War at the Door: Evolutionary Considerations of Warfare and Female Fighters

Bengtson, Jennifer; O'Gorman, Jodie A.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48396-2_3

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…However, we did observe a context effect on aggression, i.e., both sexes exacerbate their direct and indirect aggressive strategies during intergroup conflict, illustrating that they are sensitive to intergroup conflict situations. Furthermore, this finding is consistent with previous evidence of women participating in conflicts (e.g., 20,25,52 ). In this regard, our results suggest that it is probable that both sexes would pursue the acquisition of resources, which is interesting because although the participation of women in conflicts such as war is lesser than men, our results indicate that when women have to confront to another group, they can assume an active role.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…This trend was already evident during the Gulf War (1991)(1992), when women constituted 11% of the allied active-duty personnel, and approximately 4% of those killed in combat were female 25 . These statistics, in addition to archaeological evidence (e.g., 26,27 ), suggest that women participation in intergroup conflicts is a real phenomenon, but that has been dismissed historically 28 . Accordingly, considering the available evidence, it is reasonable to propose that women's motives for actively participating in intergroup conflicts could be oriented to obtain limited resources.…”

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confidence: 93%

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Evidence of the active participation of women in the intergroup conflict based on the use of aggression and cooperation

Muñoz-Reyes,

Torrico-Bazoberry,

Polo

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Intergroup conflict has been a persistent aspect of human societies since the emergence of our species. Various researchers have proposed that competition between groups has acted as a key selective force throughout human evolutionary history. Such intergroup competition for limited resources exacerbated the expression of intergroup aggression and intragroup cooperation. Furthermore, it would have a sexual dimorphism, with men demonstrating increased sensitivity to conflict threats—in order to maximize reproductive opportunities—, while women generally reject from active engagement in intergroup conflict. In the present study, we conducted behavioral experiments under controlled laboratory conditions to measure cooperation and aggression from using virtual games, specifically the Public Good Games and the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm, in a sample of 541 participants. We created control and experimental intergroup competition scenarios, where aggression and cooperation were necessary to increase monetary rewards. Our results shows that men modulate aggression and cooperation in the presence of intergroup conflict. In addition, our data also reveals that women cooperate more than men and display heightened levels of cooperation and aggression when confronted with intergroup conflict. These findings prompt a reevaluation of current functional theoretical models concerning the role of women in intergroup conflict and suggest that the dynamics of human aggression and cooperation may be more nuanced than previously believed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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confidence: 93%

Evidence of the active participation of women in the intergroup conflict based on the use of aggression and cooperation

Muñoz-Reyes,

Torrico-Bazoberry,

Polo

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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“…Children are enculturated to the ideals of warriorhood through games, stories, art, and ritual, which is often disproportionately focused on male children (Nielsen, ; Robarchek, ; Tung, ; Vankilde, ). In some cases, females may also participate in battle, defend the home front through violence (Bengston & O'Gorman, ; Koziol, ), or perpetrate violence against other females in household or other forms of community‐sanctioned violence (Jankowiak, Sudakov, & Wilreker, ; Van Vleet, ). Indeed, in the prehistoric Andes, there are myriad examples of biologically female individuals depicted with battle accoutrements typically reserved for male combatants (see summary in Vogel, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endemic violence in a pre‐Hispanic Andean community: A bioarchaeological study of cranial trauma from the Majes Valley, Peru

Scaffidi

Tung

2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: This study examines violence-related cranial trauma frequencies and wound characteristics in the pre-Hispanic cemetery of Uraca in the lower Majes Valley, Arequipa, Peru, dating to the pre-and early-Wari periods . Cranial wounds are compared between status and sex-based subgroups to understand how violence shaped, and was shaped by, these aspects of identity, and to reconstruct the social contexts of violence carried out by and against Uracans. Materials and Methods: Presence, location, and characteristics (lethality, penetration, and post-traumatic sequelae) of antemortem and perimortem cranial fractures are documented for 145 crania and compared between subgroups. Cranial wounds are mapped in ArcGIS and the locational distribution of injuries is compared between male and female crania.Results: Middle adult males were disproportionately interred at Uraca, particularly in the elite Sector I. The Uraca mortuary population presents the highest rate of cranial trauma reported for pre-Hispanic Peru: 67% of adults present trauma, and among those, 61.1% present more than one cranial injury. Males exhibit significantly more cranial trauma than females and present a higher mean number of injuries per person.Elite males show the highest mean number of injuries per person, more antemortem injuries, and are the only ones with perimortem cranial trauma, bladed injuries, penetrating injuries, and post-traumatic sequelae. Both sexes were most frequently injured on the anterior of the cranium, while the proportion of posterior injuries was higher for females.Discussion: The rate, intensity, and locational patterns of cranial trauma suggests the community was engaged in raids and/or war with enemy groups, some of which may have increased physical violence between community members. Engaging in violence was likely a prerequisite for burial in the elite sector and was bound up with the generation and maintenance of social status differences linked to male social life.

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“…Other archeological and ethnographic examples provide more variability and evidence that adult females were also involved in violent events (Bengtson & O'Gorman, 2017; Ferguson, 2021; Khudaverdyan et al, 2022; Linduff & Rubinson, 2008; Martin et al, 2010). At Roc de les Orenetes, there is also at least one subadult individual, between 4 and 7 years old, affected by violence as revealed by traumatic injuries to a radius (Figure 6b) and ulna (Figure 9e).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death in the high mountains: Evidence of interpersonal violence during Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age at Roc de les Orenetes (Eastern Pyrenees, Spain)

Moreno‐Ibáñez,

Saladié,

Ramírez‐Pedraza

et al. 2024

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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ObjectivesTo test a hypothesis on interpersonal violence events during the transition between Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in the Eastern Pyrenees, to contextualize it in Western Europe during that period, and to assess if these marks can be differentiated from secondary funerary treatment.Materials and MethodsMetric and non‐metric methods were used to estimate the age‐at‐death and sex of the skeletal remains. Perimortem injuries were observed and analyzed with stereomicroscopy and confocal microscopy.ResultsAmong the minimum of 51 individuals documented, at least six people showed evidence of perimortem trauma. All age groups and both sexes are represented in the skeletal sample, but those with violent injuries are predominantly males. Twenty‐six bones had 49 injuries, 48 of which involved sharp force trauma on postcranial elements, and one example of blunt force trauma on a cranium. The wounds were mostly located on the upper extremities and ribs, anterior and posterior. Several antemortem lesions were also documented in the assemblage.DiscussionThe perimortem lesions, together with direct dating, suggest that more than one episode of interpersonal violence took place between the Late Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age in northeastern Spain. The features of the sharp force trauma indicate that different weapons were used, including sharp metal objects and lithic projectiles. The Roc de les Orenetes assemblage represents a scenario of recurrent lethal confrontation in a high mountain geographic context, representing the evidence of inferred interpersonal violence located at the highest altitude settings in the Pyrenees, at 1836 meters above sea level.

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War at the Door: Evolutionary Considerations of Warfare and Female Fighters

Cited by 5 publications

References 28 publications

Evidence of the active participation of women in the intergroup conflict based on the use of aggression and cooperation

Evidence of the active participation of women in the intergroup conflict based on the use of aggression and cooperation

Endemic violence in a pre‐Hispanic Andean community: A bioarchaeological study of cranial trauma from the Majes Valley, Peru

Death in the high mountains: Evidence of interpersonal violence during Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age at Roc de les Orenetes (Eastern Pyrenees, Spain)

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