Document Type
Honors Thesis
Publication Date
5-2012
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine and assess the accuracy of Table 6.1, Annual Warfare Death Rates, and Table 6.2, Percentage of Deaths Due to Warfare, in Lawrence Keeley’s text, War Before Civilization. There has been a lot of recent debate within anthropology about the intensity and impact of small-scale warfare. In this book, Keeley argues that pre-contact, small-scale warfare produced higher death rates than the most war-torn modern states. The following thesis will examine the war death percentages of these two tables and will evaluate the accuracy of Keeley’s calculations, citations, and the sources that he used to obtain data. This body of work will present the data that needs to be reworked or removed from the tables so that Keeley can present reliable and substantial datasets.
Recommended Citation
Keller, Redyn, "The Worst Angels of our Nature: Has Violence Declined?" (2012). Honors College. 57.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/57