Human Sacrifice As a Tool of Social Control
New research suggests why some cultures turned to killing their own
Anthropologists have suggested that human sacrifice gave emotional power to group values and provided a collective catharsis during crises. There were other advantages, too. The Aztecs, who sacrificed for many different reasons, also practiced cannibalism, with victims serving as a source of protein. And then there’s the “social control hypothesis,” which posits that human sacrifice served to subordinate the lower classes.
.. They categorized each culture according to whether there was human sacrifice and whether it was egalitarian
.. They categorized each culture according to whether there was human sacrifice and whether it was egalitarian
.. The researchers found that human sacrifice was widespread in Austronesia, occurring in 25% of egalitarian cultures, 37% of moderately stratified societies and a whopping 67% of highly stratified cultures.
.. It made them significantly less likely to turn in an egalitarian direction and significantly more likely to become more hierarchical. In other words, the ritualistic sacrificing of humans seems to have stabilized and deepened social inequalities.
.. Don’t cause trouble, or yours may be the heart that the gods just happen to pick as a pleasing gift at the next ceremony.