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Ritual human sacrifice promoted and sustained the evolution of stratified societies

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph Watts

    (School of Psychology, University of Auckland)

  • Oliver Sheehan

    (School of Psychology, University of Auckland
    Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

  • Quentin D. Atkinson

    (School of Psychology, University of Auckland
    Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History)

  • Joseph Bulbulia

    (School of Art History, Classics and Religious Studies, Victoria University of Wellington)

  • Russell D. Gray

    (School of Psychology, University of Auckland
    Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
    Research School of the Social Sciences, Australian National University
    Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution)

Abstract

Phylogenetic methods were applied to a cross-cultural database of traditional Austronesian societies to test the link between ritual human sacrifice and the origins of social hierarchy—the presence of sacrifice in a society stabilized social stratification and promoted inherited class systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Watts & Oliver Sheehan & Quentin D. Atkinson & Joseph Bulbulia & Russell D. Gray, 2016. "Ritual human sacrifice promoted and sustained the evolution of stratified societies," Nature, Nature, vol. 532(7598), pages 228-231, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:532:y:2016:i:7598:d:10.1038_nature17159
    DOI: 10.1038/nature17159
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Yo Nakawake & Kosuke Sato, 2019. "Systematic quantitative analyses reveal the folk-zoological knowledge embedded in folktales," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Sarah M. Leisterer-Peoples & Susanne Hardecker & Joseph Watts & Simon J. Greenhill & Cody T. Ross & Daniel B. M. Haun, 2021. "The Austronesian Game Taxonomy: A cross-cultural dataset of historical games," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Joshua Conrad Jackson & Marieke van Egmond & Virginia K Choi & Carol R Ember & Jamin Halberstadt & Jovana Balanovic & Inger N Basker & Klaus Boehnke & Noemi Buki & Ronald Fischer & Marta Fulop & Ashle, 2019. "Ecological and cultural factors underlying the global distribution of prejudice," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Mitkidis, Panagiotis & Ayal, Shahar & Shalvi, Shaul & Heimann, Katrin & Levy, Gabriel & Kyselo, Miriam & Wallot, Sebastian & Ariely, Dan & Roepstorff, Andreas, 2017. "The effects of extreme rituals on moral behavior: The performers-observers gap hypothesis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-7.
    5. Alexandre Hyafil & Nicolas Baumard, 2022. "Evoked and transmitted culture models: Using bayesian methods to infer the evolution of cultural traits in history," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(4), pages 1-21, April.
    6. Joshua Conrad Jackson & Danica Dillion & Brock Bastian & Joseph Watts & William Buckner & Nicholas DiMaggio & Kurt Gray, 2023. "Supernatural explanations across 114 societies are more common for natural than social phenomena," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(5), pages 707-717, May.
    7. Oliver Sheehan & Joseph Watts & Russell D. Gray & Joseph Bulbulia & Scott Claessens & Erik J. Ringen & Quentin D. Atkinson, 2023. "Coevolution of religious and political authority in Austronesian societies," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 38-45, January.

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