Burying the Hatchet

Abstract

The literature on wealth destruction as a response to conflict largely focuses on the problem of external threats. Yet unresolved internal conflict can also pose a problem for a functioning social order. We provide a theory of wealth destruction as a mechanism to mitigate internal conflict, illustrated through the phenomenon of grave goods. Where inheritance laws are ambiguous and negotiation is costly, deliberately destroying wealth can prevent internal conflict over the redistribution of assets following a death. Rather than engage in costly infighting over ownership claims, the codependent parties agree to mutual destruction through a shared cultural practice of burying items with their dead. We test our theory using evidence from grave goods as practiced by saga era Vikings.