Talk: "Plumbing the Depths: Exploring Violence and Warfare in Humanity’s Past" by Nan C. Kim

• Talk

• Event Date: Friday, September 16, 2022
• Time: 2:00 pm–3:30 pm (CDT)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL

Part of the Archaeological Institute of America Lecture Series

Is warfare as old as humanity? Are we an inherently violent species? How would we know? Signs of warfare appear as soon as we began crafting our earliest written records several thousand years ago. But what can we see beyond that literary horizon? This lecture highlights anthropological research to contemplate warfare’s antiquity and origins, providing a glimpse into past contexts of organized violence in the deeper recesses of humanity’s past. We will take a tour around the world, considering select cases across space and time, from the Ice Ages to the present day. The lecture explores the evidence for varied manifestations of war and what those data can reveal about our shared past, our evolution as a species, and our prospects for peace.

This talk is organized by the Central Illinois Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and co-sponsored by the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures.

Visit the Central Illinois AIA Society at the Archaeological Institute of America (external link) for more information.