Pages: 317-332

The article’s aim is to present and discuss the foundations of a new approach to the evaluation of bellicosity in prehistoric societies. The practice of warfare — sometimes vaguely interpreted as primitive — encompasses a vast spectrum of diversified factors, which can be roughly categorized into ecological, economic and socio-cultural. Their coincidence often triggers violent social behaviour, and this peculiar association occurs independently from local conditions. In other words, the underlying causes of warfare are universal and therefore represent a solid foundation for the model analysis and interpretation of bellicosity of prehistoric communities in general. Perspectives of its application are discussed using the example of selected final Neolithic, Corded Ware Culture communities from south-eastern Poland. Their ideology, reflected in archaeological material i. e. by weapons buried next to the deceased, was founded on the affirmation of physical prowess and aggressive masculinity. Such conditions were optimal for the emergence and further development of new collective identities, and warriorhood was undoubtedly among them. This cross-disciplinary approach to the causes of warfare goes beyond the archaeological frame, as it forms a basis for the integration of data derived from anthropological and social sciences, in which environmental, economic settlement and other conditions might be thoroughly studied in a broader context.

Keywords: South-Eastern Poland, final Neolithic, Corded Ware Culture, migrations, mobility, warriors, violence, evaluation of bellicosity

Information about authors:

Rafał Skrzyniecki (Poznań, Poland). PhD. Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Department of Archaeology. Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego St., 7, Poznań, 61-614, Poland.
E-mail: [email protected]
Mateusz Cwaliński (Poznań, Poland). Master of Archaeology. Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Department of Archaeology. Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego St., 7, Poznań, 61-614, Poland.
E-mail: [email protected]
Weronika Skrzyniecka (Poznań, Poland). Master of Archaeology. Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Department of Archaeology. Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego St., 7, Poznań, 61-614, Poland.
E-mail: [email protected]