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.
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WATTS, Joseph, SHEEHAN, Oliver, ATKINSON, Quentin D., BULBULIA, Joseph and GRAY, Russell D., 2016. Ritual human sacrifice promoted and sustained the evolution of stratified societies. Nature. April 2016. Vol. 532, no. 7598, p. 228–231. DOI 10.1038/nature17159.