Matt Walsh

And the list goes on, of course.

None of that is accurate.

According to the book War Before Civilization by archaeologist Lawrence H. Keeley, somewhere between 90 and 95% of known societies in all of human history were warlike.

The less civilized you were, as a rule, the more violent you were.

Two-thirds of primitive societies were at constant war compared to 40% of civilized states.

Now at this point you might say, but what about the peaceful tribes?

Not all of them were at war.

According to Keeley, those tribes are the exception that proves the rule.

Some 96% of American Indian tribes engaged in warfare.

And some tribes were more violent than others.

The most violent tribes were the Klamath Modoc, the Thompson tribe, the Navajo, the Apache, Mojave, the Yuma, Iroquois, the Sioux, and of course the Comanche.

If you happen to be in their neighborhood, you probably spend a lot of time at war.

In most cases, primitive warfare consisted of surprise raids on enemies' villages or camps.

This is true for groups around the world, from Eskimos in the Bering Straits to natives in New Guinea.

This kind of warfare generally consisted of quietly surrounding enemy houses under the cover of night, throwing spears through the walls, lighting the structures on fire, and shooting arrows through the doorways.

The killing was often indiscriminate.

and civilians, including women and children, frequently died.

According to Keeley, the East Cree of Quebec slaughtered any Inuit Eskimo families they encountered, taking only infants as captains.

Neither age nor sex was any guarantee of protection from primitive raids.

Among Western US Indian tribes, 86% were raiding or resisting raids undertaken more than once each year.