In the first few thousand years after the end of the last Ice Age, humanity experienced some curious and surprisingly rapid population crashes. While population crashes in ancient times have often been linked to epidemics, environmental changes and natural disasters, scientists are certain there were other causal factors that contributed to population fluctuations. In a new study just published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, a team of scientists led by experts from the Complexity Science Hub (CSH), a research institute in Vienna, presents evidence that exposure to warfare and other types of societal conflict played a major role in causing population losses in Europe during the Mid-Holocene era (between 5,000 and 3,000 BC). Factoring in Fear This new research did not focus on the loss of life associated with combat. It instead looked for evidence to show that the fear of conflict’s effects was enough to provoke large-scale ancient population movements across the vast Eurasian landscape, which in turn had a longer-term impact on the overall level of the human population. The study authors wrote in their journal article: Read moreSection: NewsHistory & ArchaeologyHistoryImportant EventsRead Later