Abstract
Steven Pinker’s thesis on the decline of violence since prehistory has resulted in many popular and scholarly debates on the topic that have ranged – at times even raged – across the disciplinary spectrum of evolution, psychology, philosophy, biology, history and beyond. Those disciplines that made the most substantial contribution to the empirical data underpinning Pinker’s notion of a more violent prehistoric past, namely archaeology and bioarchaeology/physical anthropology, have not featured as prominently in these discussions as may be expected. This article will focus on some of the issues resulting from Pinker’s oversimplified cross-disciplinary use of bioarchaeological datasets in support of his linear model of the past, a model that, incidentally, has yet to be incorporated into current accounts of violent practices in prehistory.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 6-16 |
Journal | Historical Reflections |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2018 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- prehistory
- Europe
- violence
- bioarchaeology
- skeletal trauma
- interdisciplinarity
- ethics
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Linda Fibiger
- School of History, Classics and Archaeology - Senior Lecturer
- Archaeology
Person: Academic: Research Active