ABSTRACT
Offsetting a lack of historical evidence is an abundance of anthropological data detailing the institutions and behavior of primitive peoples. It is highly probable that the warfare practices of modern primitive societies reflect accurately the behavior of prehistoric societies. The anthropological literature reveals enormous variation in the customs and institutions of primitive peoples. Given the prevailing and pervasive primitive attitudes of fear and hatred of the enemy and male monopoly on fighting, a final general characteristic of primitive warfare followed predictably. Settled agricultural living was now possible, and with it, the firm establishment of an institution that, ironically enough, would serve to mitigate the worst cruelty of primitive warfare. Ancient historic warfare presents an altered picture from its prehistoric predecessor in some respects, though in other respects there remained a great continuity with the past. The heroic literature of Western culture is replete with slaughters of the innocent.
