Burying the Hatchet

Why do people bury items with their dead? We provide a theory of grave goods as a mechanism to mitigate internal conflict. Where inheritance laws are ambiguous and low-cost mechanisms for dispute resolution do not exist, deliberately destroying wealth can prevent conflict over the redistribution of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Colin Harris, Adam Kaiser
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Subjects:
Iceland
Online Access:http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=REDP_306_0183
http://www.cairn.info/revue-d-economie-politique-2020-6-page-1025.htm
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spelling ftrepec:oai:RePEc:cai:repdal:redp_306_0183 2024-04-14T08:13:37+00:00 Burying the Hatchet Colin Harris Adam Kaiser http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=REDP_306_0183 http://www.cairn.info/revue-d-economie-politique-2020-6-page-1025.htm unknown http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=REDP_306_0183 http://www.cairn.info/revue-d-economie-politique-2020-6-page-1025.htm article ftrepec 2024-03-19T10:38:25Z Why do people bury items with their dead? We provide a theory of grave goods as a mechanism to mitigate internal conflict. Where inheritance laws are ambiguous and low-cost mechanisms for dispute resolution do not exist, deliberately destroying wealth can prevent conflict over the redistribution of assets following a death. Rather than engage in costly infighting over inheritance, the parties agree to mutual destruction through a shared cultural practice of grave goods. We test our theory using evidence from saga era Vikings. JEL codes: N4, K0, D3, H1 Grave Goods, Vikings, Medieval Iceland, Conflict, Inheritance Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland RePEc (Research Papers in Economics)
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collection RePEc (Research Papers in Economics)
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language unknown
description Why do people bury items with their dead? We provide a theory of grave goods as a mechanism to mitigate internal conflict. Where inheritance laws are ambiguous and low-cost mechanisms for dispute resolution do not exist, deliberately destroying wealth can prevent conflict over the redistribution of assets following a death. Rather than engage in costly infighting over inheritance, the parties agree to mutual destruction through a shared cultural practice of grave goods. We test our theory using evidence from saga era Vikings. JEL codes: N4, K0, D3, H1 Grave Goods, Vikings, Medieval Iceland, Conflict, Inheritance
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Colin Harris
Adam Kaiser
spellingShingle Colin Harris
Adam Kaiser
Burying the Hatchet
author_facet Colin Harris
Adam Kaiser
author_sort Colin Harris
title Burying the Hatchet
title_short Burying the Hatchet
title_full Burying the Hatchet
title_fullStr Burying the Hatchet
title_full_unstemmed Burying the Hatchet
title_sort burying the hatchet
url http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=REDP_306_0183
http://www.cairn.info/revue-d-economie-politique-2020-6-page-1025.htm
genre Iceland
genre_facet Iceland
op_relation http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=REDP_306_0183
http://www.cairn.info/revue-d-economie-politique-2020-6-page-1025.htm
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