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Prehistoric warfare: the first massacres
from c. 11,500 BC or earlier (earliest clear evidence)· Event· Middle East & Africa
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
Long before writing, groups killed each other in raids and massacres, as skeletons with weapon wounds and mass graves show.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
The earliest clear evidence comes from Jebel Sahaba on the Nile, at least 13,400 years old, where many skeletons bear stone-point wounds. Nataruk in Kenya and, after farming began, mass graves such as Talheim in Germany (about 5000 BC) show whole groups killed together. Walls like Jericho's and, by about 3500 BC, the destruction of Hamoukar suggest violence growing into attacks on towns. The weapons were those of hunting: spears, clubs, slings and bows.
Why it matters
These sites show organized group violence is older than cities, states and writing. Farming, stored food and land to defend seem to have made it more frequent.
How we know
Skeletons with weapon injuries, stone points embedded in bone, mass graves, and defensive walls and ditches, dated mainly by radiocarbon. Lawrence Keeley's War Before Civilization (1996) popularized the evidence.
Still debated
Scholars argue whether war is ancient and nearly universal in humans or arose mainly with farming and property; some apparent massacres may be other kinds of killing.
Inside this (7)
Connections (8)
▸Jebel Sahaba cemetery (Nile valley, Sudan) is the earliest clear evidence of Prehistoric warfare: the first massacresMostly agreed
The connection
Jebel Sahaba is the oldest site where many people clearly died from weapons used by other people. Its wounds, both healed and fresh, show repeated attacks over years, so archaeologists treat it as the starting point of the evidence for prehistoric warfare.
When and how
On the Nile in northern Sudan, at least 13,400 years ago; excavated by Fred Wendorf's team in 1965–66, restudied by Isabelle Crevecoeur and colleagues in 2021.
How sure are we?
Stone points still embedded in bone, impact marks studied under microscopes, and radiocarbon dates make the violence clear.
Debates and open questions
Whether the killings were warfare between groups or feuds and raids is debated; older single cases of violent death exist, but none with so many victims.
▸Nataruk massacre (Lake Turkana, Kenya) suggests hunter-gatherers also waged Prehistoric warfare: the first massacresDebated
The connection
Many scholars argued war began with farming, when people had fields and food stores to fight over. Nataruk's victims, and probably their attackers, were mobile hunter-gatherers, so, if it was a massacre, group killing happened there before farming arrived.
When and how
West of Lake Turkana, Kenya, about 9,500–10,500 years ago; published by Marta Mirazón Lahr and colleagues in Nature in 2016.
How sure are we?
Ten of twelve fairly complete skeletons show violent injuries. Reading it as a raid rests on the wounds, the lack of burial and the date.
Debates and open questions
Critics say the bodies may have died at different times; the original team disagrees. The site sits at the center of the debate over war's origins.
▸Wall and Tower of Neolithic Jericho may be the first defense against Prehistoric warfare: the first massacresDebated
The connection
If Kathleen Kenyon was right, Jericho's early farmers built a stone wall and tower to protect their homes and stored grain from raiders. That would make it the earliest known community defense, and a sign that the threat of attack shaped how people settled.
When and how
Tell es-Sultan (Jericho), West Bank, around 8000 BC; excavated by Kathleen Kenyon in 1952–58.
How sure are we?
The wall and tower are real and dated; the defensive purpose is an interpretation. No clear signs of attack, such as burning or weapons, go with the wall.
Debates and open questions
Ofer Bar-Yosef argued for flood protection and a ritual tower. Few sites of that age have walls, so whether war was common enough to need them is unclear.
▸Talheim death pit (Germany) shows a farming community killed together in Prehistoric warfare: the first massacresMostly agreed
The connection
Talheim shows that Europe's first farmers were not always peaceful villagers: a whole community of 34 people, children included, was killed and thrown into one pit. With similar Linear Pottery sites, it suggests deadly raids grew as farming populations filled the land.
When and how
Talheim, near Heilbronn in southwestern Germany, about 5000 BC; found in 1983 and studied by Joachim Wahl and colleagues.
How sure are we?
Skull wounds match the period's stone adzes, and the single, careless burial points to one event; isotope and DNA studies identify the victims' groups.
Debates and open questions
Who attacked and why is unknown; whether it was war, feud or the killing of a captured group is debated.
▸Prehistoric warfare: the first massacres escalated into city sieges such as Destruction of Hamoukar: early evidence of a city siegeMostly agreed
The connection
As people settled in walled towns with stored wealth, raids on small groups grew into organized attacks on whole towns. At Hamoukar, attackers apparently used massed slings against mudbrick walls and burned the town, an early sign of war on an urban scale.
When and how
Hamoukar, northeastern Syria, around 3500 BC; excavated by the University of Chicago with Syrian archaeologists; the destruction evidence was announced in 2005.
How sure are we?
The burned destruction layer, collapsed walls and some 1,200 sling bullets show a violent attack; that it was a siege by an organized force is the excavators' interpretation.
Debates and open questions
Whether violence truly escalated over time, or towns simply leave more evidence of it, is debated.
▸Prehistoric warfare: the first massacres culminated in states forged by conquest, like Narmer and the unification of EgyptMostly agreed
The connection
Centuries of rivalry among chiefdoms along the Nile ended when one southern dynasty brought the rest under its rule. Narmer's Egypt marks the shift from raids between villages to a territorial state built and held by force, with war as a royal duty.
When and how
Upper (southern) Egypt, around 3200–3100 BC, centered on Hierakonpolis, Abydos and Naqada.
How sure are we?
Weapons, fortified sites and art showing battles from late prehistoric Egypt, such as the Gebel el-Arak knife, plus the Narmer Palette's conquest scenes.
Debates and open questions
How much of unification came from conquest rather than trade, marriage and gradual absorption is debated.
▸Prehistoric warfare: the first massacres entered written history with First recorded wars: Sumer's city-states and ElamMostly agreed
The connection
Organized violence long predated writing. When Sumerian scribes began recording kings' deeds, war was among their first subjects: who fought, over what land, and with what treaty. The first recorded wars were an old practice newly written down.
When and how
Sumer, southern Iraq, from about 2500 BC in royal inscriptions such as Eannatum's of Lagash; the later King List places a war with Elam around 2700 BC.
How sure are we?
Archaeology shows violence and fortification before writing; early inscriptions then describe battles and treaties directly.
Debates and open questions
The oldest records mix legend with history, so which war counts as the first recorded depends on which sources one trusts.
▸Prehistoric warfare: the first massacres was waged chiefly with spears and the Bow and arrowMostly agreed
The connection
Most early war weapons were hunting tools turned on people. Arrowheads and spear points lodged in skeletons from Jebel Sahaba, Nataruk and later sites show that spears and bows did much of the killing, alongside clubs and, among farmers, stone adzes.
When and how
Africa, the Near East and Europe, from at least 13,400 years ago; rock art in eastern Spain also shows groups of archers fighting.
How sure are we?
Points embedded in bone, arrow wounds on skeletons, and rock paintings of archers in battle.
Debates and open questions
Because wooden weapons rot and leave subtler wounds, clubs and plain spears are probably under-counted compared with stone-tipped arrows.