ages, including Maiden Castle in Dorset and Alesia in France, as well as the amazing archaeological finds seen in museums and collections across northern Europe. Period by period, the ways in which the peoples of Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scandinavia developed defensive and offensive strategies are brought together for those interested in both military history and in the development of our societies and countryside. Evidence from many countries is used to shed light on the centuries before written records _ and to redress the balance of our understanding which has often been too heavily influenced by Roman propaganda!??As featured in Essence Magazine.

Download or read book Bronze Age Warfare written by Richard Osgood and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2011-11-08 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bronze Age, so named because of the technological advances in metalworking and countless innovations in the manufacture and design of tools and weapons, is among the most fascinating periods in human history. Archaeology has taught us much about the way of life, habits and homes of Bronze Age people, but as yet little has been written about warfare. What was Bronze Age warfare like? How did people fight and against whom? What weapons were used? Did they fortify their settlements, and, if so, were these intended as defensive or offensive structures? in response to these and many other questions, Bronze Age Warfare offers and intriguing insight into warfare and society, life and death in Europe 4000 years ago. It describes the surviving evidence of conflict - fortifications, weapons and body protection, burials, human remains and pictorial evidence - and seeks to understand the role played by aggression in the prehistoric world.

Download or read book Britain Begins written by Barry Cunliffe and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the origins of the British and the Irish peoples, from the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000BC to the eve of the Norman Conquest - who they were, where they came from, and how they related to one another.

Download or read book Bronze Age Warfare written by International Workshop on Warfare in Bronze Age Europe and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume presents the outcome of two meetings: the international workshop on Warfare in Bronze Age Europe: manufacture and use of weaponry, an interdisciplinary research on technology and utilisation of archaeological finds, held in Vienna ... from the 30th October to 1st November 2009 and the session New approaches on studying weaponry of the European bronze age held at the 15th annual meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) in Riva del Garda, Italy, on the 17th September 2009"--Pref.

Download or read book The Origins of War written by Jean Guilaine and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.