Contributors to the edited volume Violence and Inequality: An Archaeological History anchor archaeological data within broad theoretical frameworks to consider the role of inequality and coercive violence in the emergence and development of ancient complex societies. The book begins with a thoughtful introduction by the coeditors Thomas P. Leppard and Sarah C. Murray, who outline the interpretive frameworks and models in the anthropological and historical literature that have inspired discussions on the sociopolitical mechanisms and economic circumstances in which violence and inequality arise. After revisiting the contributions of several influential theorists, Leppard and Murray emphasize that inequality and coercive violence are not always tools or outcomes in emerging states. Violence may hinder the development and maintenance of inequality, and peaceful conditions may promote the unequal distribution of wealth. Contributors to the volume showcase how archaeology, with its temporal reach and comparative approaches, is well positioned to explore these complex issues.
Eight chapters consider the dimensions of violence and inequality in ancient societies spanning the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Roderick Campbell addresses the assumption that coercion, not consent, is necessary to sustain violence and inequality. His multiscalar analysis of the ancestral ritual culture at Shang Anyang in Bronze Age China reveals that inegalitarian expenditure on royal mortuary traditions and ancestral rituals like sacrifice were viewed as necessary public goods that served the interests of the elites and community.
Darryl Wilkinson considers the role of violence and inequality in the formation of early Andean states. He suggests that violent actions initially served as an accessible means by which warriors created personhood, defining these phenomena as ontological warfare and predatory egalitarianism. Relying on ethnographic accounts, iconography, and archaeological data, Wilkinson argues that violence was the impetus in creating an aristocratic class when it was monopolized for political gain.
Edward Swenson explores the relationship between ritual violence and hierarchy expressed and performed within Moche ceremonial spaces in the Andes. He provides a detailed analysis and several striking interpretations of the archaeological data from the Huaca Colorado in the Jequetepeque Valley of northern Peru. Swenson argues that religious architecture embodied liminal and transformative power where periodic sacrifice and feasting enforced structures of inequality.
Ryan P. Harrod and Debra L. Martin present an analysis of mortuary contexts, osteological data, and domestic structures in the Great House of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon. They argue that coercive violence at Pueblo Bonito and ritualized gambling created hierarchical structures that ultimately reduced violence throughout the region. The authors consider how actions other than lethal violence, such as nonlethal attacks and dismemberments, endorsed and articulated social inequalities.
Brenna R. Hassett considers the role of state-sanctioned violence in Early Bronze Age Anatolia using an archaeology of visibility approach. She describes how audiences would have witnessed the burials of retainers and mass killings across landscapes, within sites, and at the level of the individual. The author demonstrates that the configuration of these audiences in relationship to public displays of violence is an important component that structured social inequalities at Başur Höyük.
Laerke Recht explores the dynamic interplay between violence, nonhuman animals, and inequality in ancient Mesopotamia. By reconstructing the roles of and incorporation of animals in state-sponsored activities such as war, hunting, and feasting, she argues that violence against animals was entangled with state ideologies justifying hierarchies and social stratification.
Roselyn A. Campbell addresses the role of sacrifice in the development of divine kingship in early dynastic Egypt. Evidence of ritual violence is limited to a series of subsidiary graves and retainer burials from the earliest dynasties. She argues that retainer sacrifice functioned as a temporary solution used by nascent elites to establish royal power and that it provided the foundations of inequality that persisted for centuries.
Robert P. Stephan consolidates a large body of bioarchaeological data to consider how Roman occupation in Britian affected the quality of life and lived experiences of the local population. Based on wound frequency, health profiles, and burial patterns, he argues that Roman imperial policies reduced physical violence but enacted several structural institutions that led to poorer health conditions.
This edited volume sets itself apart from similar works in that many chapters focus on ancient societies without historical records or written accounts, allowing contributors to conduct context-based investigations of the diverse manifestations of inequality in the archaeological record. The editors and contributors emphasize the challenges archaeologists face in untangling the various dimensions of violence and its roles in enforcing and sometimes eroding inequality. Ultimately, the volume presents a nuanced view of the conditions and circumstances in which inequality emerged and is maintained, thus providing scholars with a broad, more comprehensive understanding of sociopolitical and economic dynamics in the past.
