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Coevolution of religious and political authority in Austronesian societies

Author

Listed:
  • Oliver Sheehan

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Joseph Watts

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
    University of Otago
    University of Otago)

  • Russell D. Gray

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
    University of Auckland)

  • Joseph Bulbulia

    (University of Auckland
    Victoria University of Wellington)

  • Scott Claessens

    (University of Auckland)

  • Erik J. Ringen

    (Emory University)

  • Quentin D. Atkinson

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
    University of Auckland)

Abstract

Authority, an institutionalized form of social power, is one of the defining features of the large-scale societies that evolved during the Holocene. Religious and political authority have deep histories in human societies and are clearly interdependent, but the nature of their relationship and its evolution over time is contested. We purpose-built an ethnographic dataset of 97 Austronesian societies and used phylogenetic methods to address two long-standing questions about the evolution of religious and political authority: first, how these two institutions have coevolved, and second, whether religious and political authority have tended to become more or less differentiated. We found evidence for mutual interdependence between religious and political authority but no evidence for or against a long-term pattern of differentiation or unification in systems of religious and political authority. Our results provide insight into how political and religious authority have worked synergistically over millennia during the evolution of large-scale societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Oliver Sheehan & Joseph Watts & Russell D. Gray & Joseph Bulbulia & Scott Claessens & Erik J. Ringen & Quentin D. Atkinson, 2023. "Coevolution of religious and political authority in Austronesian societies," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 38-45, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:7:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41562-022-01471-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01471-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joseph Watts & Oliver Sheehan & Quentin D. Atkinson & Joseph Bulbulia & Russell D. Gray, 2016. "Ritual human sacrifice promoted and sustained the evolution of stratified societies," Nature, Nature, vol. 532(7598), pages 228-231, April.
    2. Thomas E. Currie & Simon J. Greenhill & Russell D. Gray & Toshikazu Hasegawa & Ruth Mace, 2010. "Rise and fall of political complexity in island South-East Asia and the Pacific," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7317), pages 801-804, October.
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