As Douglas Bamforth writes in the introductory chapter to this coedited volume, “War, and the possibility of war, mattered in the lives of the people we study, and looking at it in detail ought to matter to us as well” (p. 34). I could not agree more, and this book's focus on the North American Great Plains is especially valuable, as the region yields evidence of social conflict spanning more than 2,000 years. The arrival of Euroamericans, who brought horses and guns, only intensified preexisting patterns. But this book does more than analyze evidence for war in a specific region; it seeks to contribute to broader archaeological and anthropological studies of social conflict and warfare.
“War” here is defined as “socially sanctioned group-level” conflict (p. 355) and “organized social violence” (p. 4). Such definitions, unlike modern conceptions, include small-scale combat by nonstate groups while recognizing that there is a continuum of violence in human societies and not all types can be classified as war. Specifically, this book asks how patterns of war developed in the Great Plains, how people perceived and reacted to its associated risks, and how it shaped indigenous societies and histories.
The book is organized into three sections: (1) artistic evidence, (2) fortifications and their implications, and (3) general archaeological indicators and the implications of war for societies. Bamforth's introduction is a thoughtful and thorough overview of Great Plains warfare as well as issues involved in its archaeological study. Bamforth's introduction is an essential read for students and scholars of social conflict. Along with many of the other chapters, it considers how we see war archaeologically (e.g., settlement design and location, demographic profiles, symbolic representations, defensive features, technologies, and osteology). Many of these features can have other functions (see Chapter 6 by LeBeau), so authors here acknowledge the dangers in oversimplifying interpretations or causes of conflict from this evidence. Bamforth, for example, notes that fortifications and bioarchaeological indicators of violence are usually considered signs of large-scale social conflict, but the Comanche and Sioux, recognized indigenous nations of war, lacked both (p. 6). The attention to the variability in evidence for warfare among both mobile and sedentary groups is one of the strengths of the volume.
Perhaps unique to this volume are chapters dedicated to emic perspectives through examination of Plains Indian symbolic records, including two on rock art (Chapters 2 and 3) and one on winter counts, ledger drawings, and hide paintings (Chapter 4). Chapters 2 (by Greer and Greer) and 3 (by Keyser) provide insights into battle strategy and technology, ideology, symbolism, social identity, gender, and how these changed over time. Chapter 4 (by Sundstrom) documents the importance of small war parties as well as raids for captives, horses, and scalps, many of which are not readily visible in the archaeological record but mattered significantly to Plains peoples. My only complaint about this portion of the book is the illegibility of some of the figures.
The emphasis on fortifications which occur mostly in the northern Plains and at southern ancestral Wichita villages (see Chapters 5–9 by Dye, Lebeau, Vehik, Drass et al., and Schroeder), is likely due to their visibility at sites today as well as the fact that they are less affected by sampling and recovery biases (p. 277). These features are a unique technology. They were costly in terms of time and labor, required commitment and organization for construction and maintenance, represent a perception of risk, and indicate an intensification of conflict.
There are areas where the book is relatively weak. As the authors readily admit, bioarchaeological studies are virtually absent (though Kendell's consideration of age and sex patterns in relation to scalping in Chapter 13 is an exception). Bamforth reviews osteological evidence and notes that many regional studies are poorly published. Furthermore, although the earliest indicators for warfare postdate AD 1, almost half the chapters focus on the protohistoric or historic period sites where warfare is most visible. The book would be stronger with some explicit studies of earlier occurrences of social conflict.
The final section, which considers the role of warfare in Great Plains history and society, is strong. Mitchell (Chapter 11) nicely articulates that “war has a cultural and social context” in his sociohistorical analysis of conflict in the Middle Missouri (p. 275). Others consider the social contexts of warfare among groups such as the Oneota (Chapter 10 by Hollinger), ancestral Arikara (Chapter 12 by Clark), and Cheyenne, Lakota, and Arapaho (Chapter 14 by Bleed and Scott). This reveals that Plains scholars do not agree on which factors lead to conflict (see Chapter 11), but all recognize the causes of warfare are multifaceted, complex, and historically situated (see the afterword by Bamforth and Clark).
War is an important topic because it has shaped human societies around the world. Warfare mattered on the Great Plains, and this book makes significant contributions to our knowledge about it. I urge others to read the book, and thanks to the press, cooperating libraries, and Knowledge Unlatched (an online open-access platform), Archaeological Perspectives on Warfare on the Great Plains is available in digital format.
