News Anthropology

Attack 10,000 years ago is earliest known act of warfare

Hunter-gatherers’ skeletons show signs of being shot by arrows, clubbed and maybe even bound

WAR CASUALTY  Scientists have found skeletal remains from the oldest known act of war. Between 9,500 and 10,500 years ago, members of one African hunter-gatherer group attacked and killed 12 people from another group. Among the victims was this man, whose head injuries suggest he was clubbed to death.

M.M. Lahr, Fabio Lahr

By Bruce Bower

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