Trends in interpersonal violence have been reconstructed using data on violence-related injuries from more than 3,500 excavated skeletons from the ancient Middle East. Documenting variations in the patterns of violence in this key historical setting broadens perspectives on the long history of conflict.
References
Pinker, S. The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (Penguin Books, 2011). An influential book on the decline of violence over time.
Steckel, R. H., Larsen, C., Roberts, C. & Baten, J. (eds) The Backbone of Europe: Health, Diet, Work, and Violence over Two Millennia (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2018). This book reports violence trends in the past two millennia in Europe.
Sołtysiak, A. Antemortem cranial trauma in ancient Mesopotamia. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. 27, 119–128 (2015). This article reviews violence trends in ancient Mesopotamia.
Martin, D. L. & Harrod, R. P. Bioarchaeological contributions to the study of violence. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 156, 116–145 (2015). A review of the contribution of bioarchaeology to the study of violence in historical perspective.
North, D. C., Wallis, J. J. & Weingast, B. R. Violence and Social Orders. A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009). An influential book on the link between violence and political evolution in history.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Baten, J. et al. Violence trends in the ancient Middle East between 12000 and 400 bce. Nat. Hum. Behav. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01700-y (2023)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bioarchaeological data reveal cycles of violence in the ancient Middle East. Nat Hum Behav 7, 2060–2061 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01701-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01701-x
- Springer Nature Limited