- related:: [[2021-09-27 Sacrifice]] - This [piece by Mike Dash](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/ncm67h/sacrificial_kings/) includes a phenomenal survey of folkloric leaders who make great sacrifices (e.g. Odin & Osiris) and the (very scant) historical evidence for kings who died due to ritual sacrifice. It does, however, touch on the bog bodies of Ireland, which are much more likely to have been ritually sacrificed. - Here's a bold claim: [Ritual human sacrifice promoted and sustained the evolution of stratified societies](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature17159). The researchers claim that to have found evidence that human sacrifice stabilizes existing social stratification, and helps bring about caste systems. %% hat tip to [[Alice Evans]], relevant for [[2021-09-27 Sacrifice]] edition %% And speaking of things relevant for the sacrifice edition, the phenomenon of the corn kings of Ireland, supposedly killed after 7 years to ensure a rich harvest, have almost definitely been wildly exaggerated. - [[excess surplus leads to ritual sacrifice]] - [[Suttee Sacral Kingship and Human Sacrifice]] - [[sacrifice in Norse burials was relatively rare]] - [[child sacrifice among the Inca]] - [[child sacrifice in the Punic world]] - [[2022.01.26a broken heart syndrome and human sacrifice customs]]