We put a lot of effort and poured substantial resources into this video. For example, we licensed a lot more footage and artwork, put much more effort into research, storytelling and editing. All in all, this resulted in much more work but also in a much better video and viewing experience, at least that’s what we think. This only became possible because we finally have more time to focus on UKposts. We recently finished most of our other projects. Roman has finally handed in his master thesis this summer (he received the best possible mark!) and Sandro has finished his diploma as a history teacher (also the best possible mark for his final test lesson). We also finally published our article in an academic collective volume edited by Dr. Kilian Baur and Robert Trautmannsberger. It’s about our experience as content creators here on UKposts. It covers some of the difficulties we faced as content creators (trying to be accurate vs. limited time and resources). The article also explains the methods we developed (or tried) to bring a deeper understanding of history and historiography to UKposts while keeping the content entertaining. The article is open access, so you should be able to read it for free, but it is only available in German. www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110792898-005/html ) We’re going to teach a part of this in a course at the university of Zurich next semester (2024). In the future we plan to put the same effort in our videos, although some projects might still be a bit less complex. If you want to support us, feel free to buy one of the books that we list below or consider becoming a Patron ( www.patreon.com/sandrhomanhistory ). By becoming a Patron, you get access to previews, artwork, content polls and BTC-updates. We really do rely on these income streams. For us, 2023 was one of the worst years, financially speaking, because many sponsors have refused to work with us (partly because of the overall market situation, partly because our clicks were not that great). While we’re not exactly starving or anything like that, we would be grateful for a bit more financial security. We’re also still trying to cover the cost of the artwork that we use in our videos, which would be about $600 / video (at the moment we’re at about $550 / video (about 10% goes to Patreon for their service)). This is important for us because the artwork and licensing of videos and music puts quite a dent in our finances. There’s a more extensive bibliography in the description of this video but if you’re interested in some of the more accessible books mentioned in this video, have a look here (affiliated links): Arther Ferrill, The Origins Of War: From The Stone Age To Alexander The Great amzn.to/46yjZf4 Lawrence H. Keeley, War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage amzn.to/46r4pl2 Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Sapiens: amzn.to/3ta5e3n Frans de Waal, the Age of Empathy. Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society: amzn.to/3PW8BnF The two papers on Jebel Sahaba and the Y-chromosome bottleneck can be found here: Crevecoeur, Isabelle et. Al., New insights on interpersonal violence in the Late Pleistocene based on the Nile valley cemetery of Jebel Sahaba, in: Scientific Reports vol. 11 (2021), www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89386-y Zeng, T.C., Aw, A.J. & Feldman, M.W. Cultural hitchhiking and competition between patrilineal kin groups explain the post-Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck. Nat Commun 9, 2077 (2018). www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04375-6

Given that organized groups of Apes have gone to war, I feel it's safe to say modern human species have likely always had war.

It wasn't a war - it was just a special raiding operation...

"As long as there's two people left on the planet, someone is gonna want someone dead" -TF2 Sniper

As a Hobbesian; "Men are not fallen angels but mere animals seeking to ascend to heaven."

“War is father of all, and king of all. He renders some gods, others men; he makes some slaves, others free.” ― Heraclitus, Fragments

I would add that Guns, Germs, and Steel is worth reading. The sections where Diamond talks about inter-tribal warfare in Papua New Guinea (in the 1960's, and as close as we get to neolithic warfare outside of say, the Amazon) is an eye-opener. You don't think of one or two or five guys getting killed in little scuffles is much ado of anything, until you realize it's happening year after year, and - proportional to their population - is casualties at WW2 levels for these groups.

"The most persistent sound which reverberates through man's history is the beating of war drums." Arthur Koestler

Looking at our near relatives in the animal kingdom, I think it's safe to assume that war predates humanity itself.

I think that the fact that Chimps (our closest living relatives) are pretty much in a constant state of war with one another says a lot about how early humans engaged in war.

Me and my buddy Ooga Booga gonna pull up on some Neanderthals with that Pointy.

"War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner."

The idea of using houses as a primitive wall features prominently in competitive Age of Empires 2 gameplay strategy. It’s fascinating how actual history mirrors modern gameplay strategy.

SandRhoman posts. I click.

I love when a random history video that I find interesting pops up in my recommended

“War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.” The Judge was right about it, it seems...

Really enjoy the quality of your job. Thanks. The narrative properly like a criminal investigation. Love to see more of this format. Congrats

Will there be a second part? The Assyrian period is my favorite period of warfare!!!

"War... War never changes."

This early period of human history is so interesting to think about.

"Before man was man, war waited for him."

Öetzi's pose suggests he was caught during a wild rave, busting out sick dance moves.

"Napoleon was the greatest general of all tim-" The stone age general who invented tactics :

Even ants have wars.

You should read about the Gombe chimp war where Jane Goodall (the anthropologist and primatologist) witnessed a war between chimp groups. The groups of chimps formed patrols and raiding parties and organized themselves for battle. Considering that even ants go to war, I would say that humanity and its earlier ancestors have always fought each other.

Oh my lord I love this channel. Hadn't popped up on my feed and life got busy, but then this video came up and WHOOO like coming up for air. Keep up the great work. I love history and you keep finding these niches that nobody satisfyingly cover.

I bet prehistoric people got more food from trapping than hunting with spears or bows and arrows. No mammoth will try to kill you while trapping, no wolf packs come wondering in to scavenge the dead mammoth. Trapping is safe and generally provides consistent food source. Hunting big game would have been extremely dangerous and a less consistent food source.

A severely overlooked topic, thank you for this.

before man was, war waited for him

I got this channel proposed in my feed. It’s been a while since I came across a channel like this. Historical correct, to the point and well made. You even added the latest findings about Ötzi in the video. I already subscribed and I will now watch some of your other videos.

I really like the sound design in this video. There's much to like besides, but the music and narration are well balanced, and the sound effects add a lot of punch and help set tone. Great work!

this subject was completely unexpected but extremely interesting. you continue to surpass expectations. thank you for all your hard work

Great video! But i think it is important to mention also , that even chimpanzees engage in conflicts that can be interpreted as war. Most famous case: The Chimpanzee war in Gombe en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gombe_Chimpanzee_War

I still and always will love your channel so much. I hope you get 10 million subs and get to educate the entire world about history.

I would have also mentioned the fighting which took place in the Tollense valley in Nothern Germany. It is one of our earliest findings of battles/war in Europe.

What coincidence. I just finished reading Dawn of Empire by Sam Barone yesterday. Basically it's about how the first big village, Orak (later renamed to Akkad), built big walls for the first time in history to try to stop the invasion of the biggest barbarian horde of that time, the Alur Meriki. They're led by an ex-barbarian and the villagers have to build the wall and train enough archers in time before the Alur Meriki begins. It's in Bronze Age Mesopotamia. It's a really good read and I highly recommend it to all history nerds.

"before man, war waited"

SandRoman History: "What is war?" "War is politics by other means." -- Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian General

An absolutely incredible video! Well produced and well sourced, thank you.

The tribal “wars” of Papua New Guinea will give you clues about the first wars, especially from the 1950’s and before.

Neanderthal DNA making up only 1-4% of our DNA does not indicate the interbreeding theory is incorrect (that some people are 96% human, 4% Neanderthal 40,000 years later means the interbreeding that occurred was not insignificant). Just as likely, if not more so, is a large population difference between the two sub-species. Neanderthals lived in small groups of 8 or so individuals. Humans lived in groups of 40 or more. If a large population moves into a sparsely populated area and interbreeds with it, the smaller population will be swallowed up, and its genes diluted. Moreover, there was no technology difference between humans and neanderthals for the first 3/4th of our coexistence. (humans having been around since 200,000 BCE). It wasn't until 50,000 BCE that a technological difference began to occur. Before then, Neanderthals were every bit our equal; but fewer in number. The most likely scenario is interbreeding and displacement, with only minimal direct violence. Large groups of humans move into an area and begin consuming resources there. Neanderthals move out of the region, unable to compete. Rinse repeat a few thousand years, until the Neanderthals are pushed all the way to the edges of Iberia, in response to the westward migrations of humans. It should also be pointed out we only have Neanderthal mDNA, no yDNA. Meaning only human men and neanderthal women produced fertile offspring. Neanderthal men and human women either couldn't produce fertile offspring (most likely), or refused to.

6:05 wow, club guy suddenly switched sides and joined the spearman who tried to kill him in the previous pic. What a turncoat!

Hey man, really well put together mini-doc. Good research, visuals, and stories. Keep going

Keep it up SandRhoman! Always love your videos. They should pay you more for how well you educate all of us! Best wishes and woof!

Superb work! I'm always eager to watch your videos, but this time you've really outdone yourselves

How would you determine if a group was organization? Quite possible they were long before these sources, isn‘t it?

Exceptionally well made video! I especially loved the drawings and quick flood of evidence pictures!

The production value for your videos only continue to improve! The extra effort and resources definitely paid off

War. War never changes.

Hello, Reenactor and slinger here, would like to point out that with rocks hitting anything beyond 60-70 meters is quite impossible on a regular basis, maybe one or two out of 10 attempts would result in a hit, naturally the skill of the slinger comes into play, but once the stone is released from the sling, same forces act on the stone akin to that of a musket ball, and it will eventually start spinning off to a random side after 60ish meters. now should be said this is with natural rocks of roughly same size/weight and shape. Now if you use Lead shot or material of higher density, the shot will go much further as the density of the projectile kinda scales with the range you get. reason for this is that you can really only spin the sling so fast before releasing the projectile.

war... war never changes

There is a video from 1963 of west Papau tribal warfare. I think this is probably the most literal sense of what warfare at this time might has looked like. The video shows combat between two tribes that have only had recent contact with the western world.

Every organized species go to war, from wolves to ants, going through apes and whales. Only solitary animals "can't war".

War....war never changes

Thank you for the video! It is nice to see a variation of subjects, and I hope you will be able to attract a larger audience!

17:43 The increased budget is apparent in these animations. Well done. Great video for real though, love me some "pre-history."

There never existed a "noble savage," that is one of the great falsehoods.

Great work. There's also a lot of ethnographic evidence that can help us understand how prehistoric hunter-gatherers might have waged war or committed violence. I had not heard of that paper on patrilineal kin group competition in the neolithic, it's very cool!

Fascinating topic. Excellent work, thank you.

Just found your channel. Love your content man. History is like my fav thing haha subscribed! ❤❤❤

You haven’t solved any philosophical dilemma, but these comments did prove that those who can’t comprehend warfare also can’t comprehend many other things.

war... war changed a lot apparently

Fantastic video as always. I find prehistory endlessly fascinating.

why are all the comments on this video so crazy lol

There may be even game theory reasons why war always existed as a peaceful people would be exterminated by warlike neighbors. This happened to Moriori, the peaceful polynesians inhabiting Chatham islands, who were in invaded by their warlike Māori cousins from New Zeeland who killed, ate, tortured, r*p*d and enslaved them in an almost complete genocide.

Absolutely amazing video you guys don’t miss!

this is a good and interesting topic, i love your chanel

Learning about prehistoric mankind and his evolution really helps me put things in perspective on why some modern cultures evolved technologically and others didn't. Isolation vs contact. A hotbed of early technological advancement was found in the Mediterranean region- a major trade center for 3 continents. This is why American Indigenous, Sub-Saharan Africans, and Pacific Islanders remained behind the times for so long- no contact with outside cultures for thousands of years and once there was, the interactions were negative. It's very sad that's the way it went down. It could easily have been the other way around had geography been different, but we're so egotistical our ancestors and some modern people never saw it that way.

You could have asked me. The first war happened between two tribes over who gets to hunt for food in a certain area.

I think what I appreciate the most...a great informational video...the commentary avoiding commenting on the actual video. Did a Research Paper way back in 1982. Evolution of Technology Through Warfare, (How being better at killing each other drove technology.) To have the research now available would be a Grade changer. Excellent presentation.

War...War never changes.

Thanks for the video & an interesting topic.

Nice graphics @17:40 I laughed a little too hard, I think.

Great video! Highly enjoyed it :)

If even Modern Man is savage in so many ways, what are the odds that prehistoric man was peaceful? Unfortunately, war (violence) is indeed the nature of mankind.

"It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way." -Judge Holden from Blood Meridian

Fascinating as always!

Thank you for making this video

One needs only to look at children to realise how foolish the Noble Savage argument is.

Hobbes vs. Rousseau is an area where I have strong opinions: the empirical evidence backs Hobbes, Rousseau wins the argument because his view flatters us.

You two are great together. It's great to see you off cable news.

Sharing very little DNA with Neanderthals doesn't preclude interbreeding that led to the merging of the species. If modern human genes were significantly more fit, then they would tend to dominate the present genome. Modern human body structure and social behavior are both hugely advantageous. It's also worth noting that many of the genes that *do* come from Neanderthals are things like resistance to various European diseases. They were selected, whereas the other features weren't. It doesn't mean that we merged, but it can't be written off on the basis of very little shared DNA.

War is likely far far older than we give it credit for. If chimpanzee groups war with each other, our ancestors did, too.

Imagine living in Europe in prehistoric times, when there were less than half a million Europeans. Then you find a neighbouring tribe encroaching on your territory. This continent ain't big enough for both of us

Great video! really informative

Otzi wasn't a victim of war, there were no other victims at the site, he was just robbed, avenged or something.

what is war? baby please hurt me, please hurt me some more what is war?

Was war invented when Ugg the Caveman bonked Lugg the Caveman from the neighbouring cave with his new, cutting-edge club after Lugg chased a deer over to Ugg's patch of the wilderness?

Study of the Yanomamo by Chagnon offers a fascinating look how conflicts are started and fought by very primitive societies. And backed up by the biography of Helena Valero who was abducted by the Yanomamo a few decades before Chagnon. The Yanomamo are fascinating because they are one of the last major undiscovered tribes that were extensively studied, and were basically living in the stone age pretty much completely separated from modern civilization. Most conflicts among them were started because of women, who are often married out, or promised to other tribes at very young ages. And sometimes even before birth. Especially Chagnon got into a lot of trouble with some of his collagues because his work showed that primitive societies can be quite warlike and violent. Because the Yanomamo get part of their diet from plantains, which take about a year to start throwing off fruit after planted, it is difficult for them to move away as a group. Because one area in the jungle cannot provide nutrition to a large group from hunting alone. And continuously moving around can be quite risky. And every village (usually averaging about 70-80 people) often has women married out to other villages. Which are often treated quite badly by the other villages, so the men want to stay nearby as well to look out for their daughters and sisters. Plus if you are very isolated it is harder to pair up men and women without having a high degree of inbreeding. So besides being dangerous, living nearby other villages can have its advantages as well. They have various escalations of conflict, or ways to resolve conflict. Chest bashing (where you take turns to bash the other guy on the chest as hard as possible with the palm of one's hand), using a long stick to try and hit the other guy on top of the head, and finally straight up warfare where raiding parties are organized to try and pick off men of the enemy village(s) with bow and arrow. And interestingly a not insignificant amount of conflicts were also started because of perceived magic attacks from other village. Where sickness of one member of a village would be attributed to the shaman of another village that they were already somewhat hostile with. Another interesting finding of Chagnon was that villages would usually fission when they reached 100-150 people. The amount of conflict would increase until it escalated into violence so that the only way forward was a split. Which could be quite painful as it would take about a year for the weaker part of the conflict, who would be forced out, to get regular plantain harvests in a new location. So they would often have to go to a nearby village that they were friendly with and trade some of their women into marriage in exchange for a regular food supply. The only way a village could stay together at 150+ people was if it had a particularly fierce and feared headman who could resolve conflicts through intimidation. Both Valero's and Chagnon's books are highly recommended if you find this interesting. Valero's book can be quite gruesome though, she describes early on in the book how she witnessed one village executing male babies and children of an enemy village. Not for the faint of heart.

your videos are the best! danke so viel

Mother nature really dropped the ball when creating primates.

As long as someone has wanted someone else's stuff there has been war.

Another excellent video. Thank you.

I wonder if spears and clubs were truly the most important hunting weapons. The use of ropes, nets and nooses should not be overlooked.

It's a bit more subtle than "war is a part of human nature" in the sense that "the need to kill someone else and take their food when driven to desperation by hunger" can also be seen as part of human nature. A group of unlucky and (therefore) starving hunters will organize, attack and plunder the food of the successful farmer. Without the overwhelming motivation of starvation, there is no compelling desire to impose organized violence against others in general. Shared fear of an unfamiliar group that is a perceived danger to your own clan can also result in hostility and if the victims fight back rather than fleeing because of limited options, the hostility becomes organized violence. However, as war evolves from direct personal violence to more remote, indirect and anonymous actions at a distance (proximal or relational) against a dehumanized "other" group, then the motivations get much more complicated than starvation or threat or revenge.

Great work, keep it up pls

Thanks for the lesson, bro. ❤

As soon as there was a second village there was war. 100%.

Humans have been capable of organised violence since before we were even human. We see organised violence even in chimps/monkeys of which we share a common ancestor.

amazing content! thanks