ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to see whether warfare emerged in different parts of the globe for similar reasons. Warfare among the Neanderthals is an ongoing debate. However, the Mesolithic era probably witnessed some sort of crude warfare among Homo sapiens. Competition for grazing rights, arable land and water were the contributory causes behind the origins of warfare in Neolithic Thessaly. In Early Neolithic North-Western Europe, bows and arrows became the premier weapon for conducting warfare. Archers were at a premium for defending the settlements against raiders from hunting-gathering and pastoral communities. The weapons used for hunting in the Old Stone Age were used for warfare during the New Stone Age. Keeley is right in asserting that primitive/prehistoric warfare at times could be extremely lethal. Considering the small demographic bases of the tribes and settled communities, even a small number of absolute casualties resulted in a high percentage of fatalities for such societies.
