Warfare and the Evolution of the State: A Reconsideration
- 1 October 1975
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in American Antiquity
- Vol. 40 (4) , 464-470
- https://doi.org/10.2307/279334
Abstract
Warfare is seen as an adaptive ecological choice under conditions of population growth and resource limitation. Its major significance in the formation of the state lay in its ability to negate evolutionary constraints inherent in ranked societies. The evolutionary significance of warfare is discussed in terms of processes of cultural change which are largely internal.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Cultural Evolution of CivilizationsAnnual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 1972
- A Theory of the Origin of the StateScience, 1970