Invention of the Spear Created an Era of Peace
Historians often cite war as a major force behind technological innovation. But new technologies also have a way of influencing the history of violent behavior.
According to a new report, the invention and widespread use of the spear sparked a long period of nonviolence between tribes of early humans.
Anthropologist Raymond C. Kelly of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor made this observation after studying archaeological and evolutionary biological evidence to trace the roots of warfare.
Organized violence between groups of the same species is rare among most mammals. But chimpanzees, our closest relatives, are known to attack and kill members of neighboring chimp communities.
Some scientists look at our close genetic relationship to apes and theorize that the same factors that shaped violence among chimps also heavily shaped human behavior.
In a report published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Kelly argues that the violent behavioral paths of chimps and humans diverged about one million years ago.
Development of weapons that could kill from a distance is a key factor separating human evolutionary history from that of chimps, he says.
What's more, long-range weapons likely contributed to the human capacity for developing and maintaining cooperative relations between neighbors.
Eras of War and Peace
Kelly divides the history of lethal violence among humans into three distinct periods.
During the first era, early hominids and chimpanzees both participated in what he terms "coalitionary killing." If a group of hunters from one community spotted a lone individual from a neighboring community, they would stalk and kill the trespasser.
This type of violence occurred almost exclusively between adult males in shared border areas where both groups hunted for food. The killing was not planned in advance, but was seen as a way to establish territorial dominance.
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