A recent study has found that our modern, stratified societies potentially have their roots in those that practiced human sacrifice long ago. Socially stratified cultures, like the ones we live in today, have a class system that in the U.S. is best exemplified as the upper class, the middle class and the working class. What researchers take from this study is that a stability was created in highly stratified societies and was able to be maintained while simultaneously evolving thanks to the usage of human sacrifice. Generally, those getting sacrificed were slaves or in lower standing, which, after many generations, led to inherited class systems which we enjoy (or in some cases loathe) today.
Here’s how sacrifice broke down across the various societies sampled:
Evidence of human sacrifice was observed in 40 of the 93 cultures sampled (43 percent). Human sacrifice was practiced in five of the 20 egalitarian societies (25 percent), 17 of the 46 moderately stratified societies (37 percent), and 18 of the 27 highly stratified societies (67 percent) sampled.
Social mobility in our modern stratified culture is becoming more of a hot-button issue with dialogue among leading politicians beginning to emerge. The acknowledgement of a wide income gap and pay inequality between genders is proof of this.
Now we know that a lot of what people are dealing with today (good and bad) can be traced back to human sacrifice, which can be summed up in two words:
(Via Arstechnica)
