When humans first began fighting wars is a matter of debate among anthropologists and historians. The first archeological record of what could be a prehistoric battle is at a Mesolithic site known as Cemetery 117. It was determined to be about 14,340 to 13,140 years old and located on the Nile near the Egypt-Sudan border. It contains a large number of bodies, many with arrowheads embedded in their skeletons, which indicates that they may have been the casualties of a battle. Beginning around 12,000 BC, combat was transformed by the development of bows, maces, and slings. The bow seems to have
When humans first began fighting wars is a matter of debate among anthropologists and historians. The first archeological record of what could be a prehistoric battle is at a Mesolithic site known as Cemetery 117. It was determined to be about 14,340 to 13,140 years old and located on the Nile near the Egypt-Sudan border. It contains a large number of bodies, many with arrowheads embedded in their skeletons, which indicates that they may have been the casualties of a battle. Beginning around 12,000 BC, combat was transformed by the development of bows, maces, and slings. The bow seems to have been the most important weapon in the development of early warfare, in that it enabled attacks to be launched with far less risk to the attacker. While there are no cave paintings of battles between men armed with clubs, the development of the bow is concurrent with the first known depictions of organized warfare consisting of clear illustrations of two or more groups of men attacking each other. These figures are arrayed in lines and columns with a distinctly garbed leader at the front. Image taken from page 235 of "Primitive Man" by Louis Figuier. Revised translation from the French by Edward Burnet Tylor. Illustrated with scenes of primitive life, 1870.
Size: 2925px × 4500px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 14, 117, age, anthropologists, anthropology, archeological, archeology, attack, ax, axe, battle, battlefield, began, bw, caveman, cemetery, club, debate, determined, early, evolution, extinct, fighting, figuier, historians, history, human, humans, legend, louis, man, matter, mesolithic, neanderthal, paleontology, people, prehistoric, prehistory, primitive, record, site, stone, troglodyte, war, warfare, warrior, wars, weapon, wooden
