Date:

Did warfare spark the development of civilisations?

Ancient warfare around 400-500 BC and during the first century AD may have been responsible in part, for shaping how civilisations developed in the Titicaca basin, Peru.

Charles Stanish, director of UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, and Abigail Levine, a UCLA graduate student in anthropology, used archaeological evidence from the basin, home to a number of thriving and complex early societies during the first millennium B.C., to trace the evolution of two larger, dominant states in the region: Taraco, along the Ramis River, and Pukara, in the grassland pampas.

- Advertisement -

“This study is part of a larger, worldwide comparative research effort to define the factors that gave rise to the first societies that developed public buildings, widespread religions and regional political systems — or basically characteristics associated with ancient states or what is colloquially known as ‘civilization,'” said Stanish, who is also a professor of anthropology at UCLA. “War, regional trade and specialized labor are the three factors that keep coming up as predecessors to civilization.”

The findings appear online in the latest edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Conducted between 2004 and 2006, the authors’ excavations in Taraco unearthed signs of a massive fire that raged sometime during the first century A.D., reducing much of the state to ash and architectural rubble. The authors compared artifacts dating from before and after the fire and concluded that agriculture, pottery and the obsidian industry, all of which had flourished in the state, greatly declined after the fire.

Based on the range and extent of the destruction and the lack of evidence supporting reconstruction efforts, the authors suggest that the fire was a result of war, not of an accident or a ritual.

- Advertisement -

Iconographic evidence of conflict in regional stone-work, textiles and pottery suggests that the destruction of Taraco had been preceded by several centuries of raids. This includes depictions of trophy heads and people dressed in feline pelts cutting off heads, among other evidence.

Because the downfall of Taraco, which was home to roughly 5,000 people, coincided with the rise of neighboring Pukara as a dominant political force in the region, the authors suggest that warfare between the states may have led to the raids, shaping the early political landscape of the northern Titicaca basin.

Inhabited between 500 B.C. and 200 A.D., Pukara was the first regional population center in the Andes highlands. During its peak, it covered more than 2 square kilometer and housed approximately 10,000 residents, including bureaucrats, priests, artisans, farmers, herders and possibly warriors.

The civilization’s ruins include impressive monolithic sculptures with a variety of geometric, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images, plus intricate, multi-colored pottery in a variety of ritual and domestic forms.

War appears to have played a similar civilizing role in Mesoamerica, as well as Mesopotamia, Stanish said. To further test his theories on the origins of civilization, Stanish will begin a new project next year at a Neolithic site in Armenia.

UCLA is California’s largest university, with an enrollment of more than 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university’s 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer 328 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Six alumni and five faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

UCLA

Header Image Credit : Germarquezm

- Advertisement -

Stay Updated: Follow us on iOS, Android, Google News, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, and our newsletter

spot_img
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan is a multi-award-winning journalist and the Managing Editor at HeritageDaily. His background is in archaeology and computer science, having written over 8,000 articles across several online publications. Mark is a member of the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW), the World Federation of Science Journalists, and in 2023 was the recipient of the British Citizen Award for Education, the BCA Medal of Honour, and the UK Prime Minister's Points of Light Award.
spot_img
spot_img

Mobile Application

spot_img

Related Articles

Secrets to crafting the Nebra Sky Disc revealed

Using a blend of forensic material analysis with experimental archaeology, researchers have successfully reconstructed the techniques and processes behind crafting the Nebra Sky Disc.

Royal tomb unearthed in Gordion could belong to King Midas’ family

Archaeologists from the Gordion Project have uncovered a Phrygian royal tomb, potentially belonging to a member of King Midas' Family from the 8th century BC.

Bronze Age tombs reveal wealth from ancient trade

The discovery of three Bronze Age tombs at Dromolaxia-Vyzakia has shed light on ancient trade routes connecting Cyprus with the Aegean, Anatolia, Egypt, and the Near East.

Dolphin mosaic discovery is part of an expansive Roman villa complex

Archaeologists from OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH and the University of Salzburg have uncovered an expansive Roman villa complex on Reinberg hill in Thalheim bei Wels, Austria.

Over 100 prehistoric structures found in Spanish cave

Archaeologists from the University of Alicante and the University of Zaragoza have discovered over 100 prehistoric structures within the Cova Dones cave system in Valencia, Span.

Viking-era treasure hoard among several significant discoveries in Täby

Several significant Viking-era discoveries have been made in Täby, Sweden, where archaeologists from Arkeologerna have uncovered a large silver hoard alongside the remains of an extensive farming settlement.

Lost monuments of the “people of the cloud forest” unearthed at Gran Pajatén

The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has announced the discovery of more than 100 previously undocumented structures at Gran Pajatén, located within Peru’s Río Abiseo National Park.

Experts explain the cultural origin of the mysterious deformed skull

Construction workers in San Fernando, Argentina, recently uncovered a mysterious skull with an unusual, deformed morphology.