Are we sure that it was definitively war or merely the availability of resources that gave rise to civilizations? Water, rich soil, minerals (E.G. Iron, Copper

Are we sure that it was definitively war or merely the availability of resources that gave rise to civilizations? Water, rich soil, minerals (E.G. Iron, Copper, Gold etc...) This sort of modeling is very tricky and, even though I don't want to put down the effort that went into this, I'm not sure if they controlled for other factors. We do know that people started war over these very resources, so it shouldn't be surprising that banding together (I.E. forming societies and by extension, civilizations) was a good way to prevent these from being taken by more powerful adversaries. The technology to defend, seize and improve these resources can also build civilizations so while war may be a factor that is common to it, calling it a cause is a bit of a rush to judgment IMO.