I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY!

I'd love to volunteer for a dig, if I knew where to start.

You might find this study of Central California uncomfortable. We all seem to have some emotional need to think of a time where people were peaceful, loving, idyllic. "But archaeologists have an obligation to report what the record reveals" - - which is, unfortunately, people are people.

“Many people still seem to think that prehistoric California was a violence-free paradise, but the archaeological record shows clearly that that was not the case... Taken together... their data portray periodic bouts of inflamed violence among Central California’s ancient indigenous groups"

"[V]iolence was always present."
Some periods were particularly warlike, however.  "The first, and arguably more gruesome, episode spanned from 500 BCE to 420 CE, when dismemberment and trophy-taking appeared to peak."

At a different time period, "The frequency of projectile injuries showed up most often in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, approaching 25% in the burials sampled there, and figuring prominently among the bands of the Sierra Miwok."

And, it appears ethnicity had something to do with it at certain points - not just with the arrival of Whites, but also of migrations of Indigenous people from the east. “Violence did not begin in California with the arrival of Europeans — although it did increase at that time,” Jones said.

At least these early Americans quit driving their SUV's following "the centuries-long series of droughts known as the Medieval Climatic Anomaly... [800 to 1350]."   The study tried, but was unable to attribute the violence to these horrible droughts; but hey, they still had to put it in the report. 'Cuz - climate change.