ANTHROPOLOGY OF WAR
ANTHROPOLOGY 353
Spring 2019
Created 12/05/05
Revised 1/1/2019
Class time: Wednesday, 9:00-11:15, Room 827.1 Oldfather Hall
Email: rhames@unl.edu
Office Hours: M&F 8:00-10:00; Tuesday & Thursday. : 3:30-4:00
In this course we survey human warfare from anthropological and evolutionary perspectives. Therefore, we will largely focus on small scale societies (bands and tribes) where we have spent nearly all of our evolutionary history. As a consequence, we will barely cover war in nation states. There are a large number of courses in history and political science that already cover war in historic and contemporary nation states. The major exception to this will come in the form of an analysis of how traditional ethnic social structure affects the conduct of war in some contemporary situations (Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya, & Somalia).
Given this course takes a comparative and evolutionary perspective we will also review the primate literature (especially chimpanzees) and the archaeological record. Therefore, the scope is broad and includes the following topics: the behavioral ecology and evolutionary psychology of aggression, dispute settlement, territoriality, demographic and health impacts of war, the psychology of collective violence, warfare ideology, tactics and organization, game theoretic models of cooperation and aggression, colonial contact and warfare, reconciliation, the adaptive utility of aggression and warfare, and the effects of warfare on social organization, and xenophobia.
Students are expected to come prepared by having read the current week's readings (both text and web), engage in classroom discussion, and attend all class meetings.
Required Texts:
- Raymond Kelly, Warless Societies and the Origin of War
- Mervyn Meggitt, Blood is their Argument (No longer in press from the publisher. Can be ordered from Amazon, (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.AbeBooks, (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.Barnes & Noble, (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.etc.). Use this link for a free copy of Meggitt's Blood is Their Argument. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
- Lawrence Keeley, War before Civilization
Required On-Line Readings:
All hyperlinked articles in the "Readings" column are required. They are in a "pdf" format and can be read on-line or downloaded and printed.
Sixty percent of your grade will be derived from the three mid-term exams (20% each) and 40% will be from a term paper due on 27 April.
Course Schedule
Week |
Week of |
Topic |
Readings |
1 |
Jan 7 |
Introduction to course & discussion of evolutionary approaches to territoriality and violence |
In class film The New Chimpanzees Read:
|
2 |
Jan 14 |
Primate Aggression: coalitionary violence in chimpanzees.
|
In class Film: Dead Birds I
|
3 |
Jan 21 |
Peaceful societies, hunter-gatherers, capital punishment, social substitutability, and "real war" |
In class film Dead Birds II Read:
|
4 |
Jan 28 |
Goals and kinds of Mae Enga warfare |
In class film Dead Birds III
|
5 |
Feb 4 |
|
Guest Lecture: Dr. Phil Geib on Feb 5th: on archaeological context and warfare. Click here (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and read an article on the research he will be presenting.
|
6 |
Feb 11 |
Exam 1: Feb 12 Archaeological and Biological Evidence of Warfare |
Read: In class video Less Violence Today (Steve Pinker) |
7 |
Feb 18 |
The psychology of warfare & female aggression |
Read:
|
8 |
Feb 25 |
|
Read:
|
9 |
Mar 4 |
|
Read:
View: Introduction to The Feast (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. |
10 |
Mar 11 |
History of the Anthropological Study of Warfare Exam 2: 14 March |
Read:
|
11 |
Mar 18 |
Work on your research paper |
|
12 |
Mar 25 |
|
Read:
View:
|
13 |
Apr 2 |
Warfare debates in Amazonia |
In class video "The Ax Fight"
|
14 |
Apr 8 |
War in the Tribal Zone and the Fourth World War |
Term paper proposal due 13 April. |
15 |
Apr 15 |
Conciliation & Peacemaking Optional Term paper rough draftsdue 20 April by midnight |
Read: |
16 |
Apr 22 |
The Fourth World & Warfare and the Evolution of the State. Term paper due midnight, 27 April. |
Keeley Chapter 12; Meggitt Chapters 8-10; |
17 |
Apr 29 Finals Week |
Exam 3: 29 April, from 7:30-9:30 AM |
|
First Segment Review Questions
Second Segment Review Questions
Third Segment Review Questions
Honesty, Term Papers, and Exams
Honesty: I do not wish to impugn anyone's integrity by raising this issue. I will not tolerate cheating on exams or term papers. So, DON'T DO IT! If you cheat and I discover it, then standard University procedures will be executed to deal with the matter. In the event these procedures find a student guilty of cheating, then in addition to whatever penalties the University exacts, the student will receive a failing grade in the course. Please read the student code of conduct for details at http://stuafs.unl.edu/dos/code
Grading Basics
Exams: There will be three exam of 40 multiple-choice questions each. Each exam is counts 20% of your final grade. Make-up exams will only be given to students who have a medical excuse documented by a note from a doctor, or a bereavement (e.g., funeral), official university activity, or some other unavoidable extenuating circumstance (e.g., court date). There are no extra-credit options if you peform poorly. The best remedy for poor performance is to meet with me so we can devise a plan for improvement.
Exam 1: 40 points
Exam 2: 40 points
Exam 3: 40 points
Paper Proposal 10 points
Research paper: 80 points
Total Points: 210
Term Paper:
The term paper is worth 80 points or 40% of your final grade.
Term papers should be at least 3,000 words long, not counting references (or about 10 pages in length without figures or tables), double-spaced, and with one inch margins all around. Each paper should have a minimum of seven references from the scholarly literature on the topic. Scholarly references are those found in academic books and professional journals and are not blogs, news reports on research, or Wikipedia entries (see below "A Note On Sources"). If you have questions about references, please ask. By the way, do not attempt to pad the paper length by including block quotes of more than two lines.
All term paper topics must be cleared with me well in advanced of the due date. Before writing the paper and after you have consulted with me, you will write a 200 word (minimum) paper proposal and it is due on 10 April. You ought to select a topic in which you have a genuine interest. If you so desire you, can submit a complete rough draft by 20 April of your paper. This is an option and not a requrement. If you do choose to submit an early draft, I will give you a preliminary grade and detailed comments on what you can do to improve your paper. I will return your manuscript and my comments to you by 24 April. The final version of the paper is due 27 April.
Your paper should be analytic. That is, you will focus on a specific issue or problem (e.g., marital choice, divorce, inheritance, or parental investment in offspring). At the outset you should review the relevant historic and theoretical approaches to the issue, and then read some of the empirical research.on the topic. In the end, I encourage you to take a position and, if possible suggest future lines of productive research. I encourage you to be aware of what your peers are doing so that you may provide one another with support especially on topics that overlap or when one of you have a particular expertise you can offer a peer.
Guidance Your paper should be analytic. That is, you will focus on a specific issue or problem (e.g., external war among foragers, technology change and warfare, colonial contact and warfare). At the outset you should review the relevant historic and theoretical approaches to the issue, and then read some of the empirical research.on the topic. In the end, I encourage you to take a position and, if possible suggest future lines of productive research. I encourage you to be aware of what your peers are doing so that you may provide one another with support especially on topics that overlap or when one of you have a particular expertise you can offer a peer.for writing a term paper can be found in the following link: term paper link When you arrive at the page, read "How to Write a Research Paper." Then click on "literature review" or "research paper" to learn how to structure your research and writing. Nearly all of you will end up writing a literature review. The directions in both are very useful and general and will serve you well in other courses where research writing is required. Finally, references should be formatted following the American Anthropologist style sheet located here.
Academic Honesty and Term Papers: For your research paper, plagiarism will be dealt with in the same manner as cheating on an exam. Plagiarism is "the submission of another's work as one's own, without adequate attribution." In scholarly work, it is common practice to exetnsively describe other people's research. So long as you properly cite their work - in other words, so long as you make it clear that it is their work and not yours - this is not plagiarism. It is also a common practice to quote other people's writings directly. So long as you enclose their words in quotation marks and properly cite their work - in other words, so long as you make it clear it is their words and not yours - this, too, is not plagiarism. Note, however, that such quotes should normally run to no more than three lines. As mentioned, please do not fill your work with long block quotes. If you do, your grade will suffer.
For those of you who need help in writing a term paper, I would suggest registering at UNL's Writing Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
A Note on Sources: Academic or professional sources have gatekeepers known as editorial boards who review research to ensure it meets accepted standards of accuracy, logic, originality, and recognition of previous scholarship. Many web sites commonly lack such safeguards unless, of course, they are on-line mirrors of hard-copy publications or scholarly organizations. Anyone with web site can set himself or herself up as an authoritative source and "blog-on". If you are unsure about a source, check with me. Google Scholar (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. is an excellent starting place for research. Queries in Google Scholar normally yield primary scholarly research. Frequently, query results point to journals requiring subscription to access. When confronted with this problem use our library's electronic journal finder (or TDNet under E-Resources) at http://iris.unl.edu/ to determine whether we electronically subscribe to the journal. If so, you can download the article you need. Alternatively, if we don't have an electronic subscription check to see if we have a hard copy in the library by using "Catalog".
In addition, we have other on-line resources such as "E-Resources" or "Electronic Database Trials" that may prove helpful. For Anthropology, go to and (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.clickon "Anthropology and Archaeology" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. The best single source is "Anthropological Literature". As far as I know, it is the most comprehensive compendium of anthropological sources in the world. Its search tools are very refined.
Finally, Wikipedia is a wonderful source of information. In fact, I donate to it yearly to keep it going. However, only use it as a starting point to uncover authoritative sources.
Possible Paper Topics
Primate Aggression |
Bride capture and warfare |
Women and warfare |
Feud, revenge, and vendetta |
Primate violence |
Economics, resources, & environment in warfare |
Warfare, conquest and the evolution of states |
Popular culture and images of warfare |
Peace Making and Compensation |
Colonial contact and warfare |
History of anthropological theories of warfare |
Oral history/personal experience in conflict and warfare |
Particular episodes and case studies of conflict/war from an anthropological perspective |
Particular episodes of peace making and conflict resolution from an anthropological perspective |
Prehistoric warfare |
Warfare technology |
Modern ethnic conflicts and wars |
The social organization of warfare |
The psychology of warfare: ethnocentrism & xenophobia |
In-groups & out-group social psychology, & motivation |
Religion and warfare |
Social complexity and warfare |
Restorative justice |
Battlefield archaeology |
Keeping up to Date
Facebook Page on Anthropology in the News (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Anthropology and War in the News
Web Sites and Articles Related to Warfare, Aggression, and Peace
- How Peaceful Was the Past? (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Peter Turchin's Cliodynamics Web Site (2019)
- War over War. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Peter Turchin's Cliodynamics Web Site (2014)
- "On-line Encyclopedia of Mass Violence" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. - a very rich and detail source on civil and other forms of war. Click on "English" in the upper most right side for the English version of this French page.
- Political Violence (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.: a web-site run by political scientists dealing with any kind of political violence. Good articles on ethnic violence with freely available data bases..
- Blog "Violence and Prehistory" (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. This is an excellent cite full of great sources on tribal warfare (some in Portuguese but most in English). Unfortunately, it has not been updated for several years.
- Costs of War (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Brown University) Details the total costs of war from civilian deaths to economics.
- Nonkilling (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.: a web site devoted to "To promote change toward the measurable goal of a killing-free world". Click on "non killing working papers" for scholarly articles
- Site: Peaceful Societies (a web page devoted to descriptions of societies lacking in warfare):http://www.peacefulsocieties.org/index.html# (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
- Site: Small Wars (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., a journal that deals with counterinsurgency, foreign internal defense, support and stability operations, peacemaking, peacekeeping, and many flavors of intervention.
- Site: Journal of Conflict Archaeology (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. As suggested an archaeological journal devoted to warfare in prehistory and history.
- Site: Correlates of War Home Page (international data base on historic and current wars around the world :http://www.correlatesofwar.org/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
- Site: Mathew White's Page on Massacres, Wars, and Genocide (an historical compilation of statistics)
http://necrometrics.com/pre1700a.htm (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. - Site: PRIO (Peace Research Institute Oslo (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. International organization for the study of civil war (statistics, news, & research)
- Site: International Society for Research on Aggression (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (publisher of Aggressive Behavior (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.)
Style Sheet for Term Paper
- Title page with title of paper, author, course, and date
- Body of paper:
-
References in the following format:
In the text of the paper: (Service, 1971)
In reference section:
For a book:
Service, Elman R.
1971 Primitive Social Organization: An Evolutionary Perspective, Second Edition. Random House, NY.
For a journal article:
Service, Elman, R.
1971 Prehistoric Warfare in Eastern North America. Journal of Archaeological Research 5:191-220.
For a chapter in an edited volume:
Service, Elman, R.
1971 An Osteological Perspective on Prehistoric Warfare. In Regional Approaches to Mortuary Analysis , edited by
Lois Beck, pp. 221-244. Plenum, NY.
Web Sites Related to Warfare and Aggression
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War in the News: use this link to check out recent research and news on war
-
Crow Creek Massacre (description of research at an archaeological site where 500 people were killed in South Dakota in 1325) http://www.usd.edu/anth/crow/crow1.html
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Peaceful Societies (a web page devoted to descriptions of societies lacking in warfare: http://www.peacefulsocieties.org/index.html#
-
Chimpanzee Warfare (focus on chimpanzee warfare and violence) : http://johnhawks.net/weblog/reviews/chimpanzees/violence/index.html
-
Correlates of War Home Page (international data base on historic and current wars around the world: http://www.correlatesofwar.org/
-
Mathew White's Page on Massacres, Wars, and Genocide (an historical compilation of statistics)
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat0.htm -
Center for the Study of Civil War International organization for the study of civil war (statistics, news, & research)