Ritual during Periods of Decline, Collapse, and Regeneration in Archaic States

The notion of state "collapse" has come under scrutiny recently for both modern and archaic states. A range of specific topics about this issue have been debated including what defines collapse? What predicates collapse? Are some types of states more prone to collapse that others? How do decline and collapse manifest in the political, economic, religious, and social realms? Political and economic factors in the collapse of states, both modern and ancient, have often been the focus of discussion, but religion and ritual are prominent in many of the modern examples of societies declining, collapsing, and regenerating.

The frequent prominence of religion and ritual in contemporary situations stimulates questions about the ritual expressions of and responses to decline, collapse, and regeneration in earlier states. By examining the role of ritual in a variety of archaic states, this session will explore how the decline in a state’s ability to continue in its current form affected the practices of ritual and in turn how ritual as a culture-forming dynamic affected decline, collapse, and regeneration of the state.