War as a Paradigmatic Phenomenon: Endemic Violence and the Finnish Subneolithic

Abstract

In Finnish archaeology, the hunter-gatherer Stone Age has generally been viewed as a peaceful period. Here we argue that this view is based on anachronistic understanding of the nature of war. Building on Thomas Kuhn's concept of paradigm as applied to the study of war, we examine the interpretations given to an enigmatic group of Subneolithic (ca. 3500–2000 cal. BC) megastructures located in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Although generally interpreted as being related to sealing or a "symbolic" function, a defensive purpose emerges as a more probable interpretation.