The violent Indo-Europeans: Some general thoughts on the martial influence of the Corded Ware on Neolithic societies

This paper wrestles with the old, but persistent, view that the appearance of Indo-European speaking groups in Europe caused radical changes in social organization, including the introduction of the idealized male warrior, increased violence and changed gender relations, replacing matrilineality and sex egalitarianism with an exogamic patrilocal family structure. The aim is not to downscale or deny the violent and warring aspects of early Indo-European societies; instead I argue that these features were not new but already well-established elements in pre-Indo-European Neolithic Europe. Hence, my aim is to nuance the view on the impact Indo-European societies had on Neolithic Europe, not by questioning the violent IndoEuropeans but the tough myth of the peaceful farmers.