Evidence Of War Research Articles

Evidence of War on the Settlements of a Scythian Era in the Middle Don Region

Introduction. Two groups of people, differing in social status and material culture, occupied the middle part of the Don basin, representing the eastern edge of the Forest-Steppe Scythia, in the 6th – 3rd centuries BC. One is known from the few barrow necropolises, the materials of which characterize the nomadic and highly militarized way of life of the people buried there. The other one united sedentary farmers and cattle breeders, whose hillforts and not-strengthened settlements show evidence of predominantly peaceful occupations. Methods and materials. The article systematizes data to give an idea of the role of war in the lives of the main part of the population of the Don Forest Steppe. On 22 household monuments, only 77 objects of offensive arms (mainly arrowheads) and even fewer details of the equipment of the soldier rider are found. In the settlements of cemetery funeral complexes, the finds of weapons are single. Particular attention is deserved by the traces of fire recorded in defensive shafts in 25 hillforts. Analysis. Judging from the archaeological context, only some of the settlement finds were related to military clashes. Some things were part of the cult complexes. Fires, which led to the destruction and subsequent radical strengthening of fortifications, clearly occurred due to a few but catastrophic conflicts. Results. Clashes in the settlements of the Don Forest Steppe occurred episodically throughout the era and were obviously associated with periods of instability in Scythia. However, the sedentary population of the region was only to a small extent involved in the conflict processes of the past.

The Earliest Evidence for Warfare?

The recent report by Carbonell et al. (2010) on cultural cannibalism as a paleoeconomic system at 800,000 years ago raises the question of whether this cannibalism is evidence of raiding and warfare. The conclusions reached by the authors strongly suggest that it is. “In conclusion, about 1 million years ago, the hominids [Homo antecessor] of level TD6 [of Gran Dolina, Burgos, Spain] added cannibalism to their set of survival strategies as a way of competing with other human groups for available resources” (Carbonell et al. 2010:548). The authors contend that “this type of cannibalism would have reaped a double benefit. On the one hand it served a dietary purpose, while on the other it would have proved useful in defending the group’s territory from other human groups” (Carbonell et al. 2010:547–548). The authors inferred “group cohesion” as necessary for the “survival of the group” (Carbonell et al. 2010:545). A minimum of 11 individuals of different ages were found, eight of them under the age of 14 years. The bones were processed in the same manner as faunal remains. Photographs show incisions related to defleshing of the corpses. The picture presented is that of hunter-gatherers raiding each others’ camp sites over a long period of time, although the term “raid” is not used in the report. The purpose of the raids was to obtain human flesh. The victims of such an attack might have been captured and taken to the butchering site and there killed, or killed and transported back to the site. The preponderance of children among the victims suggests attacks upon settlements, attacks that occurred when the males were hunting or the adults fled and were not able to take their children with them. If adult males had been in the majority in the fossil finds, this would suggest the ambushing of a lone hunter. The article is silent as to what weapons might have been used. I speculate that clubs were used, and possibly stabbing spears and even throwing spears. Since lithic tools were used in butchering, it is possible that flakes were embedded in the clubs and the ends of spears. The hunting bands may have consisted of related males, what I have called “fraternal interest groups” (Otterbein 2004:60–62). I prefer a broad, general definition of war: “armed combat between political communities” (Otterbein 2009:117). Although the authors present no direct evidence of separate hunter-gatherer bands that acted as polities, the term “group cohesion” suggests they viewed the bands in this fashion. They also speak of a band as “defending the group’s territory.” If the attacked group defended its camp site or territory with weapons, my definition of war is met. Although the hominids that fought each other are classified as Homo antecessor, the authors are clear that what they call a “new species” is the “last common ancestor between the African lineage that gave rise to our species, H. sapiens, and the lineage leading to the European Neanderthals” (Carbonell et al. 2010:543); hence, the above definition of war is applicable. The question of whether cultural cannibalism is the earliest evidence for warfare is, thus, answered in the affirmative. The above conclusion has caused me to reconsider what I have said elsewhere about cannibalism destroying the evidence for war. “If those eaten were war captives or individuals killed in ambushes, the evidence for war no longer exists—the evidence of war has been destroyed by the crushing of long bones and skulls” (Otterbein 2004:77). But in Spain, the evidence from long, long ago appears to have survived. Assuming that the analysis of Carbonell et al. (2010) is correct, and my further rendition is warranted, I believe we can conclude that the earliest known evidence for warfare has been found. I further believe that we must now consider the possibility that the origin of war lies in cannibalism, a conjecture that must go back to the earliest speculations about war’s origin.

Invisible Children: Rough Cut

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 18 No. 1 (2008) ISSN: 1546-2250 Media Review Invisible Children: Rough Cut. George Awuor University of Colorado Citation: Awuor, George. (2008). "Media ReviewInvisible Children: Rough Cut.." Children, Youth and Environments 18 (1). Laren Poole and Jason Russell (2006). Invisible Children: Rough Cut. Invisible Children and People Like You Productions. English (1 hour) Invisible Children is a documentary based on the lives of children affected by the conflict in Northern Uganda. Bobby Bailey, Jason Russell and Laren Poole, three young Americans from California, originally went to Africa in 2003 to witness the devastating civil war in Southern Sudan. This civil war between the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) of the secular South and the predominantly Muslim and Arab Sudanese government in Khartoum was fought from 1983 to 2005 and is estimated to have claimed more than 2 million lives and displaced millions of people. When the three Americans reached their destination in Sudan, they found a desolate environment. There was evidence of war but the population had fled to neighboring countries, includingUganda, where many had relocated to refugee camps. The Americans decided to follow the Sudanese refugees to Northern Uganda. There they discovered another conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government that has lasted more than 17 years. This war is unknown to most of the international world but has resulted in thousands of deaths, and the displacement and abduction of thousands of children and their families. Much of the misery and death from conflicts in Africa such as this one are due to issues of sharing resources and power. 532 The Acholi people who reside in Northern Uganda resent the neglect they experience from the Ugandan government. Led by a self-styled “prophet,” Alice Lakwena, some Acholis formed the LRA and initiated a war with the government in 1986. After her death, the notorious Joseph Kony took over, but with less support from the local Acholi community. In order to build the LRA’s ranks, he resorted to terrorizing the local community and abducting children between the ages of 5 and 12 from schools and villages. Invisible Children: Rough Cut features a few of the boys who managed to escape from the rebels. The boys recount how child abductees were beaten, forced to beat and kill civilians, and abduct other children. The images of young children in combat are a disturbing reminder of the experiences of the “lost boys” of Sudan who were abducted by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) during its rebel movement. According to a 2003 Human Rights report, children in the LRA are given weapons training and are forced to fight against the Ugandan government army. The film portrays this harsh reality, as well as that of girls who are abducted and forced to become domestic servants for commanders or are taken as “wives.” They are exposed to sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Afraid of abduction, large numbers of children lie together on the verandas at night throughout the city of Gulu. Cameras follow six boys as they prepare for a night in a corridor at the basement of Lacor hospital. The boys begin by mopping up water that has leaked into the corridor, and then work on their homework with a dim light from a tin lamp before they lay down on thin mats on the cold concrete floor for another “safe” night. In the film, an American aid worker, a Ugandan member of parliament, a local historian and two local journalists articulate the plight of the desperate Acholi children. They all passionately plead with the Ugandan government and the world community to come to the rescue of the children. Traces of trauma show up in the drawings and the aggressive games the children play. Amidst the fear, pain, hunger and sadness, the children try to make the best of their lives. The resilience exhibited by the children is well- 533 documented in the film. They attend school, play soccer in the open fields and remind the world that they are innocent children with the same instincts and needs as other children elsewhere. I encourage everyone to see Invisible Children: Rough...