Motivations for Warfare in Bronze Essay

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Sherratt, the most important item related to farming was the development of the plough, "the first application of animal power to the mechanisation of agriculture" (2004, p. 159). This is where the conception of economics entered the Bronze Age

picture via the movement and exchange of goods and commodities through a vast trading system which extended into almost every part of Europe during the second millennium B.C.E.

As to the encouragement of warfare, when Bronze Age societies became increasingly interdependent, both economically and socially, the concept of reciprocity, a type of bartering system, became commonplace among the population of self-sufficient farmers, commodity producers, and artisans. Basically speaking, this type of system had little to do with financial gain and was more inclined toward creating a sense of social value in order to strengthen social bonds. However, in many parts of Europe, the levels of economic interdependence quickly went far beyond reciprocity, evolving into very complicated systems of trade and exchange, thus creating circumstances in which warfare between rival groups and societies was bound to occur.

In addition, conditions for warfare often arose when problems occurred between outsiders and members of a community related to exploiting limited resources, such as food, water and outcroppings of metals like copper, tin and gold. These problems also came about between pastoralists who wished to exploit a common pasture for their animals, such as when a herder "conscientiously (sought) to keep the pasture viable by restricting his herd's grazing time" and keeping it out of bounds for outsiders (Johnson, a.W., Earle, T.

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, 2000, p. 10). Oftentimes, the outsider would overgraze the pasture "to his monetary advantage," thus creating conflict and disagreement.

Therefore, in order to prevent warfare, all interested parties, both within and outside of a specific community, would be forced to "observe a code of behavior that regulates all of them and protects the common resources" (Johnson, a.W., Earle, T., 2000, p. 10). Of course, the existence of what T. Earle describes as "bosses" or societal elders and leaders gradually extended their power and influence by "forging external ties" with outsiders, "expanding the size of the dependent population" and by "seizing control of internal wealth production and distribution" (2003, p. 5), thus retaining a semblance of peace and preventing, at least to some extent, internal and external warfare.

In conclusion, the conditions and motivations which encouraged warfare in the Bronze Age were very similar to those that currently exist in many troubled parts of the world, being the overwhelming need for limited natural resources and the desire to expand economically through the trading of necessary commodities.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Earle, T., ed. (2003) Chiefdoms: power, economy, and ideology. UK, Cambridge University

Press.

Harding, a. (2002) Chapter 9: the bronze age. in: Milisauskas, S. ed. European Prehistory: A Survey. New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishing, pp. 297-300 & 315-319.

Johnson, a.W. & Earle, T. (2000) the evolution of human societies: from foraging groups to agrarian state. CA, Stanford University Press.

Kohl, P.L. (2003) the making of bronze age eurasia. Chapter 2. UK, Cambridge University Press.

Sherratt, a......

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