The Role of Captives in Status-Striving in Transegalitarian and Chiefdom Societies

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Acquiring Status and Power in Transegalitarian and Chiefdom Societies" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ambitious leaders in transegalitarian and chiefdom level societies used a variety of approaches to achieve control over other people and the material wealth in their society. They organized or participated in raids and warfare, they led efforts to defend against raids of other groups, they hosted competitive feasts, they put on elaborate ritual performances which showed their power in communicating with the gods. Often overlooked is the role that captive people, taken during raids, played in these activities. Captives in transegalitarian and chiefdom level societies were most often women and children and these individuals played important roles in enhancing the status, wealth, and power of the individuals (generally men) who held them. This presentation takes a cross-cultural look at the role captives played in the efforts of aspirational leaders to build prestige and wealth. They created “wealth-in-people,” they created material wealth by laboring in fields or craft industries, they served as sacrificial gifts to the gods, and much more. Ethnohistoric, ethnographic and historic accounts, primarily from North and South America, from times just after European contact are used to illustrate the ways ambitious people in transegalitarian and chiefdom level societies used captives to enhance their status.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Acquiring Status and Power in Transegalitarian and Chiefdom Societies

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50309