Mitrović, Milica and Mitrović, Veselin (2026) Archaeology of aggression: Understanding prehistoric violence through material evidence and emotional contexts. Aggression and Violent Behavior. pp. 102-135. ISSN 1359-1789
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In this paper, we explore archaeological evidence of violence in prehistoric contexts, covering the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods (approximately 3 million to 4 thousand years ago), and including ancestral and related species of Homo sapiens. Our study aims to clarify how archaeologists interpret material remains to understand past violent behaviors, shedding light on their causes and reconstructing the social environments in which these acts took place. We also incorporate insights from the emerging field of the archaeology of emotions, investigating the potential to discern emotions related to violent behaviors. We examine archaeological evidence of violent behavior and contemporary understandings of emotions tied to specific forms of aggression. Using analogy not as a direct interpretative tool but as a way to think through possible scenarios, we discuss whether emotions can be identified in prehistoric violent contexts. Key topics include the earliest signs of interpersonal violence among early hominins, later intergroup conflicts, violence against animals, and aggressive acts such as the destruction of physical objects. All evidence is analyzed cross-culturally and from the perspective of various disciplines
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Available online 22 January 2026 |
| Institutional centre: | Centre for sociological research and anthropological research |
| Depositing User: | D. Arsenijević |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Jan 2026 09:00 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Jan 2026 09:00 |
| URI: | http://iriss.idn.org.rs/id/eprint/2903 |
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