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Originally published in 1994, the late Keith F. Otterbein's scholarship had followed an overall design since 1962, when he began conducting comparative studies of warfare using both ethnographic and cross-cultural methods. Through a conceptual framework derived from systems theory, he made signal contributions to our understanding of the role of warfare in human social evolution. He formulated a Fraternal Interest Group theory, utilizing it to explain not only feuding and warfare but also rape and capital punishment. Believing that armed combat is learned behaviour, he posed questions about its learning process that had yet to be answered. He acted as a major synthesizer of the growing literature on warfare and led attempts among anthropologists to apply their knowledge of war and peace to current events. This volume will serve both as a useful introduction to the anthropology of war and as a needed compendium of Professor Otterbein's ideas.

1. Introduction : What is the anthropology of war? -- The basics -- Famous warring peoples -- 2. Weapons and tactics -- Weapons -- Tactics -- Basic patterns of combat -- Casualties -- 3. Military organizations -- Polities and their military organizations -- Why polities and their military organizations go to war -- Causes and consequences of war -- 4. War and its cousins -- Types of warfare -- Seven cousins of warfare -- Levels of armed combat -- 4. Foundations of war -- Biological characteristics that facilitate war -- Social characteristics that facilitate war -- Development of territoriality -- 6. Origins of war : two paths -- Hunter-gatherer warfare -- Primary state warfare -- 7. The evolution of war -- Warfare systems -- Secondary state warfare -- 8. The termination and prevention of war -- Causes and outcomes of war -- The dilemma of disarming, and arming -- Prevention of war -- Appendix: 40 warring peoples -- Glossary

Questions about the origins and motivations of warfare have long engaged scholars as they speculate on the nature of human existence. Otterbein draws on primate behavior research, archaeological research, and data gathered from the Human Relations Area Files to argue for two separate origins. He identifies two types of military organization: one that developed two million years ago at the dawn of humankind, and a second that developed five thousand years ago when the first states proceeded to embark upon military conquests. In careful detail, Otterbein marshals evidence for his case that warfare was possible and likely among early Homo sapiens.

Kentucky feuds are an example of market‐based feuding, one of two major types of feuding. Compensation is not paid for a homicide in regions where a local market system is linked to the world system. Feuding kinship groups in Kentucky struggle to eliminate each other, whereas in regions where compensation is paid functional/equilibrium theories are used to explain the balance that seems to occur between kinship groups. The trouble case method is used to analyze five Kentucky feuds. Episodes or homicidal encounters are placed within feud sequences. Encounters include ambushes, gunfights, house attacks, encounter battles, and arranged battles. Although each feud differs greatly from the others, the structure of the Kentucky feud is delineated, [feuding, homicide, Kentucky feuds, Appalachia, war]

In this brief history of warfare research, I identify four major periods: Foundation Period, Classical Period, Golden Age, and Recent Period. The myth of the peaceful savage arose in the Classical Period rather than in the later periods, as argued by Lawrence Keeley. The myth has its origins in an early evolutionary approach as well as in cultural relativism. It continues to play a major role in warfare research with some anthropologists arguing for the peaceable nature of man, while others argue that man has engaged in warfare from the beginning of prehistory, [war, theories of warfare, history of warfare research, myth of peaceful savage]