Prehistoric Warfare .. War Before Civilization

War and the culture of war were invented early in prehistory. Apparently warfare was widespread by the time of the Neolithic period, judging from archaeological data on the extensive fortification of early settlements and the widespread existence of weaponry. Prehistoric warfare refers to war that occurred between societies without recorded history.

First engagement

We can guess that the small hunting and gathering groups that weathered the last ice age had cause on occasion to attack each other. Such attacks were probably for control of food sources, important raw materials (tool stone), water, trade routes, or perhaps locations of presumed religious significance. Prehistoric hunters equipped themselves with weapons to make their living. It was an easy step to turn those weapons on neighbors if the stakes to be won were sufficiently high.It is possible that war and raids of this type were not common as the ice age ended because population densities were relatively low and human life was no doubt highly valued. But the increasing relative natural bounty and advances in technology made it possible for populations to grow. Some living areas were clearly better than others and more desirable.

Raised economy and war  

Competition and motivator for armed conflict between groups grew once the agricultural revolution began. By 6000 BC, good agricultural or grazing land must have increased significantly in value where the new food gathering activities were taking hold. The food disparity widened between the newly rising agricultural towns and the marginal communities in the hills or on quickly exhausted lands. Stockpiles of grain and animal herds owned by the first towns were a powerful attraction to the more primitive tribal groups. As the towns grew richer in goods through specialization of labor, their attraction as targets only increased.When European explorers encountered the less advanced peoples of Africa and the Americas they made note of the occasional raiding attacks that native tribes carried out against each other. These raids served several purposes. They might have been demonstrations of strength and intimidation that were partly diplomatic. 

Weaponry 

The archaeological record indicates that between 12,000 and 8000 BC there was a revolution in weapons technology. During this period four new weapons first make their appearance-the bow, the sling, the dagger (short sword), and the mace. The bow and the sling were important for hunting, but the dagger and mace were most useful for fighting other humans. These four new weapons, together with the much older spear, were the principal weapons of all armies until around 1000 AD.

Examples of prehistoric warfare 

A- Europe , Germany :

Shattered skulls and shin bones of 7000-year-old skeletons may point to torture and mutilation not previously observed in early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture. 

The chance discovery of a mass grave crammed with the battered skeletons of ancient Europeans has shed light on the lethal violence that tore through one of the continent’s earliest farming communities.

In 2006, archaeologists were called in after road builders in Germany uncovered a narrow ditch filled with human bones as they worked at a site in Schöneck-Kilianstädten, 20km north-east of Frankfurt.

B-Africa , Kenya:

Skeletal remains of a group of foragers massacred around 10,000 years ago on the shores of a lagoon is unique evidence of a violent encounter between clashing groups of ancient hunter-gatherers, and suggests the “presence of warfare” in late Stone Age foraging societies.
The fossilised bones of a group of prehistoric hunter-gatherers who were massacred around 10,000 years ago have been unearthed 30km west of Lake Turkana, Kenya, at a place called Nataruk.