# n-evol: the rise of human complex (stratified) social structures

<< (..) the prevalence of (human) sacrifice increased with the degree of social stratification: it occurred in 25% of cultures with little or no stratification, 37% of those with moderately stratified societies, and 67% of those that had a pronounced hierarchy. And by mapping the evolutionary relationships between cultures, the team suggests that human sacrifice and social hierarchy co-evolved. >>

<< Human sacrifice seems to have been largely the privilege of priests or others who claimed religious authority. Watts and colleagues say that their results therefore disclose a “dark side” to the social role of religion. >>

Philip Ball. How human sacrifice propped up the social order. April 4, 2016

http://www.nature.com/news/how-human-sacrifice-propped-up-the-social-order-1.19681

Joseph  Watts, Oliver  Sheehan, et al.  Ritual  human  sacrifice  promoted  and  sustained  the evolution  of  stratified  societies. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature17159 (2016).

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature17159.html

<< The scientists (..) found that ritual sacrifice may have spurred the transition of smal,  egalitarian  societies  to large,  stratified  ones.  The  study  examined  93  traditional  Austronesian  cultures  (speakers  of  a  family of  languages  in parts  of  Africa,  Asia  and  Oceania). >>

Tatiana Schlossberg. Why Some Societies Practiced Ritual Human Sacrifice. April 4, 2016.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/science/ritual-human-sacrifice.html

more (an hypothesis of a funny approach inside modern societies):  Elio Petri. La decima vittima (movie, 1965)

https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_decima_vittima