The Power of Ritual in Prehistory: Secret Societies and Origins of Social Complexity

The Power of Ritual in Prehistory is the first book in nearly a century to deal with traditional secret societies from a comparative perspective and the first from an archaeological viewpoint. Providing a clear definition, as well as the material signatures, of ethnographic secret societies, Brian Hayden demonstrates how they worked, what motivated their organizers, and what tactics they used to obtain what they wanted. He shows that far from working for the welfare of their communities, traditional secret societies emerged as predatory organizations operated for the benefit of their own members. Moreover, and contrary to the prevailing ideas that prehistoric rituals were used to integrate communities, Hayden demonstrates how traditional secret societies created divisiveness and inequalities. They were one of the key tools for increasing political control leading to chiefdoms, states, and world religions. Hayden's conclusions will be eye-opening, not only for archaeologists, but also for anthropologists, political scientists, and scholars of religion.


About the Author
Hayden, Brian: - Brian Hayden is a Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia and Professor Emeritus at Simon Fraser University. In addition to excavating sites on three continents, he has conducted ethnoarchaeological research in Australia, British Columbia, Guatemala, Mexico, Polynesia, and Southeast Asia. These studies have resulted in new models of domestication, feasting, social inequalities, and now ritual and religion. Hayden has been recognized for this pioneering work as a member of the Royal Society of Canada. His other works include The Power of Feasts (Cambridge, 2014), Shamans, Sorcerers, and Saints: A Prehistory of Religion (2003), and Archaeology: The Science of Once and Future Things (1993).