This book investigates peaceful societies and the social and ecological conditions that discourage war. The author uses ethnographic examples, cross-cultural findings, primatology, and archaeology to examine war, social organization, human evolution, and conflict management.

In this chapter of 'Beyond War,' Douglas critiques previous codes of warfare to make a distinction between feuding and warring. A test of warfare and level of social complexity among hunter-gatherers is conducted. Results indicate that complex hunter-gatherers make war while a majority of simple hunter-gatherers do not.

This paper reviews the results of the author's cross-cultural studies of war and aggression and their implications for prehistory.

This chapter includes cross-cultural tests of the relationship between social complexity of hunter-gatherer groups and warfare. Results suggest that more complex and equestrian hunter-gatherer societies tend to be more war-like and less complex hunter gatherer societies tend to be more peaceful.

Previous research into the origins of human violence and warfare has oftentimes been inconclusive and controversial. This paper examines two alternative theories as to the evolution of human violence using archaeological records on sharp force trauma (SFT) and blunt force trauma (BFT). The study is limited to 13 different California ethnolinguistic groups. Researchers find that violence is not predicted by sociopolitical complexity, but rather by environmental productivity. This supports the idea that in contexts of resource scarcity, the perceived benefits to engage in lethal aggression may outweigh perceived costs.

Previous research into the origins of human violence and warfare has oftentimes been inconclusive and controversial. This paper examines two alternative theories as to the evolution of human violence using archaeological records on sharp force trauma (SFT) and blunt force trauma (BFT). The study is limited to 13 different California ethnolinguistic groups. Researchers find that violence is not predicted by sociopolitical complexity, but rather by environmental productivity. This supports the idea that in contexts of resource scarcity, the perceived benefits to engage in lethal aggression may outweigh perceived costs.

In this article, the authors explore cultural variables that they propose contribute to the maintenance of peace in non-warring societies. These variables are compared in 16 peaceful systems (as coded by the authors from anthropological and historical data) and in 30 warring societies taken from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS). Findings associate more peaceful cultures with peace systems, and non-peaceful cultures with warring societies.

This paper investigates five different economic types of foragers: classic, transitional system, politically oriented, economically oriented, and intangibles-oriented. The author asserts that these economic types “are not mere epiphenomena of the oft-discussed social structural or political forces but, rather, are special characteristics that must be independently taken into account” (418). A myriad of environmental, subsistence, political, and social variables are examined: some differed significantly across the five economic types of foragers, but others such as famine threat, conflict, locational fixity, marital form, and postmarital residence did not differ between types.

In this article, the authors explore cultural variables that they propose contribute to the maintenance of peace in non-warring societies. These variables are compared in 16 peaceful systems (as coded by the authors from anthropological and historical data) and in 30 warring societies taken from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS). Findings associate more peaceful cultures with peace systems, and non-peaceful cultures with warring societies.

In this article, the authors explore cultural variables that they propose contribute to the maintenance of peace in non-warring societies. These variables are compared in 16 peaceful systems (as coded by the authors from anthropological and historical data) and in 30 warring societies taken from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS). Findings associate more peaceful cultures with peace systems, and non-peaceful cultures with warring societies.