ABSTRACT
The custom of blood-feud, whereby members of a clan or another kinship group avenge the death of their kinsman by killing any member of group to which the killer belongs, gives rise to forms of fighting which are often difficult to classify. Many thinkers have pondered about why there are wars, but before we can form an intelligent opinion on this matter people must consider whether war is something universal or something which can be found only among certain people and on certain levels of civilisation. With very few exceptions, ants of any given colony will engage in collective struggles against other ant communities, even those of their own species. As these struggles follow definite patterns we can without exaggeration describe them as wars. Although history is unambiguous on this score, some thinkers sought consolation and hope in the idea that war is a relatively recent invention - not older than written history - and that prehistoric man was peaceful.
