Endemic warfare is the state of continual, low-threshold warfare in a tribal warrior society. Endemic warfare is often highly ritualized to minimise fatalities, and plays an important function in assisting the formation of a social structure among the tribes' males by "proving themselves in battle". Typical activities associated with endemic warfare are cattle raids and abduction of women.

It is unclear why some tribal societies (such as the Germanic tribes, the Yuezhi or the Maori) evolve traditions of endemic warfare while in others (such as the Kalahari Bushmen), warfare is practically absent.

See also

• Prehistoric warfare

War | Human behavior | Sociology