THE rise of agriculture in northwest Europe may have spelled the beginning of warfare and violence in the neolithic era – a period previously thought to be “marked by peaceful co-operation”, an Edinburgh University study has found.
The research suggests that the rise of growing crops and herding animals as a way of life, replacing hunting and gathering, may have laid the foundations for formalised warfare.
The findings come after researchers used bioarchaeological techniques to study human skeletal remains from sites in Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain and Sweden.
