ABSTRACT
The evolution and history of warfare has been investigated by philosophers, historians, practitioners, social scientists and life scientists. Most evolutionary approaches to warfare have focused on its ancestral or historical frequency and intensity, and although this has generated useful discussion, it is also incomplete. This chapter outlines a case for the evolutionary origins of warfare. It reviews several definitions of war in order to make the case that such definitions should be seen as methodological tools, rather than as ontological claims. The chapter explains that although humans seem to possess the psychological tools of intergroup violence, the form of this violence has changed both quantitatively and qualitatively over history. The archaeological record provides useful data for examining the occurrence of warfare as early as the Holocene, but is at best incomplete and is often subject to multiple interpretations.
